Hello Friends! So this chapter has now been betaed by the awesome Wyrdfyre and now has commas. Yay. Also if you are looking for chapter 16 it's be back up with revisions in a few days.

Also if you are interested in how I came up with the number of sailors and cannons on the Marine ships they are VERY loosely based on the British Navy from roughly the 1700's. Also I got all of that information from Wikipedia so 100% for historical accuracy.

Also Also I changed Isuka's rank for the sake of later interactions with Sera.

Warnings at end of chapter

Hey so did y'all see where I said that there were warnings at the end of the chapter? Maybe go give those a read.

PARADISE

"Ace, I love you man!" A random bounty hunter called out before I jump kicked him over the railing of the ship.

"Ugh! Why do these assholes just keep coming?" I shouted to no one in particular as more of the hunters surrounded me and were swiftly dealt with.

"Probably because you and Ace keep getting into trouble!" Skull shouted back, while dispatching his own group of marauders.

"Oh PUH-LEASE! You know that Ace is the one getting into trouble! I just follow behind to clean up after him!"

"You still encourage him!"

"HOW?" I screeched, whipping around to glare at him.

"Guys, is this really the best time for you to be discussing this?" Deuce shouted over to where Skull and I were arguing, while also fighting off more of the bounty hunters that were swarming the deck.

"It's fine man. Look it's almost over anyways." Skull said, gesturing over to where Ace was standing in a clump of bounty hunters in the center of the deck.

Right as Skull said that Ace called out his newest combination attack of, "Flame Commandment! Fire Pillar!" Which resulted in a massive pillar of flames shooting up into the sky and a wave of heat washing over the rest of the deck.

I immediately recoiled and created a thick bubble of water around me before shouting to Ace, "Watch where you throw that shit! Water and fire don't exactly mix you know!"

Ace laughed and said, "Sorry Air! But you're fine, you know I wouldn't burn you!"

"Even if you don't burn me, evaporation is still a thing!" I shouted back.

"You're fine." He said with a smirk before turning to the rest of the bounty hunters still on the deck. "All right you guys lost. So go get the rest of your friends off my ship!"

The attackers were quick to gather up their wounded and flee back to their own vessel. I walked over to where Ace was stretching out his back and said, "Geeze, what is with these bounty hunters? Is it just me or are we getting attacked every day?"

Ace put his arm around my shoulders before saying, "Well that's what happens when you form a kickass pirate crew right?" His smile left me a bit dazed as he called out to the crew, "But we beat them so you guys know that that means right? Time for a party!" The rest of the crew burst out in cheers and started to hurry around to gather supplies.

Rather than going to help them, I wrapped my arms around Ace's middle and rested my head on his chest. He hugged me back and said, "We really did form a pretty great crew didn't we?"

I smirked before saying, "For only having been at sea for a few months I'd have to agree."

After we left Lulusia things had been increasingly hectic. The Marines had decided to blame our crew for not only that attack on Lulusia, but the one on Vira as well. As a result, they raised both mine and Ace's bounties. But for some reason had neglected to issue bounties for anyone else on the crew. Which in turn made us a prime target for every bounty hunter this side of the Red Line, or so it seemed. Although our new found infamy wasn't all bad as it had also led to another 10 men joining our crew over the weeks since we had left Lulusia. Which led to our now 18 strong crew preparing for a party.

"Yea well we may not be the strongest yet but we do have one thing over all those old farts in the New World." Ace said with a smirk.

"Oh? And just what would that be?" I asked.

"You." He said before leaning in to kiss me. I laughed a bit into his kiss, but we quickly fell into a rhythm as our kiss deepened. His hand had just moved up into my hair before we were interrupted by Deuce.

"Hey Captain, are you gonna keep making out with your girlfriend or are you gonna come drink with us?" he called out.

Ace groaned a bit and said, "I forgot they were here." before pulling away and saying, "Yea, yea I'm coming."

