Welcome ladies and gents!

I would like to thank:

Katyha and Clary Gray for the favs and alerts! And Alana33 for the alert! :D

Also, my wonderful reviewers, Lilikoikoi and XxFire-PhoenixxX! :)

Enjoy!

Chapter 31: 32 Flavors - Ani DiFranco

Leo hissed, letting go of the long plank. He rubbed his sore shoulder, trying to get the pain out. It wasn't working. He had obviously pulled something stopping that mountain of a man earlier. Why in the world hadn't he used Haki? Because he wasn't thinking, the stupid idiot. Murmuring a curse, which was very uncharacteristic for the well-mannered man, Leo bent down and attempted to pick up the plank once again.

"Let me." Haruta smiled at the blonde and helped him out with the plank. It was made of heavy oak, sturdy and polished, ready to withstand a strong storm. On a normal day, the pirate wouldn't be having any trouble with it. But, that day he was. "What's wrong with your arm?" The Commander wanted to know.

Leo shook his head, causing his hair to fall into his eyes. He needed to cut that, too. "It's not the arm. It's my shoulder." Haruta hummed in question, but didn't say anything. The short Commander was obviously waiting for an explanation. "I blocked an attack earlier. You saw that man with a maul of sorts?" When Haruta nodded he continued. "Well, we met."

They had been attacked earlier that day by a brave pirate crew. Of course, with five out of sixteen Commanders on board, they had taken care of it easily. But, some of them had still gotten hurt. And some of the enemies had been Devil Fruit users, so the Moby Dick had taken a few blows, too. Now, they were split between repairing the ship, treating and getting treated. Leo had brushed off the medical attention and gone to help out.

Haruta frowned once they lowered the plank in its designated place. "You should go to doc and have her take a look." The Commander said, attempting to inspect the faulty shoulder without getting any closer. Leo raised one doubtful eyebrow.

"There is a reason why I rejected medical attention, Commander." The blonde spoke. "She's more likely to break my arm, rather than fix it." Explained the pirate, heading to get another plank. The Commander followed.

"Ah." Haruta exclaimed. "That's true." They picked up another heavy plank. "They have been rather unreasonable. I knew it was going to snap at some point, but I never foresaw this." Leo gave a small court nod. He had always liked the Twelfth Commander. Rather short (compared to the rest of the crew), delicate-looking and gentle in nature, Haruta was great company.

"No one could've foreseen this." Replied Leo. "And if it continues, Pops will end up getting involved." Leo shuddered at the thought of Whitebeard getting involved. "Now that will be a right mess."

"What would, yoi?" The two pirates turned (well, Leo did) to see the first mate watching them with his usual bored expression. But, neither was fooled. Marco's shoulders were a bit too tense. There was a certain fire in his eyes that reminded his comrades of his Devil Fruit form. Also, his hand was constantly gripping his blue sash, as if he will rip it in half any moment. The Commander was pissed.

"Ace being here." Haruta gave a quick lie. "He would've damaged the ship much more." Marco raised one eyebrow, watching them. Leo was completely silent (as he wasn't too good of a liar, something or the other about morals). The blonde did nod occasionally, though.

"Why would Pops get involved into that?" The First Commander didn't give up. His stare pinned Haruta like a falcon stalking its prey. But, the Twelfth Commander seemed unaffected and smiled at Marco easily.

"Don't be silly Marco! Pops hates it when Ace messes up the ship!" The Commander laughed, causing Leo to release a shaky whine that he broke off in places in an attempt to make it a laugh. "In fact, I think that if you didn't throw Ace overboard every time, he would!" Haruta kept laughing.

Marco gave a nod and walked away. Leo breathed a sigh of relief and the two moved once again, carrying the plank. "That was close." The blonde murmured. "I thought he was going to go ballistic again."

"He was." Remarked the Commander. "He's trying to calm down, but it isn't working." Haruta explained. "They really need to solve this issue. And fast." The Commander added once a bright blue flame burst form the other side of the ship.

