Disclaimer: I own nothing about One Piece, it's creation, or it's awesomeness.
Claimer: only my writing.
This is a request done for firefistace1120 who wanted just a romantic one-shot! I hope you like it!
"Ace!" Luffy shouted excitedly as he launched himself at his brother.
Ace took a step back, bracing himself from falling before Luffy could knock him over. "Hey! Luffy! What are doing here?"
"We're waiting for the log pose to set!" Luffy said with a wide smile, dangling from his brothers neck like a toy monkey.
Ace looked around at his brothers new members since the last time he saw them. His gaze stopped on the black haired woman who gave him a small smile. Nico Robin; he recognized her from her one of the wanted posters in the pile Marco kept in his room. He wasn't too sure about her due to the rumors he heard from others on the sea, but he knew if Luffy trusted her she couldn't be too bad.
He shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts and smiling at Luffy's crew. "We're having a party out on the edge of the island. Do you guys want to join?"
"SUPER!" Franky shouted, instantly wanting to go.
"Cool!" Chopper and Usopp said with stars in their eyes.
"Will there be sake?" Zoro asked, feeling it a waste of time if not.
"Of course! What's a party without sake, women, bets, and meat?" Ace said, watching as one by one the crew was won over.
"New victims!" Nami giggled under her breath evilly, making Robin shake her head with a small huff and a smile.
Sanji and Brook were already kicking their legs up high as they walked, singing about the women that would be there. Zoro shouted at Sanji telling him he was a stupid pervert, causing an argument between them. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp were going on about meeting new pirates and the meat. Franky was excited about the party and soda that would be there. Finally, Nami was happy about making bets that she could win to earn more Beli.
"Are you coming?" Nami asked Robin who was standing there calmly with her arms crossed.
"I have nothing else to do." She shrugged, the smile still on her face. "It may be interesting."
As soon as they reached the party it was as if an explosion went off. The Whitebeard pirates and the Strawhat pirates got along instantly as they caused a ruckus on this side of the island. Robin sat calmly at a table in the corner of the party, watching her friends in entertainment.
"You're just going to sit in the corner alone the whole time?" Ace asked, plopping into a chair next to her with a beer in one hand.
"Your crew doesn't seem too sure of me." She said, nodding her head towards a group of his crew watching her from the corner's of their eyes.
"Well you are highly known." Ace told her with a chuckle as he sipped at his beer.
Robin glanced at him, seeing his calm demeanor as he smiled at his friends and waved their worry off. "You don't seem to afraid or worried."
He looked at her, an eyebrow raising in playfulness. "Should I be?" He asked, making her laugh lightly. "If my brother trusts you then I don't have a worry at all. Luffy see's the good in people."
"That's true. I wouldn't be how I am now if it weren't for Luffy-san." She said, taking a sip of her own drink and shaking her head at Luffy who had chopsticks pushing up his nose from his mouth. "Even after learning all about my past, he continued to accept me."
Ace smiled, seeing the truthfulness in her eyes and the thankfulness in her smile as she laughed at Luffy's antics. "He's been that way since he was a kid. He even accepted me when hardly anyone else would."
Robin looked at him in confusion. "But you're his brother."
"Not by blood." Ace clarified, leaning forward on his arms on the table to look at her directly. "My father was…someone many people talked about, good and bad. Most people thought he was a monster, so they treated me just the same because of the blood in me. But Luffy didn't care about that; he only wanted me as a friend and a brother. He didn't expect anything out of me, and convinced me it didn't matter who my father was, but who I was inside."
Ace watched as Robin nodded, understanding his story perfectly. She leaned forward on her own arms, her chest pushing upwards due to the table lifting them. "I can understand perfectly."
Ace looked at her in shock, not thinking she had parent problems also. "You do? The rumors about you are just because of your skills you have and the island you came from."