Within minutes of Ace saying that, the deck was consumed with booze, food, and laugher. While he was enjoying himself; I stood off to the side looking through my journal. I was making a few revisions to an old song when Ace called out to me.

"Hey Air what are you doing over there? Come party with us!" He said.

"Parties aren't really my thing but thanks." I said as I looked up from my journal. As I did however, I noticed something in the distance.

Is that a ship? Did the bounty hunters come back?

"But even if they were, I don't think we have time. Looks like we've got company." I said, pointing to where multiple ships were emerging from a fog that had swept over the sea.

"Looks like Navy, Captain. And a lot of them, there's got to be at least 10 of em." Saber, one of the newbies, said while looking through a spyglass.

"For shit's sakes! Can we just have one afternoon without SOMEONE hunting us down? Just one? Is that too much to ask or something?" Ace moaned as he put down his drink and came to stand at the railing with me and Saber.

"It is when you become an infamous pirate babe." I said.

"Yea, yea, you keep sayin that."

"Maybe that's because I know what I'm talking about. You might wanna try listening to me in the future."

"I listen to you plenty! Like back when-" Ace started to say, but was interrupted when Skull shouted.

"Oh shit, is that the Nailer?"

Excuse me?

"The who?" I asked, trying to hold in a laugh.

What self respecting Marine in their right mind would call themselves "The Nailer"? Obviously not anyone I know.

Skull ignored me and said, "Marine Lieutenant Isuka. She isn't someone we want chasing us."

"Why? And what's with that nickname? Is she a shipwright or something?" Ace asked.

That's where his mind went? Oh Ace, you are so innocent.

"She uses a rapier to stab people and leave them full of holes. So, that paired with the fact that she's known for being ridiculously persistent makes her someone I would prefer to avoid."

"Something tells me she isn't too concerned with your preferences, given the fact that she is currently coming at us with an entire fleet." I said.

"Can't you deal with it Air? You know - like you did back on Lulusia?" Ace asked.

"I can't take out 10 ships on my own! 4 yes, 5 maybe. But no, not 10." I said.

What does he think I am? Immortal?

Deuce ran up to us from out of nowhere and said, "You don't have to, there is a reef up ahead. If we can lure them into it and you keep us from running aground, then we can get away."

"That might work. I can gather water under our ship so we'll float over the rocks but that will also lower the water level around us which will make it even harder for them to avoid crashing." I said.

"Perfect. Then we need to-" He was interrupted, however, by someone landing on the deck.

I looked over to see that it was a Marine woman who looked to be slightly older than me. She had chin length red hair and was wearing a justice cape. Instead of attacking right away, she instead looked around and said, "This is a nice ship you have here. Looks a lot like mine."

Ace was the one to step forward and addressed her by saying, "Thanks you must have good taste to have one just like it."

"Right. But I think we both know who has the 'good taste' here. Isn't that right, Ariadne? Tell me, how does it feel to turn your back on the people who raised you? Does it feel good to be nothing more than a traitor?"

Well, this conversation took a turn. Just who the hell does this bitch think she is?

I put on my sickly sweet smile and said. "Wow, I'm honored. To think that a no name rookie like you would know who I am. I mean, it's obvious that you aren't from headquarters. So you must have taken the time to look me up. Tell me, are you a fan?"

"Where I'm from doesn't matter. Everyone knows who you are and how you betrayed the Marines. The Hero himself took you under his wing and you stabbed him in the back." She said with a sneer.

Oh ho ho you want to go there do you?

"What I did or didn't do is none of your concern darling. So, why don't you run along before I show you just how much I learned from your precious Hero." I said while cracking my knuckles.

I am going to destroy this bitch.

I was about to take a step towards the Marine when Ace stepped in instead. While walking up to her he said, "If you have a problem with one of my crew then you have a problem with me."

"I have nothing against you personally, but I do have to take you in so I can get to that sea witch you call a crew mate." She said before taking out her sword and lunging at Ace.

