Well I'm two days late, guess that's what I get for arrogantly stating a date despite knowing off my procrastination. For those who know MBTI I am a strong P and very rarely cross over into J territory. As such I absolutely suck at trying to organize my life let alone a writing pattern. Oh well that's what I get. IMPORTANT TO ALL READERS I updated the last chapter and added more than a thousand words onto the end, as such this chapter will lead on from that. If nothing makes sense from when you last read the story then go back to chapter eight and finish it.

Son of Whitebeard: WHY ARE WE SHOUTING? I THINK LUCY WILL BE EVEN MORE FRUSTRATED IN THIS ONE.

Kanachan876: Thank you, I plan to go way beyond 100k even before the start of the story proper (romance dawn). I have not only the childhood arc, but most likely at least two major arcs afterword's before we meet Coby. Her devil fruit allows her to split anything within a set distance (5 meters) of her in half, allowing her to effectively partition anything in the world. It has a bunch of rules though which can be found at the end of chapter 4. I have never had anyone wish for my happiness online, guess there's a first for everything.

Daily fun fact: A pineapple was such a large status symbol in 18th century England that you could rent it for a day

Writing in Italics

Techniques and devil fruits in underline

I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE, and I never will

Chapter 9 start: Dadans house, third day around 19:00

Dadan the mountain bandit didn't take kindly to having her introduction being responded with 'sh*t', in her eyes it was probably a slight at her name. Lucy could tell because the veins in her head started to pop in a classical anime like style. Dadans overly square jaw started to grind the but of her cigarette with such ferocity that Lucy thought for a second she might bight straight through it. Something stopped Dadan though and instead she merely responded in a low growl that seemed to echo from her barrel like body ''you what brat?''

Lucy probably would have properly been able to regret offending a person who held her life in her oversized ogre like hands if not for the fact a small aftershock of pain erupted from her head. It was not as bad as when she touched her head but it was enough to cause her vision to blur slightly. What had she done to her head!? In her silence the bandit leader seemed to catch her anger and instead as she looked at the girl shaking slightly in apparent pain she moved on. No, not move on, there was still some anger in her movements at the apparent slight but Dadan moved to a small table in the room. On top of it was a wooden bowl, poorly made with large chips running down some of the edges, which the woman grabbed roughly. With her item in hand she marched over to Lucy in large but cautious steps and without much fanfare simply said ''drink''

It took Lucy a couple of seconds to straighten from her slightly bent over position she had adopted whilst leaning against the wall. Once she did though she could gaze at the liquid inside, it was a pinkish color not quite white but closer to it than red. Within it were small pieces of a green…thing swimming in the small swirls the liquid made as the different shades of it played uncaringly together like the wind. It seemed that she had taken too long to grasp the bowl from the woman as she pushed it towards her in an almost aggressive manor ''Take the bowl brat''

Despite being asked, it took until Dadan nearly bit through her cigarette before Lucy finally grabbed the bowl staring at the substance in mute silence. Her mind wondering to all the different possibilities it could be. As the thinking slowly brought back the slow throbs of her pain she decided to simply ask ''what is it?'' To which all she got was a small growl from her benefactor as Dadan seemed to take her questioning as to what Lucy could only assume to be a challenge to her authority. Eventually the older woman responded in an annoyed tone of ''it's a pain killer all right brat! Now take it and stop complaining!''

The conformation of the substances identity made something inside her yearn to drink it, if just to stop her head from splitting open in pain every thirty seconds. A different part of her head, the one that warned her about the mushrooms sprang back to life and commented quite cheerfully that this is exactly what happened last time. At the memories of her illusionary conjurations she paused in her drive to be free of the pain in her head. The slow banging was bad, but nothing was worse than having every nerve flare in imaginary pain. As such she was about to give it back to the mountain bandit who was growing angrier with each second as she paused when a massive spike of pain racked her head again. While not to the intensity of her first large spike it was still enough to cause her to wince in agony as it sent aftershocks of pain through her skull. Eventually it overpowered her and she had to clench her eyes shut once more. It was during the third perhaps the forth wave that the bowl was forcibly grabbed from her hands and as she went to protest it was shoved to her lips and the contents was poured inside.

