Ace… Ace? I burst out the door and began racing towards the dock. Please don't be gone, please don't be gone. "Ace!" I screamed, but no sound came out of my mouth. Why was this? What was happening? I ran, everything around me was nothing but a blur. I have to tell him I'm sorry before he leaves. Ace! Ace! My legs felt as if they were getting progressively slower. Eventually I didn't seem to be moving at all. I could see the ship lifting its anchors. "No!" I screamed helplessly. They released the sails and it began to drift towards the ocean. I fell to my knees as hot burning tears began to fall down my face. I squinted in efforts to see through the blurry mess and saw his back facing me. A cold hand touched my shoulder from behind.

I woke up in a panic.

"Han? Are you alright?" I heard a familiar voice call out to me. I blinked several times for my eyes to adjust to the morning light. Orange hair and a concerned expression came into vision. "You were tossing and turning a lot..."

"Ahh… Bad dream." I said, shaking my head. I placed my hand over my eyes and sighed as I leaned back against the rock. For some reason, the floor felt mushy and grainy. I didn't remember falling asleep on the sand last night...

"Oh, Well, good thing you're awake then." She said, standing up. "Come help us pack when you're ready." I yawned and looked around. I seemed to be the last one up. Everyone else was already awake and putting away our things.

"You guys could've woke me up earlier." I mumbled, walking over to help out.

"Well we know you don't sleep much, Han-san. We just wanted you to rest a little since today's gonna be a long day." Replied Vivi. I smiled, wondering to myself how in the world I was lucky enough to end up with nakama like them.

"Oi! Be careful!"

"Stop moving around then!" I put away the blanket I was rolling up and turned around to see what all the ruckus was about. Zoro was sitting Indian style on the ground, while Chopper was wrapping several bandages around his left arm.

"What happened to you, Zoro-kun?" I asked him.

"He's really badly burnt." Chopper replied, carefully wrapping the gauges.

"From the sun?" I frowned. It was probably only around 8 o' clock. Definitely not hot enough to be burned yet.

"No, he-"

"Doesn't matter." Zoro interrupted, as he stood up and walked over to help pack.

"Zoro! You shouldn't move it too much! Those are some second degree burns!" Cried Chopper. "Zoro! Zoro!" He waddled after him, trying to get him to stand still.

"I'll be fine!" He growled. Chopper backed away, cautious of his temper.

Strange, I thought to myself. Speaking of burns, someone was missing .

"Where's Ace?" I asked, trying not to sound too eager.

"Actually, I haven't seen him all morning either." Replied Sanji.

"Someone say my name?" I turned around and saw him a few feet behind me. He was dragging something along with him, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"What's that?" Luffy gasped. "Did you bring us food?"

"Breakfast," Ace replied, as he swung the beast and rolled it over to Sanji. Everyone's eyes widened. It was an enormous desert lizard, burnt to a crisp, probably another poor victim of Ace's power.

"Sanji! Cook it!" Luffy exclaimed, as he rubbed his stomach. Ace let out a little chuckle and walked over towards me.

"Sleep well?" He asked, flashing me a crooked smile. Everytime he grinned, my heart melted.

"Not really." I managed to sputter.

"Why's that?" He asked sounding rather disappointed. I shuffled my feet and began to roll up another blanket.

"Dunno," I replied. He probably didn't need to know about the dream anyway.

It wasn't long after we finished breakfast and headed out that Ace and I found ourselves lost.

"Do you even know where we're going?" I huffed, fanning myself. Ace sure was useful for cuddling on cold nights, but when it came to traveling in a desert, he was about as useless as an umbrella full of holes.

"No, not really." He turned and smiled at me.

"What are you smiling about."

"Nothing, nothing." He replied, the grin still plastered on his face. I watched him from the corner of my eye in case he tried anything. "Ah!" He pretended to trip, shoving into me.

"Stop it!" I said, pushing him back.

"It was an accident, I swear." He said, shoving me again.

"Why you…" But before I could continue our little game, he picked me up in his arms and swung me around in circles. "Ace! Put me down!" I tried to yell inbetween giggles.

He continued on doing it, regardless of my begging. Eventually he stopped and looked down at me. We locked eyes for a moment as he leaned in close. I felt his warm lips press against mines and I exhaled all the tension that had built up. Once we pulled away, I began to blush furiously and commanded he let me down. "I don't want to kiss you." I said half teasing half serious. His facial expression suddenly changed, and he didn't say anything for a bit. Then, he slowly lowered me to the ground.