"Ari we need to get into that reef now." Deuce said, distracting me from the fight.

"Uh, right." I said before jogging up to the quarterdeck.

Ace should be able to handle her, right?

Once I was up there, I quickly tied a rope to the railing before grabbing it tight and jumping overboard. Rather than diving into the water, I planted my feet against the hull just above the waterline and let one of my hands drag in the water.

"Search." I whispered, while closing my eyes and letting my fruit take over.

With all of my attention focused on my fruit, I was able to see the ocean and the way that it moved. So I felt my way through the waves until I could feel the hulls of the Marine ships coming after us.

Ok, so there are a total of 14 ships approaching from the west. Looks like 7 3rd rates, 6 2nd rates, and only 1 first rate. Ok so, that makes a total of roughly 2,125 men and 482 cannons heading straight for us.

Ok yea we need to deal with this now. They do not need to get any closer to us.

Once I'd catalogued the oncoming threat I turned my attention to the sea ahead to see what reef Deuce had mentioned.

Ok - that looks like it should work…

The reef, for the most part, was made up of rocks that sat just below the surface of the water. While some of them looked small enough to break against the hull of a ship, the vast majority were tall, thick, and could easily wreck a ship.

After figuring out everything that I needed, I jumped back up to the deck and immediately went to work calling the sea to our aid. While I was going through the large sweeping motions necessary to bend the ocean to my will I could hear that Ace was still dealing with the Marine on deck.

Why is he playing with her so much? Just kill her already…

I rolled my eyes as I could hear him bantering with the girl about her name sounding like a bird or something equally pointless. But by this point our ship was safely on a raised wave sailing above the rocks in the water as the Marine ships began their attempt at surrounding us.

Maybe I'll just pull a little extra water under us to be safe. Well, safe for us at least…

I had just raised our ship up a bit more when I heard the first scream of a ship having hit the rocks. The fight down on deck came to a standstill as Deuce pointed out the situation of the fleet to Isuka.

"What, are you running away now?" Ace called to her as she broke away from their fight and started running to the railing.

"No! I'm saving my men!" She responded before diving off the ship.

Idiot, she does realize that if the rocks are enough to sink a ship then they are definitely enough to kill a person, right? Especially one as pathetic as her…

I didn't bother to look to see where she was as I continued to protect my ship. That is until I heard Skull say, "Wow, she's incredible!"

What?

At that my head snapped up, and I looked to see Isuka struggling in the waves and making a desperate attempt to help the men she had lead to their deaths.

What's so incredible about flailing around in the ocean like a toddler? Honestly, what does she think she is even doing? Oh wow! She got a Marine to a floating barrel! He's saved! Even though the only ship left undamaged for miles around is ours. Besides, I'm the one who saved our asses here! Seriously, don't they-

WHAT THE HELL IS ACE DOING?

Ace had just thrown a life persevere to Isuka, who was close to drowning.

"Why did you save me?" She screamed back at him.

Ace shrugged and said, "Felt like it." before turning his back on her.

Why would he even bother? Although I suppose pitying the weak isn't the worst thing to do. Besides it's not like we'll be seeing her again anytime soon. But still…

After the mini fight with the Marines, we carried on our course as well as our party. But this time I didn't keep to the sidelines and went to sit with Ace instead. Then I was quickly reminded of why I prefer to avoid drinking as I fell face first into the bottle.

"Ugh that little bitch was so annoying! I mean just who did she think she was? Coming over here and spouting all that bullshit like she actually knows what the fuck she was talking about!" I said loudly from my spot next to Ace with only minimal slurring.

Geeze why is the world spinning all of a sudden? Ok maybe I've had a little much to drink…

"She was a nice person!" Ace said.

"Nice? She's a dumbass!"

"I don't know about her being a dumbass, but I have no idea why she would say that you had anything to do with Vice Admiral Garp." Skull said.

"Garp? Who said anything about him?" Ace said, as he immediately started sweating from something other than the booze.