Robin smiled, making his heart flutter from the warmth of it. "I never truly knew my mother, but she was well known around the seas too. People didn't like her much, and because of me, she had to give up what she loved on the island. People scorned me because of her when I left my island, and they blamed it on my reading capabilities."
"Hmmmm," Ace hummed, downing the rest of his beer quickly. "At least there are people out there who accept us."
"Robin! Come join the fun!" Nami shouted with a obvious drunk flush on her cheeks.
Robin finished the rest of her drink, before standing up gracefully. She stopped next to Ace, giving him a small smile before leaning down to him and kissing his cheek. "You're an interesting person."
Ace watched with a faint blush on his cheeks as she walked over to the orange haired pirate who was battling with the guys of his crew of who could drink more. His eyes traveled over her body as she sashayed to the group and sat down.
"Found someone to your liking?" Thatch laughed, plopping in the chair where Robin just was.
Ace kept his eyes on her as a smile broke his face. He put his elbow on the back of his chair with his chin in his palm. "I think I did."
Thatch laughed behind him as he looked over at Robin, finding it interesting how much interest Ace was showing in her. For some reason her blue eyes held him captive, keeping his eyes locked on her steadily. And every time he was just about to look away from her, she would glance in his direction with a small smile on her face, as if coaxing him back into watching her.
Ace sat up groggily, looking around in confusion as to where he was. The music and lights were shut off as everyone from the party was passed out somewhere drunk and full. He blinked his eyes a couple times trying to clear his foggy mind from sleep.
As he woke up he looked around the party site, looking for the sleek black hair of the woman he was hoping to find. He stood up and walked around, finding groups farther off or around corners passed out, but none of them held the person he was looking for.
"Ugh," He groaned, gripping his head as a headache pierced through. "Too much to drink." He let out a long, deep breath and furrowed his brows, more interested in where Robin could have gone if not around there. "I should have fallen asleep." He mentally smacked himself, remembering how his eyes had felt like lead weights from the alcohol induced sleep that was trying to control him. He fought it as much as he could, but it seemed it wasn't enough to keep him awake.
A breeze blew past Ace, cooling his cheeks slightly before the fire within him warmed him back up. He smelt the salt from the ocean, and heard the waves crashing to his right. He glanced to his right, wanting to see the endless ocean he loved to look at.
His eyes widened in surprise as he looked over the beach below him, seeing black hair blow back in the wind, along with the loose parts of the fabric. Blue eyes flashed with the moonlight with the full moon shining it's brilliance across her. He couldn't help the smile that took over his face as he jumped from the concrete walkway down to the sand of the beach.
"You're still awake," He said, making her jump in a slight startle. He sat down next to her on the sand, looking out at the ocean sheepishly now. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."
"You woke up," She said with a sigh before a smile crept onto her own face. Her heart was beating frantically from the scare, but as she tried to calm it down, it just wouldn't stop. She glanced over at him, feeling her heart speed up once again as she caught sight of his smirk, and then a shiver coursed down her spine, making her hug her arms to her body in containment. "Aren't you cold?" She asked, looking away from his bare top and the muscles that adorned it.
He looked over at her and saw her arms wrapped tightly around herself. He gave her a small smile, his mind telling him to warm her up. But as his arms reached out, his heart sped up, leaving him frozen in place and fighting against himself with both sides.
He clenched his jaw tightly, shutting off the negative side of his mind that said she wouldn't like him touching her. He reached out his arm and wrapped it around her waist, carefully pulling her over in between his legs so her back was pressed against his chest. He waited a few seconds to see if she would push him away or fight against him; she did neither so he moved his arms a bit more, wrapping one around her waist and the other around her shoulders.
He felt her giggle in his arms, the vibrations going through his body and feeling him with ease. "Am I your source of warmth?" She teased, putting her hand over his lightly, but that one touch seemed to ignite his whole being, a fire greater than his devil fruit power raging inside of him now.
