Notes: Hello friends! I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone that has given this story a chance! Hopefully you like chapter two!

After our talk last night Ace and I had decided to stick together for the time being. After all, the only reason I came to this sad little sea was to find him. Yep. That's the only reason I'm sticking around. The only one at all. His smile didn't factor into this decision in the slightest. Ok, maybe slightly… But regardless, we still needed to eat if we were going to live to get off this island so I had gone to look further inland to see if I could find some of the fruit Ace had mentioned when we first met. Turns out the trees on the island were pear trees, who would've guessed? After foraging around for a bit I had managed to find a fair number of pears. When I got back to the beach I started walking over to where Ace was sitting. When I got closer I noticed that he was eating something. Which was strange considering the fact that he had eaten all of the fish that we had stockpiled and there weren't any fruit near the beach. Once I was next to him I noticed that he was eating a large, bright orange piece of fruit that was covered in swirl patterns. I immediately realized two things upon seeing it. First, that it was a Devil Fruit; and second, judging by the casual way that he was eating it, Ace didn't know that it was a Devil Fruit.

"Ace, what are you eating." I asked in a monotone voice.

He smiled up at me before saying, "I don't know really I found it on the beach. Guess it just washed up here." He shrugged nonchalantly before taking another bite.

"It just washed up on the beach, you don't know what it is and you are eating it?" Was he just stupid? What was he thinking! Even if it wasn't a Devil Fruit it could have still been toxic! Why is he just sitting there and smiling like this is ok?

"I was hungry. But don't worry I saved you half." He said while holding out the untouched half of the fruit.

Did he seriously think that sharing was the problem here? I had to restrain myself from either smacking the fruit out of his hand or smacking him. So instead I decided to ask him the most important question in as calm a voice as I could manage. Come on Ari you can do this. Don't scream at the guy that you just met even if he is being a huge dumb ass.

"Ace, do you know what kind of fruit that is?"

"A gross one?"

"Yes, but more precisely that is a Devil Fruit."

"What! No way! Which one is it? It better not be something stupid like rubber!" He said while jumping up and looking more closely at the fruit that he had been eating.

"No, I'm pretty sure it isn't rubber." I said while shaking my head at him. But wait, why is rubber the first thing that his mind went to? But more importantly what have I just signed myself up for…

"Huh? How can you tell?"

"Well based upon the fact that you are currently on fire and not freaking out I'm going to guess that you just ate the Flame-Flame Fruit." I said in an annoyed tone of voice. I couldn't even be bothered to try and hide my frustration with him at this point. After I finished speaking Ace just stared at me for a second before looking over his shoulder. Once he saw the flames on his back he proceeded to freak out and start rolling around in the sand. "Stop it you idiot! You ARE fire now. It can't burn you." I yelled at him finally losing my patience.

"But I'm on FIRE!" Ace screamed while continuing to roll around.

"THEN JUST PUT IT OUT!" I shouted back at him.

"I DON'T KNOW HOW!" He yelled back.

At this I just shook my head and sat down with my head in my hands a safe distance away from his flailing limbs. Once I had picked a place to watch my companion freak out I figured I might as well eat the pears that I had just gathered…

After Ace had eaten his Devil Fruit we went back to working on our raft which was almost done, and by the end of the day it was ready to sail. Which I was extremely grateful for. This island was seriously making me cranky. I needed a hot bath, decent food, and new clothes immediately. But while we were waiting for morning to come we were back in our places sitting next to each other and talking. The only difference that night was that instead of watching a fire burn I was watching Ace practice turning his hand into fire.

"So what did your Devil Fruit look like?" Ace asked randomly.

"I don't know actually. I don't remember ever seeing it." I said honestly.

"You don't remember? That seems like something that would be hard to forget."

"Well sure, but I ate my fruit when I was really young." I said with a shrug.

"Really? My little brother ate his when he was young too but he still remembers what his looked like."

"Well how old was he?"

"6 I think. He didn't know that it was a Devil Fruit either. Stupid kid." I feel like I should be worried for that kid if Ace is calling him stupid…

"I've got him beat then. I was, I believe, 7 or 8 months old when I ate mine. Or rather I was fed mine."