"What's wrong? Come on, let's go." I urged, grabbing his arm. He limply trailed along, but said nothing. I could sense a strange transition in his mood. Just a moment ago he'd been laughing and smiling and now his eyes seemed to be staring off into space; his eyebrows slightly furrowed. I slid my fingers between his, hoping to ease the tension, and leaned on his shoulder as we walked. His tanned skin was very warm against my cheek, but I didn't mind for the time being. "Something wrong?" I asked him, the curiosity finally getting to me.

"No, sorry." He replied blankly. He wasn't a very good liar.

"You know I didn't mean it." I said. He gave my hand a little squeeze.

"Why is it that you don't want to tell the others?" He finally replied

"Tell them about what?" I replied, kicking the sand.

"You know. Us."

"What is there to tell?" He stopped walking and turned towards me.

"Don't joke around." He said, a little more aggressively. I stared at him and furrowed my eyebrows.

"What?"

"Is it that swordsman? It's him isn't it?" He growled. I could see his eyes begin to fire up. I gasped and stepped a few feet back.

"Ace, calm down." I said.

"You two have something going on, don't you?"

I didn't say anything, and looked away.

"I'm sorry." He took a few steps towards me and tenderly slipped his hands into mine. "I'm just a bit worked up from the heat." He said. We walked a little further before I said anything.

"Ace…" I started. "You're here for a mission, aren't you?"

"Yes," he said, turning towards me

"That means you're going to have to leave once you're done. Doesn't it?"

"I… Suppose."

"If I tell them, that means we're only going to get closer. And when you-" Suddenly my feet began to feel slippery, and the ground below me felt as if it were sinking. "What's going on?" I asked, realizing something was beneath me. Out from the sand rose a monstrous plant, with teeth sharper than a sharks. I gasped struggled to climb out of the hole it had created in the sand. I used wind hops to try and push myself out of it, but the sand was sliding too quick for me to get a grip. "Ace!" I screamed.

"Don't worry," He called back. I heard a loud crackling noise as the monster cried in pain. I looked up to see the plant swaying from side to side, moaning from the burn Ace had just imprinted on it. What kind of desert was this? "Grab my hand." He told me, reaching into the hole. I stretched as far as I could and our fingers only slightly brushed against each other.

"You're too far." I said frustrated. A gust of air shot from my feet and I jumped just high enough to grab his hand.

"Gotcha," He reassured me pulling me up. But suddenly I felt a sharp pain my leg and I screamed. I turned around horrified to see that the plant had bitten my leg.

"Kaze kick," I said, as the monster released me from its jaws and went flying in the opposite direction. It's giant head smashed into the sand and it cried one last time before finally dying. I fell to the ground, clenching my leg. Crimson streaks were rolling down my knees and I squeezed my eyes shut to endure the pain.

"Han!" He yelled, kneeling beside me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I replied inbetween quick breaths. I squeezed the area around the bite and more blood came leaking out.

"No, you don't look alright. Let me carry you." He placed one arm under my legs and another behind my back and slowly lifted me up. I let out a little whimper. "I'm sorry I'm sorry," He said.

"No, I don't want to be carried." I argued, squirming out of his arms.

I know you don't want to be, but quite frankly I don't care." He said, as he stood up and began to walk.

"You can't carry me all the way there Ace. You're not superman." I huffed. The pain was spreading quickly.

"No, but I'm pretty damn close."

It was a long while before we reached Nanohana. The pain my leg had died down, and instead replaced by a rather numbing sensation. We had used a ripped off part of my shirt sleeve and wrapped it tightly around the wound to prevent further blood loss. I felt guilty having made Ace carry me through the desert, but he insisted I stay put in his arms. And even with all my refusing, deep down I knew I couldn't walk anyway. I could barely handle the sharp spikes in my leg everytime Ace took a misstep, let alone walk all the way to town on it. I was thankful we'd finally reached civilization.

We entered the town. The marketplace was bustling with merchants and busy citizens, rushing about.

"Ace you can put me down now," I told him.

"No, not till we find the others." He insisted, "That wound looks pretty serious. Didn't you have a doctor nakama with you?"

"Chopper." I said knowingly.

"Right, that little tanuki. Let's get you back to the rest of your nakama shall we?" Sometimes, his strength surprised even me. Even after traveling through the desert with a girl in his arms, he didn't even seem to have broken sweat. I sighed and nodded. Nothing I could do to stop him anyway.

As we roamed through Nanohana, I noticed people staring at us as we walked by. With our clothes and the fact that Ace was carrying me in his arms, we didn't exactly fit in. Ace didn't seem to notice and was focused on finding the rest of the Mugiwara crew.

"Haaaaaaan-swaaaaaaaaan!" I didn't have to look to know who it was.

"There you guys are," Ace said cheerfully. Everyone was gathered in a little alley behind some buildings. They were all sitting in the shade and it looked like they also had a long journey there. "We've been looking everywhere for you."