"Agreed." Shuddered Leo, his shoulder twinging again.

~~~~~pb~~~~~

Ace walked down the street, cursing into his chin. He hadn't managed to get the room. Of course, he could've gotten it, had he really wanted. But, he didn't want to cause a ruckus. That would've been bad. Grumbling the youth headed towards the center of the city. He would have to bow his head to Thatch and explain that they were going to be camping on the beach. Once again.

He passed a newspaper stand on his way and stopped. Then, he retraced his footsteps and walked to the papers with a smile. New wanted posters had come out! Also, the Weekly Wave was out. Taking out the money that Thatch had handed him, Ace purchased that day's news and the magazine. Thanking the vendor and wishing him a good day, the raven continued on his way, in a much better mood.

He opened the wanted posters first, inspecting the newbies. He had always liked reading those. Sure, he was watching out for any sign of Luffy (the lad would hit the seas big, Ace simply knew it), but he also liked to see the new pirates. The new big names. It had always been a hobby of his, keeping tabs.

"Whoooo~" Whistled Ace. They had raised the bounty of Lady D once again. The woman was a menace. Her picture was terrible, too. All you could see was a smudge of black and red in a shape of a woman. Big breasts, though, thought the teen and then pictured Ran's bikini top right away. No, he shook his head. Friends, Ace scolded himself. Friends. Well, kissable friends, he comforted himself.

There were also a couple of new bounties. Ace read the names and looked at the pictures. Penelope had gotten herself a fair bounty. Nothing too big, but, still, she had joined a Yonko's crew. Smiling, Ace folded the poster and stuffed it in his pocket. She would probably want that.

Ace could still remember his own first bounty. It had been absolutely tiny compared to the one that he had right now. Then again, his crew still teased him about the number of times that he had yelled 'Hiken' in an attempt to get a nickname connected to it. It was his favorite thing to do with his ability. It was the first thing that he had created. The first attack. Sure, he had made many more, but Hiken had always remained somehow precious. It had that feeling of home somehow. Like when you ate something often as a child and then stopped eating it at all, and then, years later, tried it again, remembering the nostalgic feeling attached to the taste. That was Hiken for Ace.

"Oi!" The raven turned, tearing his eyes away from the interesting article about some pirate named Law. Who in the world would name himself Law and become a pirate? Thatch frowned seeing the paper in Ace's hands. "Room?" He asked.

"Camp?" Ace grinned apologetically, handing the paper over. Thatch shook his head, but took the peace offering.

"Let's get some food." The Commander said, not really giving Ace room for decisions. But, that wasn't a problem. At the mere mention of food, the raven's stomach grumbled like and angry beast, making Thatch laugh. "There's the black hole that I know and love!" He teased, ruffling Ace's hair affectionately.

"Shut up." The raved fought him off, face red. "I can't help it, aright?" Thatch stopped suddenly, causing Ace to give him a confused glance.

"Is your brother, Lucy or something, also a glutton?"

"I'm not a glutton! And it's Luffy!" Complained Ace, but Thatch was already walking again and laughing merrily. He waved the raven over, telling him to hurry up or be left behind. "He eats more than I do." Explained the Logia. "He's a Rubber man, after all." Chuckled Ace at the mental image of his little brother in a shape of a food filled balloon.

"That's a rather convenient ability. Paramecia, right?" Asked Thatch, finger on his chin in thought. Ace nodded. Then, an idea flashed through the raven's mind.

"Say, Thatch, if one division finds a Devil Fruit, what happens to it? Do you guys, like, fight for it, or something?" Ace wondered, imagining a makeshift arena on the wide deck of Moby Dick with Marco and Jozu fighting in the middle. Why in the world was he imagining the two Commanders who already had Devil Fruits fighting with those abilities for another Devil Fruit remained unknown to him.

The pompadour laughed. "'Course not! What kind of a silly image do you have in your head?" And then he laughed once more, for good measure. "Finders keepers." With a small nod, the pirate continued explaining. "It's simple actually. A division finds a Fruit, and then it's theirs. If their Commander decides to eat it, he can. But, no other division has claim over the Fruit before that division's Commander decides what to do with it." He paused, looking at Ace and seeing his thoughtful expression. "Does that make sense? Shall I make a drawing? A chart? Table of contents?" Ace opened his mouth to ask something with a frown, but Thatch kept going. "You know, I understand the whole thing that you have with Ran and that it's great. But, you need to also be able to use your brain, sometimes!"

"Halt!" Ace finally yelled, giving up. Thatch snickered. Some people in the street turned to look at them. "This has nothing to do with her. I was going to ask, what do you do when the division that gets the Fruit, doesn't want it?" The raven looked to his senior, waiting.

Thatch shrugged. "Never happened before." Ace face palmed.

"Then, you don't-"

"Look." Thatch was suddenly serious and Ace closed his mouth, waiting. You didn't see the pompadour serious very often. "That doesn't really matter, alright Ace? Who cares about the Devil Fruit? If you want one, you'll find one eventually. A division will figure it out. If not, Pops will get involved. You'll find that none of the crew really care about Devil Fruits."

There was a short pause as they walked and Ace thought it over. "So, if you found one?" He asked finally, causing Thatch to laugh.

"No idea." The Commander told him. "I'll figure it out when I get one. Look, there's a restaurant there." The pompadour pointed excitedly and ran towards it. Ace didn't really know what to think. Sure, the crew was laid back and all that. But, were they really that laid back? Did they really not care about Devil Fruit? Finding one was definitely not an everyday occurrence. Well, if Thatch said that it didn't matter, it didn't matter.

"Hey! Wait for me! Thatch!"

