Warning: Angst near the end.

Chapter Five: The Smoke That Kills

"Fire and gunpowder do not sleep together."
~Proverb

Why did there have to be crowds? Did people know that I needed to find Ace, or something? Did they know that this was a life or death situation and only wanted to make my life harder?

I pushed past people, being yelled at in the process but I ignored them. The weight from the knives in my coat hit my side every time I had to stop. It hurt, a lot, but I ignored it just the same as I ignored the people. Why did my shop have to be located so far from the harbor?

You're all probably wondering what exactly happened between now and the ten minutes ago when I ran out on Mia. Well, I'll explain.

I still had the Wanted sign clutched in my hand. I had asked myself, "Where would I be if I were a pirate?"

It was too early for any of the bars to be opened. Plus there really wasn't anywhere else to go this far into town that a pirate would want to be seen in. That only left the harbor. The harbor had docks. The docks had pirate ships anchored at them.

And thus is why I am running with death on my heels to find Ace. He got us, Mia and me, into this mess and he was going to get us out.

So, all I had to do was get to the docks, find him, drag his ass back to my shop (or even the Marine base. That would work perfectly too), and make my life a whole lot better.

The Beli that they had on his over-inflated head was just too much for me to take in unless I saw it.

"Oof!" I let out when my face went smack-dab into some man's chest. I cursed myself for not noticing him there before, and I also cursed the sea for not letting it be Ace that I ran into.

"Whoa there, little lady. Where's the fire?" I had no idea how much of a pun that would be until later on.

I groaned, shagged my shoulders, and practically made myself dead weight on the stranger.

"I need your help. Actually, I need any and every bodies' help. I'm looking for a guy – Ace. He's a pirate, about six foot tall, has shaggy black hair and–"

"And is wearing an orange hat?" I looked up suddenly, surprised that the guy actually knew him. Alright sea, you have gained my respect back. Help me just a bit more!

"What business do you have with the Captain, Miss?"

Whoa, wait, Captain? Ace, the boyish idiot who, so-called, fell asleep accidently in my bed last night is a CAPTAIN?

What is wrong with this world? I thought captains were supposed to be old, liked rum, and smelt like gunpowder. This guy was nowhere near that. Ace was young, almost my age, I think he didn't like rum, and he smelt more like the sea than gunpowder. Okay, Faye, where is all of this coming from?

I stood up straight again and shoved the Wanted poster into the man's face. "You mean this idiot is your Captain?"

He took the paper from me and looked at it with a thoughtful look. "Unless Ace has got a twin suddenly with the exact same name, then yes. This "idiot", as you call him, is my Captain…and a pretty damn good one at that, too." Of course he would get defensive of his captain.

But why, then, was I so surprised by his tone of voice?

I took the paper back from him, looking at the printed face. Ace looked differently; maybe his hair had grown more or had he gotten more freckles? Or could it be that he had actually gotten those nice abs after the picture had been taken. Could it have been that he had on a black hat (much like the one I had made), other than the orange one that I had given him?

"Eh, lady, you gonna answer my question?" My head snapped back up and at the tall man.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I have to talk to Ace – er- your captain for just a few minutes. It's business stuff. Is he around?" I tried looking for his shoulder, but all I could see where ships, boats, the seafood market, and a large crowd of people.

But not orange-hatted, black shaggy haired, freckle faced pirate who always had a grin on his face. No Ace.

"What kind of business?" Oh my god, didn't you get it already?! My life is on the line and it's all because of your crappy "captain".

I sighed, groaned, and rubbed at my aching temples. I thought that stupid alcohol headache went away. Someone please just go ahead and shot me so I can get this over with?

"Faye?"

I turned on my heel suddenly with a look of pure happiness on my face when I saw Ace. Of course he was surprised with the look, but took it as a good sign.

"Finally! You have no idea long I have been looking for your ass!" Ace may have thought that I was going to hug him, which I could visibly see him getting ready for, but I did the exact opposite.

I slapped him.

Ace's subordinate, the one that I had run into, grabbed both of my shoulders as I tried attacking him again. The pirate captain showed a new version of surprise. I would too if someone sounded happy to see me then slapped me.

"What the hell was that for?!" he yelled, rubbing at his reddening cheek.