It was foul, not to the point of the partition-partition fruit but it was defiantly a medicine based off of the flavor. It sat uncomfortably in her mouth as she tried desperately to spit it out. But no matter how much she tried to spit it out, no matter how much she struggled to get away Dadan forced the liquid down her throat. Eventually Lucy just gave up struggling, she very much doubted she would have been brought here to be poisoned. In fact if they wanted her to die the mountain bandits should have just left her in the jungle while she was knocked out by whatever it was and let the wild animals finish the job. If she was here, in what must have been a medical bay, then someone one must have gone through the effort to carry her all the way up the mountain.

It took around thirty seconds for the liquid to drain, even still the flavor persisted on her tongue for a couple of minute's afterwards. In that time the sharp spikes of pain came and went, each smaller than the last aftershock. Silence ruled the roost as she just focused on getting over each one with increasing success. It was Dadan who broke the silence as she commented with a huff ''Well that wasn't so hard was it stupid idiot? The effects should kick in about ten minutes, so don't go around causing trouble for your head before that. It won't save you from your stupidity, got it!?''

Despite the small spikes of pain, that still shook her from time to time Lucy knew better than to let someone who had helped her, let alone someone so dangerous hanging, so responded with a simple ''Thank you Dadan'' The reply seemed to please the overweight bandit leader as some of the aggression at her disrespect left. Dadan took a long draw of her cigarette, which seemed almost attached to her mouth and with one large finger pointed at Lucy commented ''and don't you forget it brat, now then who the hell even are you?''

It took some time for Lucy to realize that she wasn't here because of Garp like she assumed. All this time she imagined he'd found her with his haki in the middle of her hallucinations and put her under Dadans care. It seemed the most probable answer to how she got here. Naturally the assumption was that if Garp had spirited her away here then he would threaten the bandits with her protection, whilst bragging about his granddaughter. But if that wasn't the case then who did carry her up mount Colubo?

Once again at her apparent dismissal Dadan seemed to grow even more annoyed, not wanting to fear the wrath of someone stronger than her Lucy quickly introduced herself ''My name is –'' Well she would have if a man hadn't interrupted. Or was it a chicken? He had one of the greatest handlebar mustaches Lucy had ever seen, but that wasn't the best bit. He had a red Mohawk that was styled in such a way to resemble a rooster's comb, his goatee was also red and styled in such a way that it resembled a roosters wattles. Like Dadan his eyes and nose were incredibly small in comparison to the rest of his face, his eyes seemed to be almost complete circles, no real eyelids to be found giving him a weird always surprised look. Combined with his small almost negligible eyebrows, and most importantly his slightly agape mouth made him look really weird. In terms of the rest of his body he had a stupidly large neck like Dadan but the rest of his body was slimmer, more compact. He wore a simple white top, with a brown overcoat with yellow buttons and highlights running down on the inside like ceremonial army jackets. Except this jacket had any shoulder pads and it clearly wasn't for an officer. Based on how much he filled out the jacket he probably couldn't use the buttons regardless. Around his neck was a simple golden scarf that he had tied in a Georgian not with the end fanning out in an almost decorative style. Unlike Dadan he didn't where a belt but instead a golden stash which acted as a way to hold his cutlass at his belt. He had simple grey trousers on, not gold much to Lucy's delight, and possessed worn but usable leather boots on his feet.

Despite barging in so suddenly and interrupting their deteriorating conversation the man simply stared at Dadan as he controlled his breath. Then he shouted so loudly that Lucy's head spiked in pain again ''Boss theirs an issue!''

With the attention away from her Lucy could focus on trying to ignore the pain, Dadan only made it worse when she shouted back ''What is it!?'' Annoyance on her face at being interrupted again. The rooster man would have responded but a shout of ''Dadan get out here!'' reverberated through the house. In an instant despite the pain Lucy recognized the voice, it had annoyed her for days and she was aware of who it was. It seemed her Grandfather had come to visit. Dadan realized that to because in a burst of speed that bellied her size rushed through the door to the infirmary, to what must have been the front door. Swearing all the while. The rooster and the dwarf followed almost the instant that she started moving. It took only three seconds before Lucy was left alone in the infirmary, well not alone as she noticed a man on a different cot with a large red gash on his leg. White puss, was visible from just under the skin much to her disgust. It seemed that someone had rubbed a medicinal paste on the wound though as a green substance coated the rough area of the gash.