~~~~~~pb~~~~~~

Leo had decided to be the brave one. He walked towards the medical wing gingerly cradling his arm. A day of manual work hadn't done it any good. He could feel the strain in the muscles. It was like his shoulder blade was rubbing in a very awkward and uncomfortable way against something else. He was no doctor, he couldn't diagnose it. But, he could tell that it was going to be a real bitch to fix. Especially after he had been using it for the work.

Soon, the door of doom was in front of him. The blonde pirate stood there, staring. If he didn't knock on it, he would go to sleep and let his muscles cool off from all the work. Then, he would most likely be unable to use his arm tomorrow. On the other hand, if he knocked, he would need to face the beast that dwelled inside. Doc was in a bad mood, and that was putting it nicely. Frustrated Marco was scary enough. But, pissed off doc… Well… The usual damage that she did would probably be nothing compared to what she could (and would) do now.

Finishing his mental war, Leo turned away from the door, prepared to run for the hills. But, luck wasn't on his side that day. Doc was standing there, charts in arms, flame coming out of her eyes as she glared at him.

"Why didn't you knock?" She asked steadily, voice calm. Oh damn, thought Leo. He was screwed. When she yelled, you could sometimes survive. But, when she whispered with dead calm, like this, that's when you wished for a miracle. Or for a pistol to shoot yourself. The last guy that she had whispered like this at was Marco, who had ended up in a hospital bed after his encounter with doc. And he had regenerative abilities.

"I-ugh-er-didn't want to disturb you, doc!" Leo squeaked, voice breaking at the end. Doc looked him up and down, noticing the way that he was favoring his right side. Frowning, she poked his shoulder getting a pathetic yelp. Leo closed his eyes, waiting for the outburst to come. But, it never did.

"Am I not this ship's doctor?" The blonde opened one eye, peeking. This was even worse. This was way worse. Doc's eyes were swimming with tears. Leo felt his breath catch in his throat. Yelling, he could take. Crying, not so much. Another woman's face appeared in his mind, the one that was burned into his memory. The woman was also tanned, her eyes dark, hair pulled back in a neat bun. There was terror on her face as she cried, yelling something. "Can you not rely on me, no matter the circumstances?" Doc spoke once again, snapping the pirate out of his trip down memory lane.