He tried to push the blush that was trying to grow on his cheeks, but couldn't stop it from lighting up. "I don't need to get warmed up. Y'know, because of my devil fruit." He mumbled, his chin hitting her shoulder lightly as he tried to hide his face from her.
Robin could feel the heat radiating from him, instantly warming her up from the cold wind and water in the air. She was thankful for the thought of keeping her warm, but her heart was beating so fast she thought it might explode right out of her if she wasn't careful. His arms tightened around her, pulling her closer into him, and his head hit her shoulder. His hair brushed against her neck gently, and his body completely wrapped around her, blocking all wind from getting to reach her, and she was all too aware of his touch.
She closed her eyes, trying to calm her heart down and to keep her breathing even so he couldn't find out how erratic she was. She felt the hard thumping in her chest from the erratic heartbeat, trying to get it to slow down a bit more. Her eyes opened in surprise as she realized it wasn't her own heart she was feeling, but Ace's in her own back that was echoing into her chest with her own heart. They were so in sync that she hadn't realized briefly that it wasn't her own heart.
She felt embarrassed from knowing that Ace was just as erratic by her presence as she was with him. She dropped her hand from his and put it on the ground, helping her turn around in his hold so she was sitting in front of him, facing him head on. She wanted to see his face, had to know fully that he was feeling the same as her. She felt her heart squeeze as she cupped his face and made him look up at her.
Ace felt her soft hands grasp his face gently and pull it up; though he didn't want her to see his flushed face, he did want to see her own face out of curiosity. He peered into her eyes, feeling his heart give loud thumps now as he saw the blush on her cheeks, identical to his own.
She let out a small airy laugh, her hands dropping from his face and to his chest. Her eyes traveled away from him, finding it unreal about the situation they were in. "How is it possible that I feel closer to you, someone who I just met, then I ever have with anyone else?"
Ace smiled brightly at her, feeling exactly the same as her. He couldn't stop his arms from reaching up and cupping her face between his hands, letting his fingers slid into her hair that was by her face. He leaned forward at the same time he pulled her face towards him so they met halfway in the kiss.
His lips seared her own with warmth, engulfing her with the softness and heat. He pulled away from her hesitantly, looking her in the eyes to see what she thought about it. She couldn't think clearly now as the kiss was the only thing in her mind now.
"Is that a pass to continue?" He asked, seeing her mouth open in a breath as his thumb ran over her cheek.
He smiled and kissed her again, more fervently this time; taking everything in about her and how she felt, tasted, and smell so close to him. Her hands curled onto his chest as he pulled her against him. He leaned backwards until his back hit the sand and she was on top of him comfortably. He turned to his side, letting her roll onto the sand with him so they were facing one another.
He licked her bottom lip, wanting more of her. She opened her mouth slightly, letting him trail inside of her mouth and run over her own tongue smoothly. His tongue gently roamed around her mouth, tasting the sweet berry alcohol that she must have drank last. Her cheeks flushed more so as the alcohol in his own mouth seeped into her orally.
She pulled back, taking in a deep breath that her lungs were desperately need now. She felt Ace's breath run over her face, making her mind be completely filled with just him now; no longer only about the poneglyphs she usually thought about.
His forehead pressed against her gently with his arms sliding down her. One rest under their heads for a makeshift pillow, as the other loosely draped over her waist and kept her pressed against him. She smiled as his leg slipped between hers comfortably, entangling them both in each other's hold so both of them felt completely enveloped.
"I wish I didn't have to let you go tomorrow." Ace said, pulling his hand back up and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear lovingly.
She let out a small huff of agreement and nestled her face under his, really not wanting to think about their departure tomorrow that both crews would have to make. "And I can't leave Luffy," She confessed, hoping he'd understand why.
She felt his cheek move, letting her know he was smiling at her while he moved her hair around on her head and neck. "We both have our own nakama to worry about." He agreed, relieving her of one more stress she had.