"Ok there has got to be a story there. A BABY eating a Devil Fruit?"

"It really isn't as unusual as you might think. But anyways, I obviously don't remember it first hand but I do remember what my mother told me. So my mother used to have this old lady that lived on our island watch me whenever she needed to work, apparently she had been looking after me since I was pretty much a newborn, but I don't remember her at all. One day she decided to give me some watermelon and it turned out to not be a normal fruit. She was really old so she probably was just confused. But either way my mother never let her watch me again after that so I can't say for sure. But that's also why I can do so much with my fruit, I don't remember ever not having it. My fruit and my water is just a part of me and it always has been. Well, as far as I can tell. But anyways, you mentioned a little brother. What is he like? What fruit did he eat?" While I was telling Ace all this I had turned my arms into water which seemed to pique his interest. Huh, maybe just maybe he finds me as distracting as I find him… But as soon as I mentioned his little brother he snapped out of it and his face lit up like the sun.

"You wanna know about Luffy? Well we aren't related by blood but that doesn't mean anything. He is 8 years younger than me and he ate the Gum Gum fruit which turned his body into rubber. It's his dream to…"

WHAT

HAVE

I

DONE

I never should have asked about the kid. He has been gushing about the twerp for over an hour now and has barely even paused to breath. Although, it is sweet how much he cares for the little guy. He kind of reminds me of Sera to be honest... But geez why is he so handsome? His hair, his face, and that body! Ugh, and those freckles are just so adorable! Yup it's official. So long as I can just keep looking at him he can talk about whatever he wants for as long as he wants. Wait what? What is going on here? Come on Ari! You barely even know this guy snap out of it! So he's a little, ok a lot, attractive. But that doesn't mean anything and you know that! For all you know he could be- Wait. When did he stop talking? Is he done now? He's just staring at me. What did he say? Is he waiting for me to respond? Crap, why wasn't I paying attention? Ugh, his stupid face distracted me it's not my fault!

"I'm sorry what? I got a little lost in thought there." I ask while mentally begging him not to notice how flustered I was. Stop staring at me!

"I just asked if Donquixote was your mom's family name? Your dad's name is Silvers but you don't go by that right? So is it like how I chose to go by my mom's name? Sorry if that's personal I was just wondering. " He asked.

"Oh no, it's fine. But to answer your question, no it isn't my mother's name. It's actually my adoptive father's family name."

"Adoptive father? You weren't raised by Rayleigh?"

"Raised by him? Please, he couldn't be bothered to speak to me let alone raise me. But that doesn't matter. Back when I was a little girl I made a friend in school named Seraphina and we became really close. Eventually we just started calling ourselves sisters and so Rosinante, her dad, just took me in basically. He couldn't adopt me legally because my parents are both still alive but he did what he could and he was the one who actually raised me." I could feel a smile creep onto my face as soon as I mentioned dad…

"Sounds like a nice guy."

"I can honestly say that he was the kindest man I have ever met and I am honored to carry his name." I say proudly. I may be 12 pounds of fucked up in a 10 pound bucket but I know that daddy would still be proud of me for making it this far.

"Then it's good that you had him. Pirates don't really make for the best parents do they?"

"No they do not! But you know great men rarely make great fathers. So it was to be expected." Ace snorted at that but didn't say anything else. After a moment I asked "Were you close to your father? You must have been what, 6 or 7 when he was executed?"

"I was 5 but no, I never met him. He got my mom pregnant and never came back. Not even when she died." Ace said with a sneer. Ah, makes sense now why he was touchy about Roger's name…

"I'm sorry. I doubt it'll help at all but, if he was anything like Rayleigh then you were better off without him in your life."

"Yea but enough about them. Tell me about Seraferna." He said while smiling again. But I could still see sadness behind that smile…

"You mean Seraphina?"

"That's what I said."

"No it isn't. But whatever. Well, she is an Ensign in the Marines, she is extremely smart, and she is amazing. She was our dad's only child by blood but that never mattered to us. As soon as we met we were inseparable. I actually was just with her and our older sister up until I set out to find you." I say while smiling again. Talking about my sisters always makes me happy…

"There are three of you?"