"What was that for? What was that for?!" Everyone around us suddenly stopped, interested in our "little" squabble. "That was for making Mia and me a couple of enemies of the Marines! If it weren't for you coming into my shop, I would be asleep right now, still trying to get over my hangover!"

I huffed and folded my arms. The hands of the guy behind me still didn't let go. "And I want my hat back."

"Your hat?! I paid for this sucker! Unless you have two-thousand Beli on you, it's staying on my head from now on!"

I rolled my eyes. "You so did not pay for that. I gave it to you. So–" Wait. I had forgotten all about the Beli that had mysteriously appeared on my counter. "How did you…"

"A magician never reveals his tricks." He began grinning again. I narrowed my eyes. You can let go of her now, Hank."

"Hank's" hands let go of my shoulders, and I stumbled a bit forward. I didn't notice that I was depending on him to keep me up right.

I shook my head, and got back on topic. How could I have let him distract me?

"Anyways, the reason why I've been looking for your ass. A marine, some guy who smells really bad because of the cigars he smokes, came by my shop after I closed up early and–"

"Wait, Smoker came to your shop?" This time it was Hank who interrupting.

I rolled my eyes and continued. "And asked for you, Ace." I pointed a finger at him. This was an accusation and conviction all in one. I accused him of being a criminal, and here was living proof that he was a pirate captain.

"Me? Why me?" I shrugged to answer him, and placed both hands on my hips.

"So, because of you, Mia and I are now on the run. I'm putting the blame on your neck. Mia is currently packing what she can. You are going to be a gentleman, if only for a day, get us out of here quickly and drop us off at the neck island." Ace raised a brow, not exactly liking the idea.

"And if I say no and leave you here?" He mused. Oh that was a bad idea.

"I cut off your tongue, so you can't scream while I castrate you and hand you over to the Marines," I answered in a sickly sweet, innocent sounding voice. Both men visibly shuddered at the thought. The crowd that had stopped to watch us suddenly disappeared, and we were left at the docks. Alone. "So, hop to it. I got a lot of things I plan on packing. You have to have money to make money."

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After Ace and I had "compromised" on letting Mia and me stay on his ship until the next island, I quickly led him back to the shop.

There was that gnawing feeling again. I suddenly dreaded what I might find when I got home. Would there be Marines waiting? Would Mia not go with us? Did something even worse happen?

When we came to the street of my shop, it was eerily quiet. No lights could be seen on, and it was quiet early in the day for everyone to be closed up already.

I ghosted through the alleyway that led to the back door of the shop. Ace was close behind; I could feel the heat rolling off his chest. Why was I suddenly so cold?

"Mia!" I called out. There was no reply. There was no sound.

The shop didn't creak when shifting on the foundation. The floorboards didn't creak when I stepped on a loose one. Actually, I couldn't even hear myself breath. It was so quiet, that I couldn't even hear myself think. The silence had made a noose around my neck, slowly choking me.

"Mia," I called again, still no reply.

"Mia, Mia!" I checked the front of the shop, but the lights were off and nothing seemed to have been moved since I locked up. The kitchen was empty too. The sink didn't drip any bit of the leak that it had had when we first bought the shop.

It was so quiet, that I could seriously hear the sea as if it were right outside my door.

"Mia, Mia!" I hurried to other rooms, only finding Mia's room and the bathroom empty. All that was left was my own room.

The door was only slightly jarred open, but I could see that the light was off. Had Mia already fled? Had she taken everything with her?

I reached out to push on it and almost jumped when the door creaked. Ace got closer to me, as if waiting for someone to jump out.

I screamed when I saw Mia.

My legs gave out quicker than I could even react to hitting the floor on my knees. Both of my hands covered my mouth, trying to muffle in the cries. Mia was staring at me with her dull, dead hazel eyes.

She was leaning against the bed, her head in a sickening position. There was a bullet wound from her temple where the bullet went in one and out the other. A puddle of blood was forming on the bed and slowly crawling down her barely-covered body.

They killed her. They killed her because of some unknown reason. All because of him.

"Faye… Faye come on. We gotta get out of here before they come back." Ace was trying to pull me back to my feet, but I was only dead weight now. My best friend, my sister, my savior had died. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be here. If it weren't for me, she would probably still be selling her body on the corner of some street. If it weren't for Ace, she wouldn't be dead.

