Chapter 6 - Not Bad But Bad

(THIS IS EDITED SO IT'S A BIT DIFFERENT NOW BY THE WAY)

A/N: Please leave reviews I love them so much. Even if it's a hello I still love em

Oh and I can't exactly wait that long for a charger cause this laptop is the only one I use for school so I got no choice unless I want to fail

I am going to get a new charger though, I just gotta wait, but let's hope I get one before the sparking gets worse….

His head hurt. He could feel dried flecks of blood on one side of his head from when he collapsed from a sleep attack, his head had smacked the side of a tree stump. He probably should have told Shanks he had narcolepsy. That seemed a bit important.

Distantly Ace could hear birds chirping away happily. It was obvious that the night was now morning. He could feel the change.

Somewhere in the short distance he could hear waves crashing, meaning he should be near the ocean. It was also a bit cold. Maybe-

CRASH!

Ace shrieked loudly as he fell down, down, down, and down. He frantically tried to slow his descent but to no avail.

He kept tumbling and rolling at a terrifying pace. He desperately grabbed onto anything, hoping to stop, but everything he tried to grab was too weak and snapped under his strength. So he shoved his fingers into the dirt and pushed his feet down.

And finally, to his relief, he started to slow down. Once he felt his body stop he started to tremble and shake.

That was scary. That was really, really scary. Ace swallowed a tight lump in his throat and coughed. He needed to calm down, clear his head so the fear didn't consume him.

Gingerly he placed his left hand down to lift himself up. But immediately regretted it as pain flared up, a bright burning sensation in his wrist. He yanked his hand back and cradled it close to his chest, gritting his teeth.

Definitely sprained. Ace groaned miserably to himself. Just what he needed, a sprained wrist. He was half tempted to just pull the stupid blindfold off and forget the training session.

But he quickly tossed that thought away. He didn't want to give up. He didn't want to go back and see Shanks disappointed in him.

Fierce determination lit up inside him like a fire. No, he wasn't going to give up and go cry like a baby for some cuts and bruises. This was training and he asked for this.

With his right hand he reached out, feeling his surroundings. He brushed against something rough and carefully explored it, feeling it to be bark. He scooted closer and felt some more. It was pretty long, almost like a walking stick.

An idea struck him and he grabbed it. He could use this to help check the ground before him so that way if there was a hole he could fall in, he would know. Ace sighed and slowly stood up.

He could do this.

Shanks ran a hand through his hair, tugging at it. It was morning now and so far no sign of Ace.

What if the kid fell down a hole? What if he was drowning in the ocean? What if-

Shanks mentally slapped himself. What Ifs weren't going to make anything better. It was just going to worry him more and solve nothing.

His eyes caught sight of Benn approaching and he breathlessly sighed. His First Mate was most likely going to lecture him.

"No sights of him still… do you want to go look for him?" Benn asked, not bothering to hide his concern. He was just as worried for Ace as much as Shanks was.

Despite his concern and worry, Shanks shook his head. "No. Because Ace might react badly. He'll probably think we believe him to be weak or incompetent to finish if we went after him."

Benn couldn't help but see the reasoning in that. Ace was a very defensive kid with low self esteem. He would probably think they thought him to be too weak if they came swooping in to help.

Shanks groaned and slapped a palm to his face. "Kid…"

Ace sighed, feeling somewhat relieved. Sand was right before him and that must mean he was close to the ships.

When he and Shanks began to walk into the forest yesterday, they had to walk across the beach first. So that meant he was close and he could hopefully find the ship by walking along the beach side.

Or he was going into the opposite direction and strayed farther away…

Oh well. Risks needed to be taken.

Ace pushed forward and ignored the pain pulsing throughout his body. His wrist had calmed down, only now a dull throb.

His hands stung though. That didn't really stop. Neither did the hunger in his stomach.

A second later he tripped into the sand and face planted.

"Owww," he whined. His body, once again, started to hurt all over. This sucked beyond imagination.

"Come you pansy, Shanks could easily do this," he scolded himself. He wanted to finish this. He could only do it if he stopped complaining.

He pulled himself together and kept going.

Shanks slumped over the railing and sighed. It was the afternoon now. Still no Ace.

Earlier the Spades had asked for him and Shanks had to explain why they couldn't see their Captain. That made them explode with worry. Deuce actually looked like he wanted to throttle him.