"Too bad we hadn't met sooner in our lives." She confessed, wrapping an arm around his back and shoulder, imagining a past where Ace could have been with her and both of them wouldn't have such hardships.
He kissed her cheek, pushing those thoughts from her mind in reassurement. "Then we probably wouldn't have met the family of nakama we have now."
"That's true," She sighed again, mentally smacking herself for forgetting what her past led her to.
"We'll meet again on this sea. It's vast, but you always meet friends again who you really want to see." He told her, whispering in her ear warmly.
"Is that what we are now? Friends?" She teased, running her fingers over his shoulder briefly.
He chuckled, leaning back so she wasn't hiding from his sight any longer. "No, we're much more than that now. I haven't felt this connected with someone ever before, so I'm not letting you slip away from me completely any time soon."
Robin hummed in joy, curling up to him and his warmth once more, this time letting sleep consume her. She felt her mind drift off with the sound of the waves, before it was completely gone into sleep. Ace felt her breathing evenly under him, a smile creeping onto his face again as he started to let sleep of his own creep over him. He was happy enough to have her beside him as he began to drift off; he knew he'd have sweet dreams with her there in his arms.
"Bye bye!" Luffy shouted, waving his arm erratically over his head as he launched himself onto the ship where the rest of his crew was already standing. "Let's meet again!"
"Yeah!" The Whitebeard crew agreed, waving at them as they began to unfurl their sails and pull the ropes in.
Ace watched with reluctant eyes at Robin who was helping them finish up with her devil fruit arms. He didn't want to say goodbye, but they both had duties on each of their ships that they couldn't leave. But what worried him most was some other guy getting a hold of her while they were a part from one another.
The Strawhat ship began to pull out from the dock, tugging Ace's heart painfully as Robin glanced at him with the same sad, reluctant eyes. He dashed forward, pushing off the edge of the dock instinctually, flying through the air towards the ship and landing on the edge of it in front of Robin. Ace reached out his hands, pulling her face towards his own as he laid a deep endless kiss on her lips.
He wanted her to remember this kiss while they were gone so both could make up for it the next time they did run across each other. He wanted to remember everything about her, and vice versa so no other person could compete with their emotions that were connected.
"I promise I'll find you again," He told her as he pulled away and looked into her eyes seriously. He wanted her to know that he wasn't just saying this, that it was a promise he was making her that WOULD come true. He placed a small parchment of paper into her hand, causing her to look down at it in confusion.
"What…" She trailed off as Ace interrupted her with an answer.
"A vivre card. If you ever worry, let that paper lead you to where I am." He told her, pushing her fingers so they curled around the small paper before the wind could catch it and fly it away into the sky. He put his forehead to hers. "Don't let my brother pull you into anything too dangerous." He laughed, knowing Luffy would do just that while Ace was away.
"Luffy!" Ace shouted, catching sight of his brother who was peaking out of the kitchen door now at him and Robin. "Take care of my girl, okay?"
Luffy blinked in confusion as he looked at his brother, and then at Robin who was watching Ace with entranced eyes. For once he wasn't being dense; this time he could see the emotions running between two people and he smile so wide it broke his face in two. "OKAY! I'll return her to you in one piece!"
Ace chuckled, giving the captain a thumbs up before giving Robin one last small kiss and jumping off of the ship towards the dock before the ship sailed to far for him to get back to the dock. He stood and watched as the ship shrank away, until it was no longer noticeable, a groan of defeat escaping him as he could already think of the dangerous Luffy could get Robin into.
"Chill out," Marco sighed, draping and arm around Ace's shoulder. "For you to openly confess your love like that, I'm sure your brother will take great care of her."
"So heroic! That whole speech you gave," Jozu teased, making the rest of the crew join in with the teasing.
Ace laughed as he pushed off their jokes, but didn't once deny what they said about him and Robin. He had finally met a girl who understood him; he wasn't going to give up this.