He pushed his bangs back with one hand, releasing a deep breath. "I can. Forgive me." Leo gave doc a smile and she nodded through her tears. "Shall we make some tea?" The pirate asked, opening the door to her office. Doc followed him in soundlessly and settled into her chair automatically. She sat there, staring ahead, eyes empty.

Leo searched through the cupboards and found the pot that doc usually used. He turned on the burner and heated some water. The room was deathly quiet. Doc was embarrassed that she had broken down and spilled her fears to a younger pirate. Leo was simply feeling the awkwardness, his own memories haunting him.

"Let me see your shoulder." Doc suddenly spoke, getting up. She took the tea from the blonde and pointed at the hospital bed. Leo obeyed without a word. There was silence as doc completed their drinks. She then walked to Leo. "Strip." She ordered, voice kind, small and so uncharacteristic of her. The blonde did as he was told once again.

Doc reached out, helping him take the coat off and then pull his sleeveless shirt off. The youth was well-built, lanky, but you could see his muscles. On his shoulder stood out the Whitebeard pirate flag, dark against his pale skin. He had tanned on the Moby Dick, though. Doc remembered. She remembered when he had just come aboard, scared and distrustful. A pale, noble, spoiled brat who had had his world broken in a matter of hours. She almost couldn't believe that the sweet youth before her was the same person.

"You should've come to me earlier with this." Doc told him, voice still calm. She inspected the shoulder and then walked to her cupboards, looking for a specific jar. "I'll warm it up and try to soothe the muscles. Don't strain your shoulder anymore." Then, doc went behind Leo and poured some salve over his strained muscles. Slowly, her expert fingers glided over his muscles, infusing her Haki into her work.

"He's suffering, too, you know." Leo couldn't hold it in anymore. This wasn't his job. This was what Izo usually did. He was the meddler. Leo wasn't. Then, why the hell was he even trying? No doubt, the pink Commander already had a bulletproof plan set in motion. Why in the world was Leo getting involved?

"I know." Doc replied, soothing the red shoulder with her palms. "But he's been terribly selfish, Leo." Doc told him. "He's been so selfish. Telling me to decide. Rushing me. Never giving up. And when I finally realized what I was feeling and tried to grasp it, he pushed me away. Selfish bastard."

"Aren't you selfish, too?" Asked Leo. He tilted his head to see the woman in question. Doc's face almost broke his determination. She looked so torn. So lost. "It's alright to be mad at him." Leo told her, seeing the anguish and self blame on her face. "But, you only have one very precious life, doc. Don't waste it on silly selfishness."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, love." Leo and doc looked to the source of the voice, seeing Izo leaning in the doorway like he owned it. The Commander was smirking. "Love like yours isn't something that you see every day, dear." Explained the man.

Doc nodded weakly. "He was dancing in circles for too long." She chuckled. It was a deep sound, one that you wouldn't expect a woman to produce. "I took initiative only to have him freak out on me." She wiped her hands on her coat and reached for another jar of salve.

"Understandable." Izo told her. "He can remember you coming on board as a teenager, dear." Doc snorted as she struggled to open the jar. The Commander walked forward, closing the door behind him. He took the jar and pried out open easily. "He's a right coward, though. I don't approve of his actions one bit." Smiled the man.

"Then why are you here preaching to me?" Doc's voice rose in volume and Leo flinched. Here comes the volcano. "Ah?!" Doc glared at the Commander, flaring her Haki. Izo kept smirking, unaffected.

"Because you love him." Complete silence. No one moved for a while. Leo got brave and slightly turned, trying to see if he was going to suffer the doc's wrath. But, he wasn't expecting to see that expression on the woman's face. For the first time, Leo thought that this woman, dark skinned and wild haired, was truly beautiful.

There was a faint blush on the woman's cheeks, her eyes averted down, embarrassed. But, they showed such emotion, such care and love. Leo could feel the intensity of it. This woman, this pirate next to him, she was completely and undoubtedly in love.

