Chapter Sixteen: The Art of Getting By
"Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity."
- Karl Marx
"How much for this hat?"
"Do you have any more of these boots in my size?"
"What other colors does this shirt come in?"
"These pants have a rip. How much is it to get them repaired?"
Hurrying behind the counter of my store, I tried to answer what questions I could. Money was constantly shoved into my face as pirate after pirate bought something. Soon, I would be completely out of stock, and it took at least two weeks to stock back up.
"How's it going, Faye?"
I spun around, shock evident on my face as I stared at the freckled cheeks and devil-may-care black hair.
"Ace?"
"Wait your turn, punk!" one of the customer snarled at Ace; a shirt, three pairs of trousers and a belt were piled in his arms. Ace backed up, but his grin at me didn't let up. Behind him, a few others of the Moby Dick crew were looking around. Some of the low-key pirates that were looking around kept a distance from them once seeing their tattoos.
Marco stepped up, his droopy eyes the same as always, but with a small glitter that told me he was happy to see me.
"I said, wait your turn–"
The pirate from before reached out to grab Ace's shirt collar, but Marco's hand stopped him before any damage could be done. The guy looked up in surprise, glaring at my uncle before the familiar flames of blue fire sprouted from his hand and heated along the forearm of the not-so-happy pirate.
He yelped in surprise, jumping back (dropping my stock in the process) as he looked at the red skin that had been burnt.
"Hey, pixie."
"Hey, Marco. What are you guys doing here?"
I continued to take money and give back change as a few of the other pirates paid for their things and left quickly. Thatch, the sweet man that I had come to be friends with, kindly picked up the fallen stock and placed it behind the counter for me to put back on the shelves.
"We had a few things that we needed to be fixed. Thought we could get a little discount from our favorite little fairy." Marco replied, a sloppy smile placed on his thin lips. I laughed, quickly counting out the correct change for the last pirate in line waiting to pay, before watching as he left.
"You know I don't mind mending a few shirts and trousers for you guys."
With that said, three large sacks full of clothes (I guessed and would soon be proven right) were hauled onto the counter. I stared at the sacks before looking up at my uncle and the smiling freckled face idiot that I had come to dislike being around. And then, I looked back at the sack, opening the top to look at the articles of clothing. As soon as I opened the bag, the rough stench of blood, sweat and mud caused my eyesight to go blurry with tears.
I quickly closed the bag before backing away as I coughed.
"Shit, Marco. What have you guys been doing, lately?"
"Looking for something."
Ace's tone of voice caused me to look up at him in surprise. His smiling, happy face was gone into complete seriousness. An eyebrow lifted up to my hairline as I straightened out my top and slipped out of my boots. It felt so much easier to walk around barefooted than it did in those things.
"And that something would be?"
I took the pile of stock from behind the counter and began to reshelf it. Marco and Ace followed me around like two little homeless puppies that I had just given something to eat.
"That's a need-to-know bases, and you don't need-to-know, pix."
I rolled my eyes, repositioning a pair of boots before folding two tops and hanging up another one of my newer silk robe designs.
"Well, if you want me to fix those clothes at all, then you better tell me. Otherwise, those clothes are only going to gather dust."
I smirked at the fact that it wasn't an empty threat. Marco and Ace looked at one another before finally giving in.
"Ace got promoted."
Now that I was not expecting. At all.
"Oh, okay." I blinked in surprise, the shock evident in my eyes.
"I'm looking for more Devil's Fruit."
Now that definitely got my attention.
"Devil's Fruit? You know there is a reason why it's called the Devil's Fruit right?"
I was given a blank look from Ace.
"I'm just saying, Lord!" I pursed my lips in frustration before walking back to the counter and grabbing the bags of clothes.
"Give me until the end of the week. And you are paying me for this!"
"All the gold and Beli you can carry, pix." Marco smiled at me, but I only huffed in return and dragged the bags to the backroom of my store.
The Art of the Sun.
I came back out, and the Whitebeard Pirates had disappeared. My stop was bustling with more pirates, some even going as far to fight over some of the stock.
It was never liked this back in Loguetown…
Loguetown.
Mia.
Fire.
Death.
Ace.
I stared out the clear front window of the stop, looking for the familiar top of black hair, mess of brown freckles, and her hat.
Nothing. Just another mass of afternoon pirates going to and from stores that surrounded her in this familiar little town that she had been in for the past two months.
She never asked what Ace's promotion was to.
OF MEMOIRS AND MAPS
Faye stared at the burnt orange and dull gold-yellow sign that was once her stop before she grew too old to care for it anymore. Inside, she watched as Anne carried around her son, Acel, and was followed by her daughter, Mia.
Isaac, Faye's son-in-law, was behind the counter. She could faintly see him counting the month's intake of Beli. Anne was busy placing things back on the shelves and checking prices. Sometimes she'd turn around to say something to Mia before the little girl would run off and into the backroom before coming out with a notepad and then run back to get another piece of stock or whatever her mother asked for.
Anne looked up for a moment before seeing her mother. She grinned happily, getting her son's attention so he would look out the window at his grandmother. Instantly, the little boy started in a gurgle of words as he saw the familiar face.
Faye was motioned to come in, but she shook her head and waved for a moment before continuing on her walk.
The faint distant sound of a bell ringing met her old ears before a soft hand was placed on her shoulder.
"Mom?"
Faye stopped walking, but continued looking forward. The streets were bare, and the cobblestone was dark with shadows as the sun made its descent for the day, letting the moon awake and take its position in the sky.
"Yes, Anne, dear?"
"Are you alright?"