"Han-san! What happened to your leg?" Vivi asked, standing up. Ace set me down beside nami and sat down himself as well.

"Han-san! Ace! Where were you guys?" Usopp asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"We got lost. Where's that little tanuki more importantly?" Ace said.

"I am a REINDEER!" he yelled, waddling over to us. He had been sitting beside Carue. "Han-san! What happened to your leg? This looks serious! Doctor! Doctor!"

"You're the doctor." Nami said, shaking her head.

"Oh, right!" He slid his backpack off and began to rummage around, looking for something to treat my wound with.

"I'm fine," I reassured them.

"Oi, why didn't you protect her, Ace?" Sanji asked menacingly. A cloud of smoke arose from his mouth. Ace ignored him and stood up.

"Well, looks like you'll be alright here. I'm gonna go see if I can find some more info about Blackbeard," He said, his eyes studying our area. "You guys take care of her." I looked up at him and didn't say anything. He avoided eye contact with me and then left. I sighed.

"Ouch, that hurts Chopper." I said, as he unwrapped the cloth.

"These cuts are really deep!" He exclaimed. "What did you do?"

"I dunno really. We ran into this giant plant thing…"

"Even plants in the desert are dangerous. I'm sorry, I should've warned you."

"Geez, Are you sure you're alright Han-san?" Usopp asked me, cringing at the blood.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It doesn't hurt anymore. Actually it's become numb."

"That's not good!" Chopper wailed. "If you had lost any more blood, you've been dead by now!"

"Well it's a good thing she got here then." Zoro replied. I hadn't even noticed he was there. He'd been so quiet the entire time.

"Zoro," I said, surprised.

"Eh?" He glanced up at me.

"Nevermind." He shrugged and leaned back onto his arms.

"Hey, Sanji-san." Nami called.

"Yeeees, Nami-swaaan?"

"Here's some money. I need you to pick up some supplies for us."

"What would you like, Nami-san?"

"Beer." Zoro said.

"Gunpowder." Usopp said.

"We need some clothes too, Cook-san." Vivi suggested.

"Clothes?" Nami asked.

"Yes, we can't travel around in Arabasta in these types of clothes. We'd stick out like a sore thumb."

"Oh, I guess you're right." She replied.

"Okay!~" Sanji replied, as he left for the lively market.

The rest of us sat around and wallowed in the shade awaiting his return. Everyone seemed to be out of energy from the long walk. It was shocking to me how Ace could still be up and at it even after carrying me all the way here in the heat. I looked over at Zoro and for a split second we made eye contact before both looking away.

"There." Chopper said, as he finished wrapping the last bandage around my leg.

"Thankyou Dr. Chopper." I smiled.

"Calling me a doctor wont make me happy, you big jerk!" He said, though his body language was to differ. He was swaying his body back and forth, smiling a cute curvy smile.

"Man, I didn't think we'd see you guys ever again." Said Usopp who was sitting across from me. "Good thing Ace was there to carry you here. You would've been a goner."

"I could've handled myself…" I mumbled out of pride. Though, really I was thankful.

"If you could have then why'd he carry you all the way here?" Grumbled Zoro.

"Zoro, would it kill you to be a little sensitive? Obviously she was in pain." Nami snapped. She turned to look at me. "So Han-san. Is there anything you want to tell us about Ace?" She smirked. I felt my face blush a little and I made a funny face.

"What are you talking about silly." I replied, swatting her away.

"Its okay, you can tell me. Everyone, leave or plug your ears!" She shouted. "Oh, cept for Vivi. If you're willing to let her in on it too."

"Nami," Usopp said. "Even if we did leave, you pretty much just announced it to all of us."

"Hush!" She snapped, turning back to face me.

"I uh…" I had to change the topic. "Hey, where's Luffy anyway?"

"We dunno… He got lost a little while after you guys did too." Usopp mumbled, shaking his head.

"If there's something going on, just spit it out then!" Zoro snarled suddenly. "It's not like we care." I gasped.

"There isn't anything going on!" I yelled back at him. He looked up at me ferociously and stood up. My heart began to beat faster as he approached me and grabbed my arm, pulling me up.

"Zoro! She's badly hurt!" Cried Chopper, clawing at his legs.

"I need to talk to you." He said. "In private."

" I don't want to talk to you." I said angrily.

"It's important." His tone was slightly softer. Still, his expression was unforgiving.

"I can't walk very far." I replied.

"I'll carry you then." As he lifted me off my feet. "Better than that bastard could."

:D Hello~

Soo, Yes finally another chapter. It's been what, a week?

This took me a while to write since I sorta had to plan the plot out a little better LOL

It's up though,

I hope you enjoy ~