"You can't tell him that, Izo." Doc's voice was tiny, for once. Her eyes had filled with tears and she wasn't looking at the Commander.

"I won't, don't worry, dear." The Commander affirmed. Doc's hands began rubbing the salve into Leo's shoulder, causing him to gasp at the cold. "Because you will."

~~~~~pb~~~~~

"Will this be fine?" Ace asked, pulling his food-to-be onto the shore. You had to give it to him, the glutton loved his meat. The Sea King was impressive, both in size and the danger of hunting one of species. But, Ace knew his food. He knew what was tasty and what wasn't.

Thatch nodded. "That'll do fine." He took out his sword, aiming for the beast. This was a well-practiced combination, after all. Thatch flew forward, his blade infused with Haki. The body split into parts, like a professional chef had sliced it. With a grin, the Commander turned to his gaping companion. "Good, aren't I?" The pompadour acted all proud, smirking at the younger pirate.

Ace nodded dumbly. Thatch was good, no doubt. In fact, it was rather strange. Ace had heard about the Commander's cooking skills from the crew. But, somehow, despite the fact that he had been on the Moby Dick for almost a year, he still hadn't had the chance to try the man's cooking.

With a frown, Ace plopped down onto a rock, shaking the sand out of his boots before he put them back on. He was wet from his hunt, as he had almost fallen off Ran's boat-thing. He really liked it. Though, they needed to add a sail. A sail would make it perfect. He was glad that Thatch had brought the boat along with them when he had departed.

"Ace!" Thatch yelled, finally getting the younger pirate's attention. The raven whirled around, raising his eyebrow in question. "Go to the center and get us some spices? I'm going to start preparing this." Ace agreed, walking towards Thatch to get the money. The Commander handed him a list, some beli and sent him on his way.

The raven obliged, despite the fact that he was feeling suddenly like a newbie on a ship. The walk to the city wasn't that long. The beach that Thatch and Ace had decided to commandeer was sandy, with occasional stone parts and some palm trees. It kind of reminded Ace of the beach that he and Ran had camped at, merely weeks after they had met each other.

When he thought about it now, he hadn't understood the pilot back then at all. They had been pissed at each other for silly things. Now, it was laughable. With a smile on his face, Ace walked into the city and headed upwards, towards the market. The city was nice. The pirate didn't know its name, but he sure liked the atmosphere. The houses were small and old, built almost one upon the other. Little alleyways were in between them, cozy looking. Ace saw a couple of small, traditional looking, shops in those tiny passages and smiled. Those were quite adorable, actually.

The market was close by, as the city wasn't too big. With a grin on his face and a hop in his step Ace made it to the center just as the sun was turning red and orange. The market was lit up in the rays of sun, looking almost magical. Ace took a deep breath, enjoying the way the scents from all the different spices and foods mixed with the salty air from the sea. He pulled out the messily written list that Thatch had given him and headed for the tomatoes first.

"Good evening, sir. How are you?" Ace greeted politely. The vendor turned, and took in the topless, tattooed youth with a bit of surprise in his glance.

"Good evening, lad. It's been a busy day. Thank you for the question." The vendor was nice, he even helped Ace pick out the tomatoes (as the pirate wasn't too good with getting the right ingredients). The pirate paid for his vegetables and continued on to the next stand. And the next and the next. He tried to ignore the local girls that were staring at him at giggling, occasionally pointing at him. Thankfully, nobody had panicked because of his tattoo. Yet.

It was strange that people did that. True, he was a member of an infamous crew. But, Whitebeard wasn't known for his bloodlust or carnage. Sure, he had been proclaimed the strongest man in the world, but he wasn't cruel by any means. He and Red Hair, those were the Yonko who actually had a positive reputation. Big Mom wasn't too liked. Sure, she was a famous pirate with a big crew and a fearsome reputation that followed a Yonko. However, her interest was simply in profit, as far as Ace knew. He hadn't had any contact with the woman, or her crew, yet. And frankly, he wasn't looking forward to the inevitable. They were two large competitors, two Yonko, and Ace was a part of one of them, on his way to become a Commander (He was going to kill Leo for that).

