"Put me down damn it," I struggled, clawing at his back.

"Shut up and stop moving." There was a strange feeling hidden behind his words that I couldn't quite identify. It was hard to know whether he was doing this out of hatrid or respect. Either way, I felt a little apprehensive. What could he possibly have to say to me in private?

He finally lowered me to the ground behind a tall building. I pulled away from him bitterly.

"Listen," He started, leaning against the wall. He shut his eyes as if what he was about to say was going to be very important. I held my breath in anticipation. "I'm usually not one to butt into other people's business. And don't take this the wrong way. I could still care less about your personal life,"

"I understand. Go on." I prompted.

"It's about that Ace guy," He mumbled. His eyebrows were slanted downwards in an uncomfortable expression.

"Ace?" I asked him. I felt a little sick inside. I didn't know exactly what he was trying to tell me, but I was guessing it wasn't something I wanted to hear.

"Yeah." He was silent for a moment. "I don't think you should trust him." He finally spat out.

"What? Why?" I asked, sounding a little defensive. A sort of unsure feeling washed through my body, making me feel almost nauseous . He slid down and took a seat across from me. The bandages around his arm looked more tattered than I had remembered; a rather accurate reflection of his personality.

"Last night."

"Yes."

"I overheard you two talking."

"You were eaves dropping?"

"You guys were talking so loud you woke me up." He growled. I nodded my head, though not buying into his statement at all. "Anyway," He continued, "A real man keeps his word. I have no respect for people who dont." I frowned and shook my head.

"What do you mean?" I asked, in almost a murmur.

He sighed and pinched his nose bridge.

"He lied to you. Didn't keep his promise." I steadied my gaze on his bandages to keep my mind steady. Everything seemed to be fitting together, though not for the best. Ace's accusation, the burns on Zoro's arms, why I had woken up on the floor, they were all connected somehow. I just didn't know in what way exactly. I closed my eyes, half from exhaustion, and half due to the fact that I didn't want to look at him anymore. I hadn't the slightest idea of what had gone down, but I refused to believe any of it and decided to blame it all on coincidence.

"Why should I believe you over him," I said shakily, "You never liked me anyway."

"Because he tried to leave you." He stated, plain and blunt. His scathing words sent me into a hysteria, and a gasp escaped my lips.

Ace jumped off the boulder, making sure not to wake the sleeping body in his arms. He landed on the sand, barely making a sound. Gently, he lay the girl down besides a few of her nakama and smiled a sad little smile to himself. You'll be safe from the sun down here, he thought. He gave her one last kiss on the forehead before turning around to leave. The man fixed his hat and emitted a tiny cough, trying to hold back the choking feeling in the back of his throat and began to walk towards the soon arising sun.

"Leaving, huh?" He stopped.

"You're awake." He replied dubiously, though not even bothering to turn around.

"How could I sleep with all that talking." The man stood up; The sound of his katana clinking together sent shivers up Ace's spine. He had always hated the sound of metal clashing.

"What are you gonna do, try and stop me?"

"No," He shrugged, stepping out into the little light that was visible over the horizon. "Not my business what you do."

"When why get up?" Ace replied, finally turning around.

"Just to make sure you know what you're doing."

"Hmph," He let out a sarcastic little scoff. But he bit his lip, almost reconsidering. "You don't think I want to stay with her?"

"I'm not saying that at all. But you're breaking a promise, and that's the most despicable thing a man can do." Ace said nothing in return, and instead began to walk away. After a few paces, he stopped and turned around.

"You care about her?"

"I care for all my nakama. Though just not in the way you're interpreting it."

"She's a lovable girl," He said, a goofy grin slowly finding its way across his face. He felt dumb, but in the dull lighting it was impossible for the swordsman to see his face anyway. It was not a smile of happiness, but rather a wistful one, as he stood there reminiscing the times the two had shared. His heart begged to stay by her side, but his mind knew he could not do such a thing. "But she's mine." He said, not yet willing to let her go. It was a selfish thing to say, and yet he did not regret saying so.