Left with the option of siting in the medical bay looking at the man's affliction or following the rough direction Dadan had taken, Lucy made up her mind. After all there seemed to some type of loud conversation over to her right. And she had learned the hard way that if you didn't go to Garp then he went to you no matter what. Even in the bath, that was a bad memory.

As she passed through the corridor she came across the main hall of the hideout, it was reasonably large, but curiously not even a table was in the middle. In its place was a large wok in the middle of the room and a stack of small beige mats stacked to one side. It didn't take her long to realize they were sitting mats. It seemed that the house was built in an East Asian-esk style in that you sat on the floor to eat at. Almost directly across from the entrance she came from was the main one, well it probably was considering that she could hear an arguing Dadan try plead to Garp from it. She couldn't actually see the woman as the whole bandit clan had taken to milling around the front door, talking to themselves. There must have been around thirty in Lucy opinion all waring a rough uniform code of a simple shirt, jacket, golden sash, cutlass, turbans, Dadan green and brown trousers, some had other weapons like daggers or pistols located on their body. All in all they looked recognizable enough as part of a crew but they each had personal touches. None of them where female and in a weirdly cruel way none of them looked important, they all looked…average. Considering that almost every important character had something that made them unique it was a weird fact of life that to look average translated poorly. Though Shanks's crew was perhaps the exemption if you disregard their heights.

All the mountain bandits chatted with each other in low tones as they tried to each get a view of what was going on. None of them even turned to acknowledge her presences to which she was grateful for. Outside the argument must have gotten heated as she heard her grandfather shout ''my granddaughter is inside the building! I can sense her! Get her out here now!'' But instead of her head brutally murdering her, the pain was dulled somewhat. It seemed that the pink liquid was a pain killer, much to Lucy's enjoyment.

Dadan responded back shouting ''How was I supposed to know that the brat was your Granddaughter?! She didn't even tell us her name! Dogra go get the girl out here!'' At that shout something forced the bandits to move as they parted for the dwarf from before. He seemed slightly shaken by whatever had been said before she arrived. But as he noticed her standing in the door frame he relaxed slightly then with a 'cometh forth' motion with his hand said ''Hey girl get over here'' It also seemed that with him outing her existence she had gotten the attention of every bandit in the hideout as they all turned to stare at her. Thirty pairs of eyes all gleamed from the semi darkness of the room, and Lucy felt each and every one on her. She was no stranger to being center stage but their gazes were evaluating, judging almost as if they determined her very worth. Unconsciously she tried to shy away from the gazes, but Dogra once again called her from across the room stating ''Girl please get over here'' Something in his tone was desperate. Based on what she knew about her grandfather he'd probably expected that if she refused the man would break through the wall to get to her. Considering his introduction in water seven that wasn't so farfetched. So with measured steps and thirty one bandits staring at her she made her way across the room. It must have been around ten seconds but in the silence it lasted longer. Eventually she managed to reach Dogra despite the gazes. He took control of the situation when she didn't make any move by grasping her hand and dragging her through the small corridor.

The sun was blinding when they finally got through the cloth covering the front door. It took Lucy a couple of seconds before she could see anything without an almost death glare blurring it out but once it was gone she noticed her grandfather in all his glory. He was in a black suit, buttons all done up, with a white undershirt on underneath. Despite being more formally dressed than anytime Lucy had seen him without his navy uniform on, he seemed more laid back with one hand in his trouser pockets and a noticeable slouch. When she fully walked forward from her location inside the door way he smiled at her and with a grin on his face said ''Hey there Lucy, seems you've survived the jungle, even made your way here. Great! I don't have to drag you up here then'' At this he paused and looked at something above her eye and commented ''Nice bruise''

Quite frankly at this moment Lucy wanted to strangle him, she wanted to swing her hands and partition the man into four. How dare he throw a child into a dangerous jungles with limited tools and tell them to survive! How dare he throw her in a jungle and tell her to survive! She was not one to easily anger, but he had no justification for what he did! Even now she could still feel the hunger now that the pain in her head had taken a back seat. She could still remember the hallucinations, the thirst… and for a moment she nearly committed to her anger. But something held her back, the rational part of her brain and so instead of trying to partition her 'Grandfather' she merely dug her nails into the palm of her hand. The pain of the action grounding her impulses till she could bottle up the rage.

