Chapter Twenty-Three: The Light in the Darkness

"The sun is gone, but I still have a light."
-Kurt Cobain

"'I'm Ace,' he said softly, almost too soft for me to hear. 'And we're in love.'"

Mia swooned like any teenage girl would. "That's so beautiful, grandma."

Faye laughed, nodding in return as she rested in her bed. Mia sat at her feet, Faye's notebook in one hand and a pen in the other. Faye, the poor women, had grown too old to even write her story, but Mia happily rode the ferry to this small island and walked the hill to the home of her grandmother to hear the story and write it for the woman.

"Oh, that is only the beginning of the many loving things your grandfather said to me," she chuckled again, before the laugh became a wheeze in her old lungs, and Mia was up before Faye could grab at the handkerchief to cough into. There were many minutes spent with Faye hacking, Mia rubbing her back with a soft hand and a glass of cool water held out for her grandmother.

Once the coughs calmed and Faye was gasping for breath, she took the glass and sipped it slowly. Mia was waved back to her spot at the foot of the bed. Faye took a few moments to calm herself, before smiling a slightly toothless smile, running her hand through her thin, gray hair.

"Now, where were we?" Faye said, Mia returning her smile.

"You had lost your memory, and Ace had just told you that—"

"That we were in love, yes."

Faye continued to smile, but her eyes closed as she pictured the scene of the two young rebellious children. She felt the slime of the wet stone on her back, and the heavy cuffs on her wrists, and the smell of salt water as it splashed outside the walls. She could feel the warmth of Ace even from across the room, but then the heat began to fade as the kairoseki cuffs sucked his Devil Fruit powers from him …

OF MEMOIRS AND MAPS

As I sat there, the cell grew colder and colder. My body felt weaker, and my mind was hazy. There was a throb in my temple, and the metallic smell of blood overpowered the scent of the cell. The man, Ace – his words confused me. His expression – it proved that he did care much for me – but love? How could I love someone I didn't know? Or had I known him better than anyone, and something caused my memory to completely leave me?

"We're… in love." I repeated after him, blinking with blurry eyes as I took in the three words. Love. What was love? I knew what it was in my head, in my heart – but what could I possibly verbally explain it as?

"Yeah." It came out as a whoosh of heartbroken air. The light in his eyes was gone.

Confusion, remorse, and sympathy had etched its way in my bones. I was clueless of what to do. This man had told me we were in love, yet here I was, having no clue of who he was. There were small flashes of familiarity when I was thinking of him-

The heat of a flame on my skin. The passion of a kiss of loving lips. The smile that finds its way to a lover's face. The thrum of a beating heart when it knows it's near its other half.

But that was all I felt. Were these what love was? I didn't know, but for some reason, I felt like I did know, deep down.

Yes, those things were what love felt like.

"I'm sorry…" I whisper softly. He doesn't look at me; he can't. I understand why, I suppose.

"No, I'm sorry…" he tells me, finally looking at me. The light that was there has disappeared. "I could have kept this from happening. I should have stopped you from going to your mother's funeral. None of this would have happened."

"Ace," I whisper softly, and the dead look softens into half-dead. Just him hearing me say his name is bringing back the man that I had woken up to. "If this is anyone's fault, it's definitely not yours. If I could remember anything, then I would gladly be cursing whoever's fault this is."

Then the dead look returned. Crap, I really need to stop bringing that up, huh?

The wooden door leading into the cell holding area is suddenly thrown open, and in walk three men. Two of which I know I've never seen before, while the other holds some resemblance to a face in the dark corner of the back of my mind.

"I see the two love birds are awake, aye?" The familiar one sneers, farther supporting Ace in his words of 'love'. "Oh?" he starts, looking from Ace to me – me who is Faye and can't get the fact that I have seen him somewhere before. "What's with the long face, Fire Fist? Can't stand being so far away from your lover?"

Ace growls loudly at the man, causing one of the two other strangers to bang against the cell bars with the butt of his rifle.

"And what's this?" he turns to me, his sneer even nastier. "What is with the hazed look in your eyes, little sister? Have you finally realized that I'm going to kill you?"

I gasped. He's my brother! No wonder his face seemed so familiar – yet… he wants to kill me? What kind of sick bastard wants to kill his own sister? Surprisingly, to me, he is sick enough.

"She lost her memory because of you," Ace snaps, getting the bars of his cell hit again and a deep, evil chuckle from my 'brother'.

"Is that so?" he says with mild humor in his voice. "Well then, I might just have to keep her around a little longer. It will be fun to torture such an innocent mind… void of all memories and understanding."

My heart jumps up into my throat just as a large boom echoes over the open sea, and the ship we are on shakes from being hit with something. I soon find out that this 'something' is indeed a cannon ball, and one of the men beside my 'brother' is hit head on by it. He is sent flying back through the open door he came through. The other man scurries out, while my 'brother' looks through the hole created by the cannon, furiously fuming.

He turns to me before storming from the cellar and I hear his boots thud as he stomps up the stairs to the deck of the ship. Ace sits still for a moment before standing up quickly and walking over to the bars of the cell. He peers out into the hole before he grins widely at the glimpse he gets of something.

But the grin doesn't quite reach his eyes – and the light has still faded away…

"Faye!" he calls for me, looking hopeful. Have I remembered anything? No… "Come here. I have a pick in my back pocket. I need you to get it out and get these off of me." He looks weak, almost as if he is suffering from fatigue. What has these cuffs done to him? Why do they call him 'Fire Fist'?