"I told you, I don't like her in that way." Zoro corrected him once more. "I know you've got somewhere to be. But if you knew you were going to leave her again, it was a damn shallow thing to lead her on like that."

"Stay out of my business. These are my choices and I'm sticking to them." He volleyed back, his hat casting a menacing shadow over his eyes.

"Fine." Was the only word the swordsman used in reply. The two stood in silence for quite a while before Ace finally turned around and ambled away. He was never one to be very emotional, but as cliché as it sounded, he could slowly feel his heart disintegrate as he walked out on her for the second time. It pained him, because he knew she'd never forgive him. Hell, he'd probably never forgive himself for making such a dumb decision. Though not regretting choosing the path of a pirate, he wished goodbyes did not have to be so hard.

"Like I'd let you off that easy," He heard someone gnarl in his ear. He turned around slowly with a smirk plastered on his face and placed his hand on the swordsman's shoulder.

"I told you, swordsman," He barked, "I stick with my choices." Underneath his hand a flame began to form. Immediately, Zoro sharply retracted his arm and cringed. He almost yelled out, but resisted, trying to convince himself it didn't hurt too bad, that he'd been cut much worse. Using all the strength and restriction he had left, he slowly and painfully grabbed onto his katana.

"Heh, like that'll keep me from doing anything." He said clenching his teeth, sliding it out with a swift movement. Ace scoffed in amazement.

"Don't over exhaust yourself."

"Don't be dumb. I'm not like others." Zoro replied, trying his hardest to keep his huffing and puffing down to a minimum.

"But everybody's body has a limit. We're just gonna have to find yours." Before Zoro had time to react, a mass of bright crimson flames was hurled at him, and he dodged it by a hair. Breathing heavily, he got back onto his feet to face his opponent.

"Damn this is getting dangerous,"

"I suppose that was a bit much. I don't intend on killing you. Just need to get you out of the way." He twisted his mouth as if pondering on how he should do so. What's up with this guy? Zoro thought to himself. The man suddenly disappeared from view which sent a quick panic through Zoro's body. In a split second, a pair of black eyes flashed before him as he felt a smart blow to the gut that sent all the air out of his chest. He landed roughly on the sand, sputtering and gasping for air. He could slowly feel himself begin to lose consciousness. What's going on? He thought to himself. Why wasn't I able to dodge that?

"I'm sorry. You'll have to excuse me," His opponent replied. The blurry figure began striding off towards the dawn, and then everything went black.

I had my head resting on my legs, with my face tilted slightly downwards as I was listening to the story.

"It was a surprise to me when he came back the next day." He continued. "But I didn't want to say anything. I thought he'd man up enough to tell you himself."

"I understand." I said, trying my hardest to clear my throat. Zoro said nothing for a while. I could hear him let out a little sigh.

"He had obligations to fulfill. Don't take it so personally." I could tell this was his way of comforting me. I stood up, realizing things were getting a little too touchy-feely for the both of us.

"I'm going to go for a walk." I said blankly. I felt like I needed to be alone for a little while to gather my feelings a bit. He raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing. I nodded, and limped away from the shaded area.

I stumbled around the marketplace for quite a while; no destination in mind, in fact, no thoughts either. There were no words to exactly describe how I felt. Just numb. My leg began to get sore after walking for some time, and so I decided to take refuge in an alley behind some broken down buildings. I plopped myself down with a sigh and closed my eyes.

It's for the best. I kept saying to myself. No point in getting worked up. No point in worrying. My breathing became a little uneven as I forced the tears down. It doesn't matter. Don't let it affect your real goal. It was nothing. He's nothing. It doesn't matter. Stay strong, live strong. I repeated these things in my head over and over until I felt my chest get a little lighter. I took a long deep sigh and let all my frustration out. The buildings provided a rather nice cast of shade and I actually began to feel a little drowsy. I blinked my eyes hazily and forced myself to stay awake. Who knew what kind of people could be lurking the alleys. Pulling myself together, I began to hum a random little melody to relax. After a few minutes I couldn't stand it anymore, and I slowly felt my mind begin to drift off into sleep.