Something must have been present on her face though as her grandfather stopped grinning and asked ''what's wrong you got something to say?'' It seemed to be an almost childish question, no malice and yet it still nearly broke through the dam she had created. Once again she dug her nails into her palm, as her teeth started grind but still she broke through and responded ''No …Grandfather''

Garp didn't comprehend her feelings, or care, as he moved on from her to Dadan behind her who at this point was still slightly confused. In a business like voice he stated ''Dadan'' when the woman responded with a confirmatory ''Yes Garp-san!?'' he carried on with ''you will take care of my Granddaughter, and raise her along with Ace'' His declaration was met with silence then Dadan, Dogra and the chicken man all responded with a comedic shout of ''NO WAY!''

It seemed that he expected this response as he removed his hand from his pocket and started cracking both knuckles very loudly while stating ''Your crimes are as numerous as the stars, and yet I have overlooked all of them. However I'm going to give you an ultimatum, either accept my demand or be arrested for your crimes. Choose here and now!''

All three of the bandits gulped audibly at the threat, however they seemed to not be dominated fully as Dogra shot back with ''But we can't even control Ace, he's too much!'' This was backed by Dadan as she added ''He's eleven now, and giving him an order is next to impossible and now you want to add another one?!'' At this she turned and faced Lucy with suspicion in her eyes like she was some type of bomb waiting to go off.

Garp carried on like their grievances where inconsequential ''Oh and that reminds me, Lucy!'' He waited until she had faced him again when he reached into his suit through the gap at the top and pulled her hat from inside ''I didn't want you having this, in fact I would rather burn it...However. The bar tender… Makino, I think it was, insisted very much that you received it. Something about this hat having a special meaning? One that meant everything to you or something? So here take it'' And with that he threw her hat at her. For a second she almost didn't catch it, but his aim was almost perfect and with a second to spare she caught it by the rim.

Shank's hat…her hat wasn't damaged in any way. It was slightly crumpled from being carried inside her Grandfathers suit but apart from that it was perfectly fine. The sight of it brought back memories of Shanks, of all the small adventures they went on and for a moment she could have sworn she heard the name 'Lu' on the wind, quite yet so much like him. It was something she never really knew she would miss. Without much fanfare she put it on her head, the feeling of a presence on her forehead oddly reassuring.

Everyone was staring at her now, and whilst she was content to let the talking fall to silence she knew that her grandfather didn't have to give her hat back. As such she turned her gaze back to her grandfather and said ''Thank you Grandfather''. It might have been an illusion of the light, but something changed when she thanked him, he seemed to slouch more a tension gone. In true Garp fashion he ruined it by joyfully boasting ''I guess I am a good grandfather'' Lucy had to hold back the nasty little comeback she would unleash on him about the validity of that statement.

His joy was replaced in an instance with a sudden expression of a seriousness that Luffy had never seen on his face, but then it was gone back to a smile. If that wasn't confusing enough he then turned his head off to the side so that he was facing the tree line of the jungle and stated to no one present ''So your back…Ace!''

No one knew what was going on then a grunt of confirmation sounded from a small bump just beyond the tree line. The first thing that Lucy saw was the large grey animal that she never would have guessed existed so close to her. It was so large it was almost even to Garp in size and he was close to ten feet (304.8cm) tall. After a while staring at the humongous carcass she finally noticed the shadowy figure at the top. In comparison to the corpse he was tiny, almost passible as a flee and yet he stared down with his eyes covered over by darkness so that if one looked really hard they could see his eyes. He was wearing the same clothes from the time he saved her last; red top, black shorts and an elbow protector. But his metal pole was somehow broken. Unlike the last time she saw it when he was facing down Higuma someone must have taken a sword and cut the thing into two unequal pieces as one end was almost double the other. He still held both with the same intensity and after a couple of moments observing she noticed that he seemed to be gazing at her with his obsidian black eyes.

