Dedicated to Marie3021 for her lovely review of Chapter 2.


Two of Wands, reversed - Fear of change, playing safe, bad planning...


September 1519

Another bar, another round of cards. Greasy food guaranteed to give the unwary a heart attack and shitty alcohol almost strong enough to use as industrial metal cleaner. No where near the standard Noir preferred in an establishment. Given Birs was a tiny ass island in the middle of the Grand Line, there weren't exactly a lot of options.

"You should let your hair down more."

At the sudden appearance of the Yonko, the entire table flinched. Noir didn't even twitch, having felt his Haki approaching the moment the Red Force neared the docks. At least he'd ditched the awful eye searing green pants. Not that the current purple ones were much better, but Noir didn't feel the urge to locate the nearest pair of sunglasses. As the dealer dealt Shanks in, Noir pinned her long time rival with an unamused look.

"If you ruin my vacation, Red Hair, I will punt your ass into the Calm Belt."

He raised his hand in surrender. "Wouldn't dream of it."

The look Noir gave him clearly called bullshit, but the Marine only huffed and returned to her cards.

Silence lapsed between them, the eye in a hurricane of revelry.

It figured Noir would finally find Shanks while on vacation, as opposed to the months long chase where she'd run into Ace, the red headed scoundrel. What the hell was he doing on Birs anyway? Actually, Noir didn't want to know. She was on vacation for the first time in years dammit.

"You're wearing the clip." Shanks noted, eying the red hibiscus in Noir's blonde hair.

Noir shrugged. "It keeps my hair out of my face."

The damn pirate smirked at her. "A hair binder would do a better job, I think."

Noir knew that. She also knew that Shanks was trying to get her to admit she liked his gift, given to her after her promotion to Rear Admiral. But his ego didn't need the boost. "I suppose I could use one instead." She said easily, raising a challenging brow.

"No, no." Shanks backpedalled. "You look pretty."

"Flattery isn't going to stop me when my vacation is over."

Shanks pouted, actually pouted at her. "Can't I compliment a beautiful woman?"

"You've done more than that, you blasted seadog." Noir groused, thinking back to their clash in early 1511. Shanks roared with laughter, so Noir vindictively swiped the pot with a royal flush.

"Dahahaha!" Shanks tossed a few beri on the table to start the next round. "I recall you tried to take my head after that. So rude!"

Noir accepted her cards, and immediately discarded two. "You need to get your memory checked. I'd been trying to take your head long before you kissed me." Garp had a field day when he heard that particular report. Noir had seriously considered requesting a transfer to South Blue if only to get away from the jokes.

"I was just stating my interest."

How many times had he been hit on the head to have lost this many brain cells? "You wouldn't be able to handle me."

"Dahaha! You'd be surprised at what I can handle." Shanks grinned. "And what Yonko would I be turning that kind of challenge down?"

Noir paused, and ran the last bit of conversation through her head. "Fuck."


Shanks could admit flirting with Noir was akin to playing with fire over a keg of gunpowder. Dangerous, and highly liable to blow up in his face. Still, twenty years of experience had to count for something, and as he'd told Benn over the years, completely worth it. Noir's reactions alone were hilarious, but her crew and fellow Marines? Priceless.

He hadn't lied to Noir. The kiss all those years ago was Shanks stating his interest. The lack of kisses since was one part self-preservation - Noir had almost taken his head off for that stunt - and two parts continued affection for the Marine. But Noir had made it clear that she would not accept further advances, so Shanks would respect that and limit himself to words.

Noir made him pay for his flirting by cleaning him out of every last beri on him. Not that Shanks regretted it. Her cheeks still turned the most fetching shade of crimson, though he had to work a bit harder to get Noir to blush than when they were teenagers.

"A bottle of vodka and whatever you've got that isn't complete shit." Noir told the bartender. The bartender, an aging man with a large belly and larger arms, gave the blonde a filthy look but disappeared into the back.

Shanks grinned. "Dahaha! You do like me!"

"What makes you think the second bottle's for you?" The bartender returned, setting two bottles of liquor in front of Noir, who handed over the wad of beri that once rested in Shanks' pocket. "Buy your own drinks." Noir said, ignoring the fact he didn't currently have the means.