"Ya but we didn't find out about Law until about a year ago. Long story short our dad was a Marine and on his last mission he met Law and decided to take her in as one of his kids, kind of like he did with me. Sera and I found out about that eventually and so we went to go find her. She's a pirate over in the North Blue actually."

"Your dad was a Marine? And two of his kids are pirates? How does that happen?"

"Oh come now Ace, are you really saying that we all have to follow in our parents footsteps?"

"Guess not. But why did you become a pirate?"

"I didn't have a choice. Rayleigh decided that when I turned 10 years old that it was time that I 'embraced my destiny' and started learning how to be a pirate. So he shipped me off to apprentice under one of his old friends. All I wanted was to travel the world and be a musician, but I guess I can still do that as a pirate so; so be it. What about you?"

"I'm going to surpass my father. I'm not going to become the pirate king, I am going to be greater than the pirate king." He said with an almost feral smile.

My, well he certainly has dreams of grandeur doesn't he. But still it may be worthwhile to stick around for a bit longer. Just to see where this goes…

"Well. That's a lofty goal you got there. But then again I suppose mine is as well. So what do you say, would you mind too terribly if I tagged along? I am going to become the greatest musician to ever live after all. So we have similar ambitions." I say while resting my head on my hand softly. I also throw in a few bats of my eyelashes just for good measure, and I can see him start to blush and gulp.

"Y- you want to come with me? Why?"

My, my, well would you look at that. I'm not the only one who can be distracting around here now am I?

"Why not? You are going to the top after all and so am I. Face it Ace we are a matching pair in both blood and now in Devil Fruits. Besides you are going to need my knowledge and experience if you are going to have any chance of making it on the Grand Line."

"Hey! I would make it just fine on my own!"

"What, are you saying that you don't want me to come along? You don't want to sail with me?" I said while looking up at him through my lashes and leaning forward slightly more than was necessary. I noticed Ace's eyes dart down for just a split second and his blush deepen. What? A girl has to use what she's got if she's going to get what she wants doesn't isn't she?

"I-I didn't say that…" Got him. But wow that is an impressive blush you've got going on there Ace.

"Then it's settled. You can captain our rag tag bunch of miscreants and I will keep things in check as your first mate. Deal?" I say while snapping back into my normal sitting position.

"Um, uh yea, deal"

When morning came I was more than ready to escape from this hellish island. I swear I will never understand why people enjoy being outside. The sun had just barely risen above the horizon and I was preparing to use my fruit to get our raft out into the sea when Ace suddenly screeched.

"WAIT!" He screeched suddenly causing me to jump more than I cared to admit to.

"What! Is your problem now?" I snapped. Boy, do not test me right now!

"We are a pirate crew now right? We can't set sail without a name or a flag!" He said this as if it was extremely obvious.

"Ace. We don't even have a ship yet. We can work that stuff out when we do. Getting off of this island is more important right now." I said as calmly as possible. Is he seriously keeping me from civilization over something as unimportant as a name?

"No! We can't just set sail on our maiden voyage without a name and a flag! As captain I forbid it!" Ace said while crossing his arms and standing firm. With a groan I moved to sit on the edge of the raft. After that I propped up my right arm on my thigh and slouched to rest my head in my hand. At this point I was just so done with this that I didn't even care about my poor posture. That was how badly I needed to get off this island.

"Well what do you want us to be called then?" I asked in a bored and slightly annoyed tone.

"Huh? Me? Don't you have any ideas?" Ace asked while tilting his head in a way that I refused to think of as cute.

Nope, nope, nope I'm mad at him! He is not being cute right now!

"A crew is usually either named after it's captain's epithet or is in some way inspired by him. Besides, crews are usually named by the Marines since they are the ones who use the name the most. Do you really not know even the basics of piracy?" I asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. At this Ace blushed bright red.

"Of course I know how to be a pirate! I was just asking your opinion! Of course I know that crews are named after their captains. But the Marines are not naming my crew! Screw that!"