Garp as always broke the ice first by walking closer to the animal carcass and with a smile on his face said ''Ace, I'm leaving your sister here, make sure she doesn't die while I'm gone alright!?'' Ace simply continued staring at her with such intensity that it made the bandits from before look like infants. He seemed to not only ignore Garps question but also Dadan shouting ''so it's confirmed then!?'' The only thing he did was stare her dead in the eyes.

Despite the distance, she managed to locate the anger in them…directed at her? Apart from the one time with Higuma she had never met him in this life, and yet he stared at her with such anger that it was almost as if he wanted to walk over and strangle her to death. It took Lucy aback and for a moment only they existed as they continued their stare down between one angry predator and a confused prey.

Garp must have said his goodbyes during their staring contest, because like before he started walking back down the mountain side with his hand raised above his head in a farewell while shouting over his shoulder ''Goodbye Lucy! Goodbye Ace! Don't forget to be good marines!'' And with that he quickly vanished back down the small dirt path.

With Garp gone the three bandits collapsed into a sighing pile as Dadan started to mock the leaving man.

''Hey Dadan, can you just take another one of my stupid brats thank you'' Dadan said in her best impression of Garp. Dogra and chicken man both stated to panic whispering ''Boss…what if he hears you?'' The bandit leader snorted at that and responded ''As long as we do what he says then he doesn't care what we say about him. I've known him most of my life and he's never been one to end friendships over such petty reasons'' Despite what she was saying about Lucy's biological grandfather her mouth twitched slightly in a smirk. Almost as if she truly valued the man as a friend, but it was gone before Lucy could read any further as Dadan turned to face her.

''So your Garps brat huh kid?'' Unlike before which was said with much less anger, her question was said with more reservation. As if the large woman had come to the realization of who she was, and she couldn't be bothered to care, so she just go with the flow. Deciding now would be the best time to finish her introduction since she was interrupted the first time ''Yes…I am Monkey D Lucy. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance'' Deciding that it was probably the best course of action as she was in an Japanese dominated world she bowed afterwards.

It clearly wasn't something Dadan expected as for a couple of seconds after Lucy returned from her bow the woman just stared at her. Then she commented ''Huh at least one of his brats has manors…well what do you know'' something shifted in their shaky and new relationship as the woman seemed to lose a lot of the stress. In her mind she probably though that Lucy would have been another Ace, wild and unresponsive…like Luffy.

Now that Lucy seemed to be a more responsible person the bandit turned to Ace who had jumped off his kill and had been walking through the small clearing towards them and said ''Well brat take care of your sister…and learn some lessons of respect from her while you're at it''

Ace said nothing simply walking forward eyes on the entrance of the hideout, it wasn't until he was next to them that he muttered ''don't tell me what to do'' and with that said he walked passed them in such a way that the chicken man was forced to hug the wall. With a wave of the cloth over the front door Ace disappeared from sight into the dark bowls of the building, then he was gone. All three bandits and Lucy stared at the cloth for a second as it swung slightly in its readjustment then Dadan brought a hand to her face and muttered ''What am I going to do with that kid''

''It's just a rebelliousness faze boss, he'll grow out of it'' said the chicken guy as he peeled himself off the wall. Dogra nodded in agreement adding his two pence ''and if he doesn't then we'll just wait until he leaves at seventeen, that's only six more years boss. Then we can get back to being bandits and not baby sitters''

''He better for the sake of my mental health…I swear'' after Dadan muttered that she turned to Lucy and with a drag of her cigarette said ''since we're stuck with you for now on I'll make sure your useful. But first I'll have one of the men show you your bed and sleeping area. You will be sharing, so I don't want any complaints brats! You might be Garps grandchild and a girl at that but I don't play favorites! Supper is at 21:00 every day without fail, that's our main meal. I will be explaining what you're going to do during your stay there at today's one…but for now go get a bath kid you smell like a swamp. You look like one too!''