"She said that Ari was under the wing of 'The Hero', which is what the Marines all Vice Admiral Garp."

"Wait, what?" Ace shouted as he and everyone else turned to stare at me.

"Ugh! How are you still sober enough to give a shit about this?" I moaned as I slumped over onto Ace's lap.

Mmm so warm and comfy…

Ace stabbed me in the ribs with his finger and said, "What the hell Air! You mentioned that you knew him not that you were trained by him!"

"It was years ago! I haven't seen him in forever! Who gives a shit!" I whined.

"We give a shit!" The majority of the crew shouted.

"UGH! FINE! He was just my mentor when I went to school in Marineford. So he just taught me how to throw a punch and all that bullshit. There, happy?"

"HOLY SHIT! THAT IS INSANE! HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGE THAT?"

"I don't know I was just a kid! Besides Garp's a D, who the hell knows what he was thinking! Like you!" I said sitting up quickly and pointing at Ace. "You are so damn confusing! How can you be so stupid, but also be so strong? How can you be such an ass most of the time, but still be kinda sweet… and cute… and really, really, really sexy all the time... I don't like D's, they hurt my brain!" I shook my head before having to stop as the world suddenly switched to the spin cycle.

"I don't know if that was a complement or not?" Ace said.

"I don't know either. But what I do know is that I need something to drink!" I shouted before grabbing a bottle of whiskey, breaking it open and then downing the whole thing. "Come on boys let's get drunk!"

"You already are!"

"Oh… Then let's get double drunk!"

As the evening wore on, Ace and I found ourselves at the back of the ship. At some point, he had decided that i'd had enough to drink, so we sat down somewhere quiet watching the waves as the salty air cleared my head. Originally, we'd sat on the railing talking to each other, but we eventually moved onto communicating in a more… physical… way. Sat in his lap, our innocent kisses turned deeper as he sat against the deck house.

"You are so beautiful." Ace said as he pulled back from our kiss and ran his fingers through my hair.

I panted lightly, stroking his face as Isaid, "So are you."

"Don't you mean that I'm 'really really really sexy'?"

"Shut up." I said before leaning in to kiss him again.

"Mmm so good." He whispered quietly against my lips.

"Such a good girl."

I jerked back from Ace as I heard his voice in my head.

NO shut up! Stop it! We aren't going there! Nope!

"Ari?" Ace asked hesitantly.

"Nothing. It's nothing." I quickly leaned in and kissed him as hard and as passionately as I could.

Just don't think about it. Focus on Ace. You're fine. See? You're just fine.

I forced my body to loosen up after it had tensed as Ace and I settled back into a comfortable momentary distraction was soon forgotten as we kept holding each other and kissing. Ace moved his hand from my upper back to hold my hip as I settled closer to his chest. Another moment passed, and he moved his hand up my side. Again he held it there before moving it a bit higher. However, the moment I felt his fingertips slide under my shirt, the world came crashing down around me as my mind was sent into a memory from a time I have always fought to forget...

"That's a good girl…"

"Such pretty blonde hair…"

I immediately flew away from Ace, my mind flooding with nightmares that I could never truly escape from.

I could feel the hard floor boards under my knees. I could hear the waves crashing against the wall next to me. I could smell the damp musty air mixing with his scent.

I could feel his hands on me.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

NO

Scrambling to my feet, as I tried, unsuccessfully, to shove the memories from my mind. Ace reached out for me, but as he did I recoiled and sprinted to the railing. Without pausing I threw myself over it and dove into the water below, turning my body into water seconds before I hit the surface of the sea and just let the waves carry me away into their depths.

A school of bright red fish darted in front of my face and startled me out of my daze. I blinked my water eyelids while I looked around. I was sitting on the ocean floor, having not moved from the place I'd sunk to when I jumped overboard. Fish flitted around, uncaring of my presence as they swam around a seaking that passed by. I ran my transparent fingers through the sand under me, using it to ground my thoughts into reality, rather than the horrors of my past that over run my mind.

