Slavery For Life
Chapter Two: Freedom
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There are those in this world who can find each other without even trying... those are your true friends. The ones that can find you when no one else can...
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Ace blinked, staring at the young man who came in just a minute ago. 'This has to be a joke... it just has to be...' But this was far from a joke. The man just continued to stare at Teach, his hand still pointing at Ace.
"You want to buy...him?" Teach pointed to Ace, and suddenly, Ace felt very annoyed for some reason. There was only one slave in the room, did they really have to keep pointing at him?
"Yes, that's right. I want to buy him from you."
"Well..." Teach started, but Ace had a gut feeling that Teach wasn't about to let him go that easily. Especially after what he just did minutes ago; punching a master in the face was mostly treasonable by death. Teach gave a grin. "He ain't gonna be cheap though..."
"I'll pay whatever you want." Teach starred into the mans eyes; they were filled with determination. Teach gave a small sigh, knowing that the kid wouldn't leave until he got what he wanted.
"Alright, he's yours. Ace, go pack your things." Ace couldn't believe his ears. Was he really, finally free? He gave a nod before heading up a short staircase. Once out of sight, a huge grin appeared on his face. Pain flared in his cheek, but he didn't notice. Cause today was the day he had dreamed of for eight months. Yes, today was the day Ace would fly away as far as he could...
He opened the door to his small room, containing nothing but a bed, a nightstand and a door to a bathroom. He walked over to a small suitcase that laid against the bed. He lifted it up onto the bed opened it, only two things were in it. He pulled out his normal black pants that had an orange belt holding a small dagger to shorts.
"It's nice to finally wear these again." Ace tore off the black ribbon that was in hair and stepped on it repeatedly before taking off the maid outfit and changing into his shorts. He then grabbed his orange hat out of the suitcase and let it rest upon his back. He took in a deep breath and headed downstairs.
"I'll have my accountant send you the money."
"Zehaha! Alright!" Teach looked at Ace, who was standing the beautiful wooden staircase.
"Where's your things?" The young man asked.
"These clothes are the only thing I have." Ace replied, a small hint of sadness in his voice.
"Alright... lets go." Ace nodded and made his way to the door, not stopping once to look back. Teach grinned then whispered something quickly to Ace as he passed by.
"I'll see you soon, Ace." Ace glared at Teach, disgust in his eyes.
"I don't think we will." As Ace stepped through the door, a wave of relief came over him. He was free, finally free. He let a huge smile overcome his face, the feeling was just pure relief. But his feeling was cut short when he felt his new master walk right behind him. As he reached the sidewalk, a few thoughts ran through Ace's mind. 'Why did this man buy me? Is he gonna let me be free? Am I still gonna be a slave? Is he gonna be as bad as Teach, if not, worse?' Ace thought about running. He knew his master wouldn't be able to catch him, he was too fast. The young man noticed Ace's body tense as they walked down the empty street.
"You don't have to worry, I'm not gonna hurt you."
"I've heard that before..." Ace replied coldy. 'Being Teach's slave could really mess you up, I guess...' The young man thought.
"Well, what's your name?"
"...Portgas D. Ace."
"Ace...why does that sound so familiar? Ah, my name is Monkey D. Luffy, by the way." Ace stopped in his tracks, causing Luffy to almost walk right into his back.
"Luffy..." 'My name is Monkey D. Luffy! How about you?'
"Neh, Ace? You alright?" Ace blinked a few times before continuing to walk.
"I'm fine. So why did you buy me?"
"I saw you were being abused... I don't like to see that. Plus you look familiar."
"You bought me just to free me?"
"Hai."
"But...how much did he charge you?" Luffy smiled.
"You don't have to worry about that." Ace knew that meant the price was high. Very high. Ace turned around to face Luffy, a small smile upon his face. He shook Luffy's hand strongly.
"Thank you."
"But if you don't have a place to go, you can always stay with me."
"Really? You wouldn't mind?"
"Shishishi! Of course not! You're my friend." Ace blinked again.
'Hey, wanna be friends?'
'No! I'll only end up hurting you if we become friends!'
'I don't mind. I just don't want you to be so lonely...'
"Ace, are you sure you're okay?" Luffy asked, waving his hand in front of the older ones face.
"Uh, yeah... I'm just kinda remembering little things..."
"So he did erase your memories then..."
"Yeah... I can't remember anything at all except my name... Were you a slave once?"
"No, but I was kidnapped by some bandits... A man called 'Red Hair' Shanks saved my life. But in the process, he lost an arm. But then again, I did lose my memories about three years ago. I don't know how, but I can't remember from the age of seven to thirteen..." Luffy looked at the ground. "It's weird, you know? Having this huge blankness in your life. Well, then again, I guess I shouldn't really talk. At least I have seven years worth of memories..." Ace suddenly felt bad for the young man and set a hand on his warm shoulder, hoping to try and comfort the man who just saved him.
"Well, maybe we get our memories back together." The younger man smiled again and Ace couldn't help but smile too. There was something about this guy that made Ace feel...safe. He didn't know what it was; maybe it was the familiarness? Or was it that this man actually wanted to help him? Ace really didn't know, and at that point, he didn't really care. All he knew was that he finally had a friend...
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Okay, sucky ending. I know Teach is out of character... I don't know how to write him. ^^" I didn't put as much detail in here as I wanted. I didn't where to put it... Um, if you have any suggestions, just throw em out there. I might use one or two of em ;)
Okay, if you think this story is dragging a bit, I have to apologize. This is the first time I'm writing something like this, and it's a bit hard to put into words on paper... So please, give me time. Thank you :)