With her peace said the bandit marched back indoors quickly followed by Dogra and chicken man, leaving Lucy to stare at the cloth that acted as the front door to their new house.

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21:00 Dadans house:

The food was poor, not even close to restaurant level food. Heck it wasn't even close to Makino level of good. But it was food and after the whole trip through the forest it was good. A small bowl of rice and a lump of meat done in the classical One piece way. It wasn't enough to satisfy her hunger but it defiantly was the best meal she had in the whole experience. To make matters worse Ace had been staring at her the whole time, the dark gaze from before still around as he bit into chunk after chunk of Buffalo all the while.

Lucy was getting annoyed, the first time it was slightly off putting the intensity of his gaze, but it never stopped. As the meal dragged on it started to become a bad joke. She turns to evaluate the people around her and what does she see but Ace staring at her. She goes and eats her meal and looks up and what does she see but Ace staring at her. She participates in some minor talk about who she was to Dadan to break the ice and what does she see but Ace staring at her.

''Hey brat!'' Dadan shouted through her mouthful, spiting chunks of buffalo everywhere '' I told you earlier that I would be dishing out your duty's. Starting tomorrow you're going to be getting down to some hard work! Sweeping, cleaning, shoe-shining, weapon polishing and chopping the wood for the fires! Theft, looting, swindling and murder!''

Lucy didn't really want to do any work to be honest. Call it privilege from spending eight years of this life doing nothing but reading, maybe a little bit of helping Makino with wiping down the tables. But it was the last section that really frustrated her, like before with Higuma she didn't want to be a criminal. A weapon for gain. Sure Dadan didn't know about her devil fruit but for how long, and when she realized her power there was no doubt in Lucy's mind that the woman would try to utilize it in less than moral ways.

Lucy didn't want to hurt anyone, to steal from anyone, it went against everything she could remember of her old life. People's lives where not so cheap as to throw them away like this world did. She didn't want to stoop to that low where she killed and stole for profit.

''Dadan'' She started only to be interrupted by the woman getting in her face and shouting ''Dadan-sama or Boss got it brat'' The sudden interruption shook her courage for a second but then she continued ''Dadan-sama'' the woman who had finally finished eating the buffalo grunted in confirmation as she started pouring herself a cup of Sake ''I don't mind doing chores or jobs, but I refuse to murder or steal from anyone''

Dadan seemed to not understand what she was saying for a moment and then the gravity of her words went through. Unlike before when she shouted her questions in anger the woman took it in stride, only pausing to stop pouring her sake before stating ''Huh and why is that brat?''

It took a couple of seconds for Lucy to organize her thoughts then she went with her heart ''I believe that Life is sacred…I don't want to hurt people…I want to help people if possible'' The woman snorted back at her then commented ''an idealist then. What's this a budding marine? Thank the stars, Garp can finally stop harping on about Ace not being up to his standards if you are. …Kid, this life is going to mess you up, take it from me…but if you don't want to kill, then you will have to put even more effort into your other chores'' At this she turned to Lucy and commented down ''that's a compromise kid, I think you should take it''

Lucy didn't comment back, only nodding in agreement though the bandit leader took it in stride. They stayed like that until Ace finished his meal and with a sudden burst of energy got up and walked outside. Every step of the way she followed his progress even as he walked to the wall closest to the door and picked up his broken weapon.

She thought she had been desecrate when Dadan mirthfully commented ''Already looking at him, well he has an aura that is hard to ignore'' Lucy took it in stride and asked a question that had been bugging her for a while now ''did I do something to offend him?''