He sighed again, feeling more miserable. If Ace didn't show up in one hour then he was going to go look for him. No matter how much the kid hated it.

"Still sitting out here?" Shanks didn't bother to look at his friend. "Of course, Benn. I'm going to wait here until I see him."

The gunslinger leaned beside him on the railing. "Then I'll wait with you." Shanks looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Benn simply shrugged. "I worry about him too. No secret that everyone else does also."

Shanks couldn't deny that. His crew kept fluttering around, doing one thing and another. Keeping busy so they didn't drown in worry for the fire brat.

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could he froze. He could see a figure limping on the beach, one he easily recognized.

Ace.

"KID!" he hollered, causing Benn to perk up. Said boy aimed his head towards his direction.

Ace grinned and barked out a laugh in triumph.

He made it!

"Shanks!" he cried out in joy. He dropped his walking stick and despite the protests his body made he moved faster.

Without thinking Shanks leapt over the railing and booked it towards Ace. He could hear Benn faintly in the background but ignored him.

Ace made it. He didn't drown. He didn't fall into a hole.

He made it.

Without warning he wrapped his arm around Ace and held him tight. The brief tension in Ace's body dropped and the kid surprised both of them by immediately wrapping his own arms around his waist.

"Oh kid, you have no idea how worried I was," he muttered so quietly that Ace strained to hear but still heard. A blush crept along his cheeks and he coughed.

"Bah, too sentimental," he teased though playfully. Shanks huffed, amused as well as relieved, and stepped back but still had his fingers curled at the back of Ace's neck.

"Whatever brat. Let's get this blindfold off." He didn't bother to untie it but just slipped it off. Ace did a double take at the sunlight and blinked rapidly. That was when Shanks took in the cuts and bruises on Ace's body.

"The heck happened to you?" Both Captains looked to see Benn approaching. The man had relief etched onto his face and concern shining in his eyes.

Ace hesitated under their scrutinizing gazes. He didn't want to worry them further, he just got back and to only have them fret over his narcolepsy would make them probably hover over him constantly.

"I tripped, ended up smacking my head on a tree stump," he half-lied. Shanks was too worried to even see the lie but Benn frowned.

"How'd you get all these bruises and cuts though? Did you trip again?" Ace decided telling the truth on that would be alright. "Yeah, I kinda stepped somewhere and ended up tumbling down."

He instantly regretted that as soon as he saw more guilt and worry build up on Shanks's face. "Are you hurt anywhere else? Did you break anything?" he asked, barely managing to catch himself from asking more piles of questions.

Ace bit his lip unsure but at the look Benn gave him he relented. "I think I sprained my wrist when I fell," he admitted. Shanks immediately grabbed his wrist that he held out but gently, so that he didn't hurt him.

"Let's get you to the infirmary. Benn, can you carry Ace? I'm an arm short." Shanks winked at Ace who nearly choked on his own saliva.

"You don't need to carry me. I can walk on my own just fine," he protested weakly. Shanks gave him a skeptical look. He could clearly tell Ace was in pain and was most likely ready to fall over.

"Really? Kiddo, you're limping and your body needs rest. Just... let us help you." The Yonko didn't miss the way Ace stiffened. The kid looked uncomfortable more by the minute.

He was definitely embarrassed, no doubt about that. In that moment Shanks could understand why Ace would be embarrassed about being carried. The whole crew, maybe both, would see him being carried by Benn. But either that or collapsing in front of everyone and having them hover over you.

Shanks sighed tiredly. "Ace, we've been worried sick about you. We want to help you, not try to embarrass you in front of everyone. In fact, none would judge you. They'd just be relieved that you're here, safe."

That seemed to have reached him. Ace glanced back and forth between Shanks and Benn, before finally sighing and giving in. Benn carefully picked Ace up and gave a small smile as the kid failed to hide a blush.

"You holding up alright?" Ace avoided eye contact but nodded. Shanks coughed and began the walk back to the ship.

As soon as they were back on deck, they were met with cheers and loud greetings. Ace instinctively moved back, as if trying to walk away from the bright, happy people coming towards them.

But was reminded that he was being carried for he simply just pressed tighter against Benn, who curled his arms more protectively around him. Shanks nor the crew didn't miss for they quickly stepped back and quieted down.