Kaido, well, he wasn't even going to touch that subject with a ten foot pole. The man was simply cruel in Ace's eyes. Then again, since he was an enemy of the Whitebeard Pirates, he was an enemy of Ace's, too. The raven had only met one person from the Yonko's fleet. A snotty, arrogant brat named Michaello. Ace thanked Calypso every day that he hadn't started a war back then.

Getting to the last stand, Ace recognized one of the giggling girls from before. She was a rather pretty thing, blonde and fair, in a pale pink dress, smiling at him. Ace grinned lazily back.

"Hello." He greeted and her face went red instantly. The pirate was immediately reminded of Penny and the way that she used to blush like that all the time. "How are you?"

"I-I'm good, and you?" The girl stumbled over her first word, but then regained her confidence. With a flirtatious smile, she leaned forward, attempting to give the pirate a good view of her cleavage. Ace couldn't help it, his eyes wondered down and then back up, slowly, appreciating the sight. He might as well, right?

"I'm looking for some salt and some oregano, if it's not a problem?" The polite pirate kept being polite, just as he had been taught. The girl nodded, making sure to flick her hair back.

"What kind of salt would you like, umm-?" She began, handing him a small bag of oregano, but paused, blinking up at him with her large eyes.

"Ace." The pirate told her absentmindedly, taking the spice and looking through the small packages of salt. Once he found a familiar one, he smiled. "This one." He pointed at it. He remembered this packaging. A large number seven was printed on it, along with a design of a fountain-like city behind it. The salt that came from Water Seven's Aqua Laguna. He remembered eating in a small floating restaurant with his crew way back. It had been the best food in his life.

"I'm Persika." She told him with another batting of her eyelashes. Now, it was getting a tad annoying. What was with all the P girls going after him? His mind flashed to Ran, and the first letter of her name, but he banished the thought. Friends, he reminded himself.

"I would like that salt, Miss." A voice boomed from behind Ace, Persika looking up, like a mountain of a man had appeared. The pirate noted the sole bag of salt and turned around, ready to compromise. However, that thought died in a second after he saw the potential customer. The large 'I'm going to the beach' man, from that morning was standing behind Ace, grinning.

The pirate's tempter snapped. "As if!" He yelled out, hand coming up to chop the man over his head. The bulking stranger fell down comically, obviously not expecting the attack. "Here you go, Miss Parsheeka." Said the pirate, terribly mispronouncing her name with a blinding smile. He passed her some beli and took the bag of salt in one swift motion. Then, he did what he did the best. He ran away, laughing.

"But, your change! Ace-san!" The girl yelled out as the pirate's figure became smaller and smaller. "And it's Persika." She mumbled into her chin, disappointed. He had been a right hottie. Polite, too.

The large man that Ace had knocked down got up, growling with anger. His shorter companion walked over, mirth in his pale eyes. "I see that your time as a regular has dulled your skills." Mocked the short man.

"Damn bastard." Growled the large one. He then turned to his companion. "I don't want to hear that from you!"

"A common pirate just caught you off-guard." Explained the short man, paying for one bag of salt. "You're either playing or your skills have dulled, former Taurus."

That's all folks!

Reviews:

Lilikoikoi: Glad that you enjoyed :) Well, Ace was bound to be weirded out by his feelings… He has the whole 'Son of the Devil' complex xD He's all nerves of steel now… Hehehehe~

XxFire-PhoenixxX: Here come Marco and Jade :D I was planning to give them a whole chapter, even though they are not the main pairing, I enjoy writing them :)

We'll see if Ace is going to hold onto his 'just friends' idea… We'll see… He's trying xD He has his complex after all… He's a very self-doubtful person.

Hope you enjoyed!