I feel heat on my lips – it's smooth and soft, but humming with life and passion and love and-

I blink with surprise, clearing my vision of the fuzzy image that had taken over. He's looking at me hopeful. Slowly, I stand and walk over and lean against the bars. It's a stretch, and my hands feel awkward being shoved through the small space between bars while still cuffed. Ace turns, and my hands brushes against his cool back, feeling the ink embedded in his skin.

I hear the buzz of the needle – the constant pinch on my back as she digs the ink into my skin, creating the picture I asked for – Mia would be proud-

Shaking my head, clearing the fuzzy look again, I reach into his deep pocket. I feel the once warm metal against my fingertips and grab at it. Almost as if I'm on some type of automatic process without much conscious thought, I'm wiggling and shoving the pick into the cuff that surround Ace's wrists before there is a click and one of them falls free. He takes the pick and does the other quicker than I, before dropping the cuffs to the floor and simply grabbing onto the bars of his cell. The damp metal melts away, red hot from the heat that comes from nowhere. Ace steps through without much thought.

I'm taken back by the gesture, and take a few steps back in surprise. Ace does the same to the bars of my cell, before walking in and grabbing at my wrists. He does the same to my cuffs as he did to his. Once my wrists are free, the hazy, weak feeling in my head goes away, and I feel my strength beginning to return to me. There is a pounding on my temple, and I rub at it softly before Ace grabs my free hand and pulls me from the cell.

Going to the hole in the side of the ship, I look through, seeing grinning pirate faces of familiar people. They have an opening connecting the two ships by a simple board going from one side to the other.

"Go Faye, I'm right behind you," Ace says, urging me over onto the other side. I'm hesitate, for the subconscious fear of the great water below me keeps me from going across.

"Faye!" I look up, and my face fills out in a sudden grin at the face I know I could never forget. His lopsided blonde hair covers his forehead, and his lazy eyes look at me. I'm moving across the board quickly, but one glance down and I'm stuck still in the middle. The waves are high and shaking my bones and make my heart drop into my stomach.

"FAYE!" he yells just as I hit the surface of the water – the weight is deafening to my ears – it weighs me down – sinking, sinking, farther and farther down without halt – I'm going to die here, I'm going to drown – he breaks the surface of the water – he is no longer warm – his warmth is gone, gone like the future we could of have had it not been for me stupidly falling into the water and-

I'm shook from the memory by two warm arms wrapping around me and carrying me the rest of the way. I clutch to the being, closing my eyes as a bright flash and a bang of another cannon shakes the world. Ace is whispering to me that it will be 'alright' and I don't dare let go. It feels right to be in his arms – like this is where I'm supposed to be.

I will never be quite sure of when I got my memory back – of when I remembered all the kisses and the warm embracing and the times just staring into those deep brown eyes in the early morning as he slowly wakes up, looking back into my bright green. I will never be quite sure of how I lost my memory – or what brought back what I had forgotten.

Was it the strong, affectionate hold that I was taken into when Ace picked me up? Or maybe it was the simple words of 'everything is going to be okay' being whispered into my ears. It was a reassurance that I needed.

I'm moved from Ace's arms and into the arms of my uncle. He sets me to my feet, but keeps a tight grip around my waist to make sure my knees won't give out. My head is still pounding, but it could be from the cannons still going off beside me.

"Get her out of here!" Ace yells over the cannons, and Marco gives a stern nod before ushering me from the cannons. The pounding in my temple is still there, but it isn't as bad. I'm brought into a room that smells like chemicals, and the chair I'm sat in feels sterile. A box full of gauze and ointments is put beside me.

Ratch is kneeling in front of me almost immediately, cleaning the cut on my temple with a warm, wet cloth before applying ointment to the spot. I wince at the sting, but slowly, the pain goes into a dull thrum that I come to ignore. Ratch places a small bandage over the spot and wraps a string of gauze around the crown of my head before taping it off and handing me a cup full of herbal tea. I'm forced to drink it, almost gagging it back up, before I'm allowed back onto the deck. By this time, my brother is far behind with a sinking ship.

The Moby Dick is just as I remembered it.

Instantly, I'm in search for Ace. I'm given no real answer to his whereabouts, before I see a flash of orange from the crows' nest. Gathering up the courage, I slowly climb the rope latter until I'm pulling myself up into the small confinement. Ace is sitting opposite to the opening that I climb into. His eye are closed, blocking the warm brown I want to see, as the sea breeze causes his hair to twist in the air. The sun brings out the freckles I have tried counting so many times.

I pull myself up into the small area and find myself straddling his lap. Instantly, I'm met with dull brown eyes. They still haven't found the light again.

"Ace," I say softly, my faked accent dying off. "I miss your warmth."

And with those four simple words, the darkness fades into light. It's like the sun coming out after a week of a nonstop thunderstorm. The earth is warmed and happy and can keep going on.

I can keep going on.

Wrapped up in his arms, Ace doesn't dare let go of me; his words are forever echoing in my head…

And we're in love…

A/N:

I know, I know. You all probably want to kill me. It's okay. I understand. It has been awhile. Only three more months before the 3rd birthday of my baby! I have a horrible cold at the moment and was thinking about this story earlier today. I've had the beginning written since March, just never got around to finishing it. Here you go!

I know its probably an 'eh' way for her to get her memory back, but I actually did some research! It wasn't true amnesia – just a bonk on the noggin that made her brain stop functioning correctly – like how Ace gets whenever he's around Faye. (bo-dum-shhh).

Loved it? Hated it? Want me? Review! Like! Fave! Send me ideas! (Seriously, I'm in need of some.)

Xoxo. Apples.