What am I supposed to do now?

Why am I so incapable of holding my shit together around Ace?

Sure, when I had that meltdown on Vira Ace didn't mind my spectacular display of weakness. But maybe he just doesn't mind having weak people on his crew? After all he has let everyone else onto the crew without figuring out if they could fight beforehand.

But this is different.

This isn't about being able to fight this is about being able to be intimate. FUCK! He barely even touched me and I completely lost it. Seriously, just how pathetic do you have to be to completely lose your shit and run away just because your BOYFRIEND touched you Ari? Why am I even still bothered by this! It was years ago! Just forget about it and move on! You aren't a weak little kid anymore, so just get over it!

But I'm not strong enough yet. Am I?

I'm not good enough.

And I never will be…

Because no matter what, HE will always be in my mind… I can never escape… Not really...

So what do I do now? Are you just going to let that asshole control your life even more than he already does? Are you going to let him take away the best thing you've found in years?

No?

Then grow the fuck up and get it over with.

With my mind made up I kicked off the ocean floor and started to leisurely propel myself towards the surface. But before I could reach it another thought occurred to me and so I grabbed onto a nearby whale to pull me along while I got lost in my thoughts once again.

Wait…

If I'm going to do this then I'm going to have to tell him, aren't I?

But if I do, then he'll know just how fucked up I really am…

Spoiled goods right?

But if I don't then will I really be able to go through with this?

Guess I'm just going to have to go for it...

Having come to that conclusion I let go of the whale and used my fruit to propel myself towards the surface in search of the ship. By the time that I eventually found the ship and had heaved myself over the railing my body felt like it was made of lead. I had been under the waves for longer than I usually would be and as a result my body and mind were exhausted. My slow progress across the deck was halted by Ace running up to stand in my way.

"Ari, what the hell is going on?" He asked.

"I'm fine." I said weakly.

"No, you're not. Fuck, did I do something? What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Air just talk to me."

"I can't."

If I do, then you'll leave me...

"Fine then." Ace snapped before walking away.

After watching Ace walk away, I stumbled to my cabin, falling into bed still soaking wet.

Warnings:

Memories of childhood sexual assault. While it is not graphically depicted there are some lines of what was said while Ariadne was being assaulted. Also there is a good deal of self deprecating thoughts regarding the aftermath of being assaulted. Should you choose to skip this section of the chapter then it would be best to stop reading after the page break starting with "The evening wore on until night had fallen and I found Ace and I at the back of the ship having a party of our own." Which starts under the second line break. So from that point down to the end of the chapter is what contains the potentially triggering material.

Summary of skip-able part: After the party the crew has Ari and Ace are chilling on the back of the ship making out and being a cute couple. Ace touches Ari is a seemingly innocent way which causes her to have a flashback to a time when she was assaulted. She then jumps overboard and sits on the ocean floor to try and figure out what she is going to do. She decides that she doesn't want to let the man who abused her "control her life" and so she makes up her mind to sleep with Ace despite her unresolved trauma.

Also I just want to say that Ariadne is an extremely unhealthy person. She has gone through a lot of traumatic events in her life and has done next to nothing to cope with the aftermath. So please please please do not think that she is setting a good example of how to deal with abuse or anything else that she has gone through. The point of this story is a character study into the effects of a more realistic look at the One Piece world and how that world would shape a more realistic person (not a D.) when they are thrown into the deep end. And then how they would overcome those hardships and attempt to become a happy, healthy person. Also I am not a psychologist so I am not qualified to provide a how to guide for over coming trauma.

Also also please know that I will NOT be writing out a detailed description of what happened to Ariadne at any point in this story and this is the most graphic of a depiction I will be including. I simply refuse to describe a little girl being violated. Exploring the aftermath and recovery of such an event, yes but putting that kind of vile horror into the world, absolutely not.