After a beat of silence, Shanks was the one to break it. "Well let's get moving people! I want this ship clean and make sure Deuce isn't doing any work!" Everyone immediately complied but not before throwing a smile at Ace who frowned.

"Deuce is out of the infirmary?" he asked, concerned. Shanks started moving and Benn followed. "Yeah, he was getting antsy just sitting in a bed all day so the nurse let him go but ordered him that he can't do anything until he's better healed, so he's been flitting around your ship but last I heard he was in your quarters," Shanks explained.

Ace bit his lip, worried for his friend. After his trip to the infirmary the next thing he was going to do was see Deuce, his over-worrying friend, and make sure he wasn't straining himself.

Ace was too deep in thoughts for he nearly yelped in surprise as he felt himself being lowered. With embarrassment he realized Benn was just setting him down onto a bed in the infirmary.

The First Mate offered an apologetic smile before standing back up. Shanks clapped him on the shoulder.

"Wanna get the Spades together and tell 'em Ace is back? I don't feel like having them barge in." Benn nodded, ruffled Ace's hair softly with a fond smile, and walked out.

As the door clicked shut and Shanks started collected things while Ace sat there quietly.

He couldn't get the feeling of falling blindly out of his head. That was the most terrifying experience ever and he doubted anything else could beat it.

"Ace?"

Ace blinked and looked up to see Shanks staring at him in concern and worry, something soft in his eyes that made Ace flush slightly. Shanks sat down next to him pulled one of his legs up on his lap.

"How're you holding up?" he asked as he began to clean the many cuts on his leg. Ace shrugged, but winced instead as a sharp pain blossomed in his shoulder and his leg as Shanks started wiping his cuts.

"Peachy," he replied stiffly. Shanks threw him an unamused look before going back to work. "That's a lie. Tell me how you're really feeling, please," he said softly, which made the young pirate feel bad.

"I…" Ace hesitated, not because he didn't trust Shanks but because he felt like he was burdening the man. And he didn't want Shanks to feel guilty because of the training that Ace had asked for.

But another look from the older captain made him relent. "I feel really tired, my head is killing me, my body is hurting and aching constantly, I'm really hungry, and that fall honestly… scared me."

The hand cleaning his cuts froze, causing Ace to look at Shanks, who was staring at him with unreadable eyes. The warmth of his hand left his knee as the red head scrubbed his face with a miserable groan.

"Ace, I'm so sorry. For making you do that, I'm really sorry kid." Shanks's voice sounded so full of guilt that Ace felt his own guilt double, triple even.

"Shanks you don't have to be sorry. I wanted you to train me and I knew that it wasn't going to be easy, it's not your fault. I'm sorry that I couldn't do it better" That didn't help at all, it just made Shanks feel worse and the whole situation worse. He looked back at Ace and frowned.

"Do not be sorry, Ace. I made you wander through the forest blindly and expected you to just find your way back while an ocean was right next to you!" Shanks huffed angrily and pinched the bridge of his nose. He shouldn't show anger, the kid might take it wrong or feel worse.

Which sure enough, it made Ace feel worse, as he could clearly tell. The fire-user was biting his lip and hunching in on himself.

Shanks sighed and reached out to place his hand on Ace's shoulder, making the kid look up at him.

"Ace, you did fantastic. Even if you decided to take the blindfold off I wouldn't have been mad, all I care about is you being safe and knowing that your life isn't in danger. I was actually two seconds away from storming off to find you, but held back because I thought you would've reacted badly. But don't ever blame yourself for something that is not your fault." Shanks stopped himself from rambling, but meant every word.

Ace widened his eyes, feeling his chest warm brightly at those words. "Why, why do you care so much?" Was all he could say. Shanks blinked at him dumbfounded. He reached over and grabbed the nape of his neck, bringing Ace close.

"Because, you daft fire brain, I care about you. I care about you and I worry about you so much because you're really important to me, Ace. And I mean it, I really do care about you." He said it so earnestly that Ace didn't doubt him, not even for a second.

Ace couldn't bring himself to say anything. How could he? Shanks just said he cared about him so much! What do you even say?

Nothing. Well at least to Ace there was nothing. He couldn't find anything to say so he just showed him.

He hugged Shanks tightly. Despite always shrugging off physical affection besides from Luffy, Ace couldn't help but hug the man who kept telling him that he cared about him so much.