Regardless, she slid the second bottle his way, and Shanks examined the label. Scotch, and a top shelf bottle too - he remembered seeing this brand at a bar a few months ago. A Haki enhanced thumb broke the seal with ease, and he popped the cap free. Ooh, very nice. He'd have to stock up on this one for a special occasion.

Noir tipped her vodka back and Shanks hid a wince. How she could drink that he didn't know, but the woman had to have a strong stomach.

Setting his own bottle down, Shanks turned to face Noir. The Marine paused in her attempts to get absolutely shit-faced - because that was the only reason Shanks could think of for even considering drinking that - at the rare serious expression on his face. The cards and drinks were great, but they weren't the reason he'd tracked Noir to this little island.

"I ran into your nephew." Straight to the point, just how Noir liked it. Noir straightened in her seat. Shanks smiled fondly. "The resemblance is uncanny."

He'd known, upon seeing the brat, exactly whose son Ace was. There were subtle differences of course, but to those who knew him well, it was like seeing a younger version of Shanks' old captain.

Noir's eyes - the same as Ace, no matter his were molten silver to her dark mahogany - softened. "I told him not grow a mustache." She admitted. Shanks barked out a laugh. Oh yeah, he could see it. Ace would definitely look like his father then. "What did he want?"

Sometimes Shanks forgot how sharp Noir was. She knew Shanks wouldn't have gone to find Ace, because Shanks hadn't even known about the brat before Ace tracked him down. And given the likelihood of Ace simply stumbling across Shanks so soon after reaching the New World…

He waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "He wanted to thank me."

Luffy had a brother. His captain's boy and his little Anchor were brothers!

"Did it have anything to do with you losing your arm?" Noir asked, eyeing the grin pulling at Shanks' lips. "You never did tell me how you lost it."

Shanks winked. "I've always been a bit distracted when you're around, darling." He couldn't help but laugh as Noir scowled at him. Deflection, success. For all that Noir wasn't one of those Absolute Justice fanatics, she was devoted to her duty as a Marine. And Luffy wouldn't make it to Pirate King without attracting a hell of a lot of Marine attention. Shanks could at least keep Noir's attention off Anchor for a while longer.

But still not the reason he'd tracked Noir down. "Ace had one of your cards."

Ace had been playing with it, an ace of spades (and if that wasn't a reference to his crew then Shanks would give up alcohol for a year). Shanks recognized the distinctive playing cards. Not hard, given Noir had thrown more than a few of those cards at his head. But seeing Ace with one of Noir's cards? Shanks had almost choked on his sake.

Noir raised a brow. She took another mouthful of vodka, pointedly not saying anything.

"Ace didn't know you're his aunt." Shanks pressed, because something strange was going on. Ace hadn't known anything about Noir besides her nickname among the underworld, had even sprayed his drink everywhere when Shanks mentioned 'Card Shark' Noir's day job. 'Course, the brat hadn't been happy to hear that Noir was his aunt - while wearing the same scowl Noir did whenever the older Portgas found a puzzle she didn't like - and wondered aloud why Noir hadn't mentioned it.

Frankly, Shanks wondered the same thing. Noir and Rouge had been as close as sisters could be. With how Noir valued family - and boy did Noir still hold a grudge for Roger's part in Rouge's death - Shanks would have thought Noir would have raised Ace herself.

Noir took another swig of her drink. The good mood from earlier was completely gone, left with a tense silence so thick Shanks could probably cut it with a spoon.

"Noir." Shanks said. He'd never seen her like this, never seen her staring at her bottle of barely drinkable paint thinner like she wished there was more alcohol in it. Not even after Rouge died. "What's going on?"

Finally, Noir sighed and drained the last of her bottle. Standing - and apparently Noir still had a cast iron liver because she didn't so much as sway - Noir met Shanks' concerned gaze. There was an emotion there that Shanks couldn't read, and a bitter smile on her lips. "I met Ace when I gave him that card, Shanks."

She left, stalking out the front door and Shanks leant back in his seat. So Noir didn't raise her nephew. Why not? From the twitch in her Haki, that clearly hadn't been a voluntary decision on her part. She hadn't even known about Ace, from the look of it.

Who the hell was dumb enough to keep that a secret from her?


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