Faye was silent once again. She continued to watch with tired green eyes as the sky turned into a rainbow of pinks, oranges, and purples. The blue that followed the purples was dark. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen it that dark.
"I think so."
Anne didn't reply. She moved her hand away from her mother's shoulder. Faye kept watching. Anne looked in the direction her eyes were fixed, and she tried to see what her mother was looking at.
It was a simple cloud.
Outlined in blue, gray, orange, and pink. She watched as it took form.
A face that she had only seen once in pictures.
"Ace." Faye whispered to the wind. And for a once in a very long time, Faye felt young again. She felt like she could dance around the town without feeling the least bit sore the next day; she felt like she could put together five stock orders in one sitting; she felt like she could laugh and sing and cry all in happiness.
"You miss him."
"I miss him every second and every day."
"That's why you never found someone else."
"No." Anne looked at her mother, not knowing what to think of the answer.
"No?"
"I couldn't go looking for something that I knew wouldn't be there. That's why I never found anyone else."
"But you said–"
"I've been saying a lot of things lately, Anne."
"You said you couldn't find anyone because no one wanted to love a woman as independent as you, and with a baby girl."
Faye chuckled, finally turning to look at her daughter. What Anne saw left her breathless.
Faye looked so young. Her hair was in luscious black curls that fell half way to her waist. Her skin was sun kissed, smooth, with only a few scars from the past that Anne never got to know. Her eyes looked so happy, so green, so… in love.
Anne blinked, and that vision that she had was gone.
"That was part of it, but not the main reason. A few men have tried to get close to my heart."
"But?"
Faye smiled gently, lifting a weak hand to caress the freckled cheek of her grown daughter.
"I have no heart to get close to. It was given to the one man that was the sun to my dreary day as a seamstress."
"Dad."
OF MEMOIRS AND MAPS
"Ace!" I scowled his name as he simply walked into my room while I was in the middle of changing from my day clothes and into my sleeping top. I quickly pulled the stretched, yellowing fabric over my head, covering my naked body.
He grinned – his freckled cheeks and flash of rare pink.
"Are my shorts done yet?"
I scolded him for such a trivial reason to interrupt my nightly routine before bed.
"No, and I'll be sure to fix them last." I snapped, gathering my hair in one hand as I tied a strap of leather to keep the locks out of my face during my sleep… and while I sewed a few things before becoming too tired to continue sewing.
Ace poked out his lower lip, but the grin was still in his eyes. "C'mon, Faye, don't be like that. You know I didn't mean to sneak in while you were still dressin' up for me."
I scuffed, pushing him out of my way as I grabbed a basket full of (now) clean clothes, going through them to see what the damage was. I would work on the minor rips first before going to the major ones that may require extra fabric for patches.
Straightening my back up, two strong hands gripped my shoulders gently. His thumbs pressed against the base of my neck before rubbing and kneading against the tense muscles that had been stretched earlier today from working hard.
Not being able to help it, I sighed with a bit of relaxation making my shoulders sag as his fingers worked wonders on my knotted back.
I didn't care if my father walked in with guns a-blazing, I didn't want that glorious feeling to end.
A warm chest pressed against my back, hands still kneading my shoulders.
"I'm a commander now."
I hummed in acknowledgement; so that's what Marco was talking about earlier. I guess Ace finally got over his dislike of the Whitebeard pirates long enough to see that they weren't as bad as he thought they were. Then again, from what Marco had told me, was that they spared him without a second glance after taking him from his crew.
Men and their selfish pride.
"Second division; I'm third in command of the Moby Dick."
I made another hum, eyes closed as I start to doze off on my feet.
"Come back to us, Faye."
Slowly, my eyes opened again, and I turned to look up at Ace. There was a silence between us, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was… it was a silence where we both agreed to disagree and saw the other as an equal. It was a silence where…
"I'll come back."
…I made the best worst decision of my life.
"Good night, Faye."
"Good night, Ace."
And then, I was left by myself; left to realize what I had just done. I stared at the bags of clothes at my feet before sighing. I grabbed a stained white shirt, along with my needle and thread, before crawling into bed and patching up the rip that was frayed and going down the length of one of the sleeves.
A/N:
Can… can it really be? Is she back? No way! It was last year that she updated! It's a trick of the light. Bri can't, seriously, be updating again… can she?
Well, folks, I am! That's right. Last time I updated was almost seven months ago, to the date.
School starts back in… two and a half weeks? I'll be a junior in highschool. I'm going to tell you now, that it'll be a while after my update tonight, that I update again. My marching band is going to Hawaii in December, so we got a lot of shit to get ready for. Not to mention I get my class ring in August, and I have a job.
And I'm only two school years from being on my own, and a half a year from being an adult in my state of Georgia. (I'm an adult at 17.)
So, since it's been so long since I've spoken with all of you, I just want to thank all the almost-14,000 views that oMaM has gotten; all the 63 favorites and all 79 alerts for people who I hope still have hope that this story hasn't died. AND! All 110 reviews. You guys are amazing. It warms my heart to see that someone actually enjoys my writing.
Now a few questions that I would like some of you to answer for me.
How many more chapters do you think there will be before Faye and/or Ace realizes s/he is in love with the other?
What characters are you waiting to see Faye interact with?
Should I keep writing the future!pieces between Faye and Anne & co.? Or just stick with the flashback/journal writings/Faye's telling of her story to Mia?
Are there any questions from earlier chapters that still haven't been answered?
What do you NOT like about the story?
Also, I need help coming up with an original pirate crew. If you wish for a character of yours to be included, please message me with the information of the character by August 13th. Please and thank you!
Love, Apples – AKA Dragon – AKA Bri.