Shanks stiffened in surprise, which made Ace tense in fear that he just did something wrong, but immediately relaxed as he felt the man hug him right back, just as tight.

Later that night….

Shanks tilted his bottle back, downing the rest of his drink in one gulp. He placed the now empty bottle down and went back to reading his book.

A strong wave suddenly rocked the ship, before calming back down. Shanks inhaled deeply, settling himself deeper into his blankets before exhaling, feeling his muscles relax.

He felt more at peace than ever really. After getting Ace back and cleaning him up, everything was back together and it felt better.

The quietness of his room was interrupted by a knock at his door. "Come in," he called. He sat up and set his book down before looking up to see who it was.

He was pleasantly surprised to see Ace. The bandage wrapped around the kid's head made him feel uneasy but made sure to not let it show, in case Ace got the wrong idea and left.

"What's up kiddo?" he questioned lightly. Ace fidgeted for a moment before saying, "I uh, just wanted to make sure you were alright." Shanks raised an eyebrow at the excuse, but decided to not question it at the moment.

"Well I'm actually better than alright. How about you? Is your head still hurting, you hungry?" Ace shook his head despite feeling a bit hungry. "I'm good, I feel better a lot better than earlier," he said honestly.

Shanks smiled, feeling pleased. Ace hesitated for a moment and fidgeted before Shanks caught on. He sat up straighter and scooted over.

"Wanna hang out for a bit? I could use some company, all I got is this book and it isn't that good." Ace looked up at him, grateful that he didn't have to say anything, and walked over. Shanks didn't miss that but again didn't say anything about it.

Once he settled himself Ace asked, "I was wondering, who trained you?"

Shanks blinked, feeling a bit surprised. Ace didn't know? Now that was something. The red head fixed himself before leaning back against his headboard, now facing Ace fully.

"Well, I'm a bit surprised you don't know since just about everyone does. I was an apprentice, also a cabin boy, for Gol D. Roger himself." He wasn't surprised at the sudden stiffness from Ace, actually expecting it.

The young pirate gripped his elbow. "The Pirate King trained you?" he asked quietly, as if someone was listening. Shanks shook his head.

"No, not really, sometimes but no. It was his First Mate, Rayleigh, who actually trained me and my friend Buggy back then." Shanks felt old memories start to stir up but pushed them down, not wanting to get lost.

Ace looked down and crossed his arms tighter. He was being trained by Roger's, well Rayleigh's, apprentice. Someone who knew his father closely.

Now that made Ace's blood run cold. Shanks knew his father, the Pirate King, personally. What would happen if he found out? Would he hate him, or actually not care?

Instantly he shook those thoughts out of his head even though he felt hopeful. In the end he would never know because he couldn't tell anyone.

A voice interrupted his thoughts and he fixed his attention back on Shanks. "Want to hear some old stories? Most people believe Roger was a scary, evil man but he really wasn't. Unless you hurt or insulted his crew, which he treated like family, he was a nice man."

Ace couldn't believe what he hearing. Roger was a nice man? From the stories he heard, Roger was some type of monster that was horrible.

Shanks chuckled. "Let me guess, some drunks said he was some horrible vile man and you believed them?" Ace flushed and sheepishly shrugged. "That's all I heard about the late Pirate King. Everyone just says he was a monster, and that he was some crazy beast that couldn't be tamed."

Ace instantly regretted saying that, fearing the man before him would get angry and upset, but was surprised to hear laughter.

"Really? I mean, Roger was a crazy wild man, but a monster? Like I said, if you didn't mess with his crew, he was a nice guy. He was happy and reckless. Wanted to live a life with no regrets."

Shanks noticed Ace tensed right after he said that. He felt his lips twitch. Ace may not act like his father, but they did share a thing or two in common.

"How about I tell you what kind of man Roger really was. You can't go believing random people, and who better to find out about Roger than his old cabin boy, huh?" Shanks prompted, a bit hopeful. Ace looked at him hesitantly, before slowly nodding.

Shanks grinned. Maybe he could change Ace's mind about his father. Not right away, but step by step.

When Benn walked in to wake his Captain up the next morning, he didn't expect to see this at all.

Shanks and Ace slumped against each other, softly snoring. Ace had his head pressed against the older man's chest, as Shanks had his head resting on top of Ace's. It looked like they passed out and fell on each other.

A smile lit up on his lips. He shut the door quietly and walked away, letting the two sleep in.