"Dangerous to sleep in alleys." I heard a unpleasant voice growl lowly. I quickly sprung awake and looked around, trying to identify where they were. Slowly I stood up, ready to fight in case they decided to show them self.

"Don't know who could be sneaking around," Another voice called out, followed by a little giggle.

"Show yourselves," I said calmly, getting my fists ready to fight.

"No need to get so feisty! Hehehe!" I turned around and found myself face to face with a woman with yellow blonde hair and a strange looking umbrella.

"You can either come quietly or we'll have to take you by force." Beside her stood a tall dark man, who's expression seemed to look uncaring.

"Who are you?" I asked,

"I'm Miss Valentine!" The girl giggled.

"I'm her partner, Mr. 5." Mr. 5? Miss Valentine? Were these two more goons from Baroque Works?

"Like I'd agree to be taken in," I said sarcastically

"With you kidnapped, we can lure the rest of your crew!" Said Miss Valentine,

"We saw you wandering off by yourself. Plus, with that leg of yours, we knew you wouldn't put up much of a fight anyway." Said Mr. 5.

Feeling a bit uneasy, I frowned.

"I can still fight." I said confidentially.

"We'll see about that," Laughed Miss Valentine. She held her umbrella up high above her head and got into an odd stance. "1 kilo!" She said, as she began to lift off the ground, almost as if the wind was carrying her. I watched as she floated stories above me.

"That'll be easy to dodge," I said, though I knew there had to be a catch. There was.

"Nose bomb." From nowhere, I felt an explosion occur under my feet, which caused me to fall over. It appeared that the bomb had come from Mr. 5's body somewhere. My leg began to ache immensely as I struggled to get back up.

"100 Kilo!" Suddenly I saw a shadow begin to get larger and larger, and soon enough Miss Valentine's body began to fly down at me at a ridiculous speed. I pushed myself up and dodged it just as she smashed into the sand. My heart was beating like mad. These two had almost an unfair partnership.

"Kaze kick," I said, aiming at Miss Valentine with my good leg extended. She was struggling to pull herself out of the sand after her attack and I took advantage of it. There was sand everywhere, and I my vision was blocked from seeing either one of them. I stood quietly for a moment, hoping it had hit her.

"Bomb punch," I gasped. A strong fist appeared from the smoke and smacked me straight in the jaw followed by a massive explosion that brought tears to my eyes. My face surely had to be badly burnt. I fell on my side and couldn't obtain the strength to lift my head up.

"100 Kilo!" I heard once more. Again I forced myself up with all the will I had left in my body and rolled quickly as the shadow came down towards me. But she had known from past experience and instead she re-aimed herself and landed directly on top of me; her foot digging into my side. I coughed roughlyy and spewed out a little bit of blood.

"Hahaha! Serves you right!" She cheered. "Come on, Mr.5. Let's get her to Crocodile so we can get our promotion." My throat was painfully dry and tasted of iron. Unfair, Unfair. I thought to myself. I took a few desperate breaths. I'm not going to be the one who gets my crew caught. I'm better than that. I wont let them down. Slowly but surely, I lifted myself up from the sand once again.

"Eh? You're still moving?" Mr. 5 asked, his face twisted into a confused expression.

"Tornado kiss," I said, placing my hand directly below my chin. Sand began to fly around, causing a smoke-shield affect, therefore blocking all of us from seeing anything. Then, I shot myself up to one of the buildings with a gust of air and sprinted as fast as I could, amongst the rooftops. The pain in my leg was the last thing on my mind, and I only thought of getting away. It wasn't like me to run, but it was either this or stay and get caught.

I got a pretty fair distance away from them before I stopped to take a breather.

"Going somewhere?" Immediately shivers went up my spine. "Bomb kick," was the last thing I heard before blacking out.

Hello hello :D

I finally got this up, woo~

School started so i cant promise I'll update as often.

But I'll try.

God I'm terrible at writing action scenes LOL

I tried not to make ace sound like such a bad guy but

one of them had to be ):

DONT GET ME WRONG , I STILL LOVE HIM.

Well, enjoy ~