Everything was crashing down. It was crashing down so quickly that I couldn't even breathe.

"Faye…" I pulled away from him and slowly crawled–slash–walked over to her. She was still just a bit warm, meaning she hadn't been… gone long. My brain was still processing everything that was happening, but the second I touched her blood spattered cheek, I knew that I could never have a regular life.

I wouldn't be able to have two loving parents and a few siblings. I wouldn't be able to have the friends I wanted and have the job that I loved to go to everyday. I couldn't find the love of my life, settle down in a house on the coast and have a few kids. I couldn't grow old as a mother, a sister, and a wife. I couldn't have what every other girl got. I was a reject of life. The events that were happening were just ways to make my death quicker. The scar on my chest proved it.

"Faye…?" I stood up suddenly, wiped the tears from my cheeks, and took a deep breath. Mia was still staring at me, but I wouldn't meet her eyes again. I grabbed the half packed bag at the end of my bed and continued filling it with the things that were scattered across the bed. Mia didn't move. Even more proof.

I kneeled and grabbed for the large book under my bed. It was quiet large, and about three or so inches thick; only a fourth of the pages had been used since I got it.

I opened it up to one of the pages that I knew was written on and looked at the dark lines that swirled across the page. Good, no one had gotten to it yet.

I closed it and placed it under my arm. The filled bag was in my other hand within only seconds and I was heading out of my room. Ace hesitated for a moment before following me. When I got to the front of the shop, I kept the lights off. I could still see the medium-sized black bag I was reaching for under the counter. It had all the Beli in it, and I would need it.

There was nothing else for me to take.

I grabbed one of the black hats off the shelf and placed it over my head. There was a bottle of alcohol sitting under the counter, and I grabbed that also. Dropping it onto the wooden floor, I made sure it made a big enough puddle before striking one of the matches that had "magically" appeared in my head.

When you have pure alcohol and a small fire, you soon get a much bigger fire.

Ace began freaking out on me, trying to figure out what I was doing. I only pushed him back, toward the backroom, and dropped the match. Things immediately began to turn black, and the smell was a bit too much for me. The only emotion I had on my face was that of pure sorrow.

"Mia said she wanted to be cremated. She didn't want to be buried in a box. She had lived in one her whole life." I wouldn't blame her. I wanted the same thing.

We were both outside of the shop by the time the other people on the street noticed that there was a large fire. I grabbed the gun from Ace's holster at his hip, and cocked it back. The door was closed, but the bullets would still hit their mark.

"There's a reason why gunpowder and fire don't sleep together," I mused with a dry laugh and pulled the trigger.

We fled the scene as the entire place began to completely come down.

Ace didn't ask any questions, just kept pulling me through a few of the shortcuts that would get us to the harbor faster. Slowly, but surely, I was dying. Mia was gone. I had no one else left. I was all alone in this world.

And all I got in return was being stuck on a ship with some thirty-odd men, and a captain who falls asleep at any given time. Yeah, I really wish I was kidding on this one.

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A/N: I'll tell you the truth. I hate this chapter. It had no inspiration whatsoever to write it, yet it turned out longer than any of chapter (so far). That's why it's probably crappy. I didn't hate it because I had to kill Mia, I didn't hate it because of the lack of transition, and I definitely didn't hate it because of anything other than I didn't have any inspiration. I really wanted to get as many chapters out as I could the weekend because not many will be coming out this week because of holidays. But, oh well.

Review and help me gain the giddiness I had when I first started this thing!

ALSO. I totally just noticed something that I wouldn't have if I hadn't done a little research on the Spade pirates. Ace actually left Fuschia with the hat. I didn't know that until now. BUT, I have an excuse to how this works out. You can't really tell in the manga if I'm correct on this or not, but the hat looks black. The one Faye gave him is orange. Somewhere in between leaving and meeting Faye, Ace "destroyed/lost" the black hat. IT ALL WORKS OUT…right? (Ya'll have read chapter 552 of the manga, right?)

Please forgive any errors/mistakes. I really didn't want to read over this chapter after writing it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Spade Pirates, but seeing as they don't have any given names (yet), I only named them. Don't sure me, please. I don't get any money until Christmas, if any at all.