Dadan must have choked on her sake because it sounded like she had something stuck in her throat, then with a big gulp the woman stated ''So you don't know?'' Lucy simply shook her head in a negative, she had racked her brain for anything she might off done to have gotten such a response but it all came back negative. Dadan at her unspoken answer carried on almost whispering as if Ace would come out of know where like a demon if she spoke too loud ''Earlier today we sent him out to get a medicinal herb. He came back with you carried on his back in a piggy back, sweating and pale with a large bruise forming on your head and a broken pole. Imagine our surprise when the only thing he says is 'She needs help' to any questions we ask. The only thing he confirmed to us was that he caused your head injury''

It had been a while since her head had spiked with pain, the magic pink liquid dumbing the throb to almost nonexistence, but even still a ghost like spike of pain resurfaced. She had seen the bruise in the small mirror in the bathroom, it spread like a spider web across her forehead, to slightly below her ear. Her temple had the worst of it though, she could have sworn as she poked it that something moved, that wasn't her skin. It was going to be around for a while considering it was only a dark read and had yet to go even blue. That meant that she was probably going to have to take the pain killer a couple days more to make sure that it wouldn't inhibit her in agony. To make it worse she could not even have a bath as the moment she put her hand in to check the temperature all strength drained from her body and she almost fell flat on her face again. Dry washing seemed to be the only future she possessed much to her chagrin. Lucy liked baths.

Still as Dadan turned to downing the second glass she looked over the new knowledge. Ace had saved her, now that she thought about it she did remember an illusion of Ace that hit her. It questioned her? The whole part of her time in the forest was a foggy mess, at the time and until know even she didn't even think that Ace was real. But it seemed she had a knight in shining armor, one who seemed to want to murder her.

She didn't know what motivated her to get up, she just did. The bandit were too focused on their drinks to care and Dadans only response as she made her way to the door was ''don't die brat! Or Garp will kill me!''

The air didn't wasn't cool, she was still inside the jungle and the humidity was intense, but the wind gave the outside a certain factor of freshness the inside never would. As she looked over the surrounding clearing she couldn't find her quarry, what gave him away eventually was the smacks of something hollow against an object. Over in a far side of the clearing was Ace practicing his pole, or two pole half's in its current state, against a tree. He seemed to be getting more annoyed when his combo's fell apart as his movements started off fine then hit a snag where a two handed maneuver was meant to go. Not only that but he focused more of his attention on one part leaving the other in the air doing nothing. As he carried on something must have gone wrong because in an instant he through both parts away from himself in a rage and punched the tree, muttering something all the while. One piece bounced towards her and landed not too far away from her location.

She walked towards it, it was the smaller piece, and picked it up from the floor. Despite being much shorter than the other, around the length of her arm it weighed enough that she had to struggle to lift the metal. In that moment she found a new found respect for Luffy being able to wield one of these at the age of eight. To do some of the moves Ace had tried would be tough for her when she was a twenty year old man in her old body, let alone in this one. It didn't seem possible and yet they did it without much strain, even Sabo who was normal.

The end was the most important bit to her though. A quick inspection confirmed her ideas of what went down, the end of the pole was a smooth cut to the point of being unnatural. A quick test of the metal backed up that idea as there were no splinters or cracks. The pole had been partition by her fruit. Meaning that she got into a fight with Ace, so her imaginary demon advisory was in fact Ace. A strange sense of guilt filled her then, if he had been slightly slower then she would have killed him. It was her fault that she was hallucinating, so if she killed him it was her fault all along.

A strange feeling made her pause and look up at Ace, who had at this point been staring at her for a while. Silence filled the air as both stared at each other, and once again she could identify the anger in his eyes…at the pole. He was angry at her for breaking his weapon?

Neither side spoke, and for once Lucy felt what it was like to be on the end of her own silence. Deciding to start afresh she broke the ice ''I hear you are the person who save me'' She was once again met with silence so she carried on ''Thank you'' at that she bowed in a show of gratitude.

Ace simply continued staring down at her eyes over shadowed as she returned from her bow. It seemed none of the anger had dissipated from his eyes as he bore a hole into her skull, frown on his face. Lucy once again not used to experiencing her own tactics used against her had to be the one to open up dialogue ''my name is –'' but like before she was cut of rudely. Not by Garp this time, but by Ace stating in a monotone voice ''I know who you are'' Lucy's relief at getting through vanished with his next words though.

''Fight me''

Well that's a wrap, longer than expected. Well it's hard to do Ace, because he is both very withdrawn and very emotional at the same time. I hope I did the characters justice, though I probably screwed them up. The next chapter should be out next week, no dates this time to save my self the shame. Till next time.