"Okay then what is your- No of course you wouldn't have an epithet." The kid just left his hometown a week ago. Why would he have an epithet?

"Are crews always named after the captain's epithet?"

"For the most part. But there are a few that aren't. So if you don't want to wait to name the crew after you get a bounty then I guess you can name the crew anything you want. So what is a defining characteristic of yours that you want us to be known as?" At this point I didn't even care. I just wanted to LEAVE.

"Well I always thought that the Spade Pirates sounded cool." Ok, what?

"Spade? Why spade?"

"You know Ace of Spades, Ace. there's something there trust me."

"Ace of Spades? Really? People are going to think that we are just a bunch of gamblers."

"Nope! It's cool and I've made up my mind. We are now the Spade pirates!" Ace said with a nod and a huge smile on his face. After looking at that smile I knew that I was a goner. Who could say no to a face like that? So with a sigh I agreed to the name.

"Ok cool can we go now or is there something else that we need to work out before we can get off this shithole of an island?" I asked while standing up from my spot on the raft.

"We need a flag!" Ace said, smiling even wider.

"Ok and where exactly are you going to get the fabric and thread to make said flag?" I asked while looking around at the near barren strip of land that we had spent the last week trapped on.

"Um."

"We can make our flag when we get to a proper island and town. I am actually fairly handy with a needle so I can embroider it. Does that work for you Captain?" I asked, my last remark was only slightly sarcastic.

"Ya that sounds good I just wish we had a flag now that we have a crew. It just doesn't feel right." Ace said without a smile. For some reason his non-smiling face made me feel like a horrible person. This man should never be without a smile I decided.

"Don't worry Ace, it's just the two of us and we don't even have a ship yet. I promise that by the time we set sail on an actual ship we'll have a jolly roger flying overhead. I'll even try and put it on the mainsail if you want. Does that work for you?" I asked. Wait. Am I comforting him? Did I just try to make him feel better? What the hell is happening to me? The only person that I ever try to make feel better is Sera and even that is rare! After I said this to him his face once again bloomed into a massive smile and I could feel my face reddening with a blush upon seeing that. What was this guy doing to me? Quick to move on I said, "Ok do we need anything else or can we go?"

"Um, no that should be it right?"

"Great! Now get on so you don't drown trying to get on this thing when it is in the water." After hearing this Ace jumped up onto the raft. When he was settled I used my devil fruit to bring a large wave rushing up onto the sand. The water rose up to my knees before rapidly beginning to retreat back to the shoreline. Our raft was carried into the ocean quietly smoothly by this wave and I was quick to jump on before it got too far away. Once on I continued to use my fruit to propel our raft out into the open ocean. My fruit made the current that surrounded the island basically pointless, we easily passed over it and continued to sail on.

"That has got to be the most useful fruit ever." Ace said to me while watching the waves bend to my will.

"Oh you have no idea just how true that statement is my friend." I said with a chuckle and a smirk.

"Really? Then what is the craziest thing that you can do with it?"

"Hah! Even if I did answer that you wouldn't believe me." I said with a smile that some may call demented, but I just call determined. Ace seemed a bit unnerved for some reason though…

"Remind me never to piss you off."

"Oh Ace, don't try to do the impossible. But don't worry I won't use any of my more creative skills on you unless you really fuck up some how. So basically just don't be a complete piece of shit and I won't kill you. Sound fair?" I said with the perkiest voice and smile I could manage.

"Uh, ya sure. I guess." For some reason he didn't look too terribly reassured by my promise.

Weird.

"Don't look so nervous Captain, this is the start of our adventure!" I said trying to cheer him up. I could tell that it worked when he smiled and stood up to look out over the waves.

"You're right!" After looking out at the horizon he softly said "Man this is going to be one hell of an adventure isn't it?" I looked at his back for a moment before smirking and saying.

"With you involved how could it possibly be anything else?"

Notes: So this is the end of the prologue and next chapter we will be getting into their adventure in earnest. Lemme know what you think and if you have any comments, questions, or concerns! Unfortunately, I don't expect to have chapter three out very soon but I promise that I will do my best to have it out before too long!