Sora felt deflated. She knew she had been a little to harsh on Ace last night for no reason. She hated that she was being such a hypocrite and planned to apologize today. Time angry at each other was time wasted. Sora just wanted things to go back to the way they were.

But when she woke up, Ace wasn't there next to her. Sitting up, she glanced over at the bed across her, seeing that it was empty. Sora frowned, but got dressed and headed downstairs anyway.

"Have you seen Ace?" she asked Eiichi quietly, as though telling him a secret.

Eiichi shook his head. "He didn't come down in the morning or anything."

"Oh," Sora said, nodding slightly. She had gone to bed right after eating, not in a good mood. "Okay."

"I think—oh, nevermind," Eiichi said, covering his mouth as though he had already divulged too much and tried to leave.

"What? You think what?" Sora asked, tugging on his sleeve.

"Nothing," Eiichi said, smiling and patting her on the head.

"He's out with Morganna isn't he?" Sora asked, and Eiichi watched Sora's expression fall again. Her hand fell from his sleeve and she leaned against the bar, covering her eyes with her hands. "Dammit," she whispered, sighing. "Whatever."

Sora stood up again, tying an apron around her waist. She flipped her hair over, tying it out of her face and slid a tray of food away from the counter, rushing to deliver it. Eiichi sighed, watching his childhood friend beat herself up. Sora was so closed off that even when she tried to open herself up a little – to Ace – of course something had to happen to ruin it. It was probably not a good idea to tell her about—

"…yeah, and I heard they kissed!"

"Seriously? Last night? Who told you that?"

The other man shrugged, taking a bite from his breakfast sandwich. "I dunno, I just heard some people talking about it."

Sora came back at that time. "Sorry, I don't mean to be eavesdropping, but what was that you two gentlemen were talking about?" she asked sweetly, tilting her head to add to the innocent factor.

The two men looked a little uneasy. "Uh, nothing to really concern yourself with, Sora. Don't worry about it."

Sora kept a smile plastered on her face. "If it's about Ace, please tell me."

The men exchanged glances. It was like they could sense her killer intent, even behind her light tone. "We, um, heard that last night, after Ace left the bar, he was with Morganna."

"And after they ate dinner, he walked her to her motel, and they may have…kissed," the other man finished, wincing afterwards as though expecting an atomic explosion.

But Sora just chuckled. "Oh, I see," she said sweetly, clapping her hands together as though this were exciting news. She untied her apron, hurling it into the bin like she was playing a game of live-or-die dodgeball. "If you gentlemen will please excuse me. Enjoy your breakfast."

Sora stepped out from behind the bar, making her way towards the door with an actual skip in her step. Eiichi swallowed a lump in his throat. "Um, Sora," he called, but she was already gone.

Morganna had to be in the shopping district. Sora skipped there happily, her arms flailing about as though frolicking through a field of daisies. The sale on Arashi Island only last a few days, and got better as the days went by, so of course Sora would find Morganna there.

And she did.

The blonde woman was dressed casually, in a tight pair of jeans and a short babydoll top that exposed her middrift. Her blonde hair was let down loosely over her slender shoulders, and she was busy purchasing something from a woman at a rack. Why wasn't Ace with her? Shouldn't she have been with him since they spent the night together? Oh, well, Sora thought to herself. He was probably off getting something to snack on while Morganna shopped. It was better that Ace wasn't here anyway.

Sora skipped right up to her, and tapped her on the shoulder. Morganna raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?" she said distastefully, dusting off her shoulder as though Sora had contaminated it.

Sora smiled at Morganna. "You know, you're right. A lady doesn't start fights," she said with a smile. Her expression changed instantly, a storm brewing in her deep blue eyes. "But she does finish them!" Sora balled her hand into a fist and with lightning fast speed, crushed it into the side of Morganna's face as hard as she possibly could, sending the woman flying backwards.

"What the—" Morganna groaned, pushing herself off the ground. She was literally seeing stars, and felt dizzy, dropping back to the sidewalk. She could already feel the bruise blossoming in her face. People stopped what they were doing to stare. Sora never lost her cool, especially not in public, but now the woman was storming towards Morganna, her fists balled tightly.

She stood in front of Morganna, crossing her arms. Sora looked down at the blonde. "I thought I told you to back off."

Ace yawned, rolling his shoulder blades back. He rolled around, realizing that he wasn't in his bed. He shot up, feeling the hardwood floors beneath him, and ran a hand through his hair. His body was cramped from having been sprawled out on the floor last night. He had stayed with Marco and Thatch last night, on their floor. He didn't want Sora to get mad if he came back loudly.

Last night, Ace did have dinner with Morganna, but only because it seemed like she stalked him. She had found him at Ramen-Ya, and joined him for a bowl of noodles. Ace, of course, was a gentleman and wouldn't let a lady walk back to her room late at night. And then she kind of…threw herself at him.

Ace debated on telling Sora about it, but after experiencing her explosion at dinner, decided against it. She would consider it "rubbing it in her face" and he did not want to be punched in the face. Some things were just better off left unsaid and today, he was going to politely decline Morganna's advances and apologize properly to Sora. He never really did understand the full extent of Sora's dislike for Morganna and he did admit that he probably should not have 'poked the bear' so much. The bear had claws. And they were sharp.

Yesterday afternoon had not been what he expected. Ace was very polite, of course. It was how Makino had taught him to behave, and he had learned that there was a certain way you act in front of women as not to seem like a pig and Ace had that shtick down pat.

Morganna was nice. She was a real lady, and was very sweet to Ace. Too sweet. Ace couldn't help but feel a little awkward because he didn't genuinely reciprocate her attraction to him. Sure, she was pretty. But she wasn't Sora. It was a weird feeling for him; being hit on by a beautiful woman and not immediately resorting to using his usual tactics to bring her to bed. Ace honestly didn't feel anything at all for the blonde woman with whom he had spent the day. He would have rather been at the bar, sitting and talking to Sora.

But he just wanted to maybe have Sora realize that she liked spending time with him, too. It wasn't too much to ask, right? To be wanted? Ace wanted Sora to want him. Or at least want to spend time with him. He hadn't meant for her to explode about it.

He made his way downstairs, scratching his head. Women were so confusing sometimes. "Good morning, Sora," he said, but there was no smiling woman at the bottom of the stairs. There was no woman at all. Ace glanced around. "Where's Sora?" he asked Eiichi.

Eiichi tilted his head. "You're here."

"Yeah, I stayed in Marco's room," Ace said, raising an eyebrow. "Where's Sora?"

Ace was answered by the excited whispers and chatters from across the bar, and glanced around, thoroughly confused. Eiichi was grinning, glad that this town was so small that news spread like wildfire. "You'll never believe what happened."

Ace slid into a bar stool, and Eiichi handed him a glass of orange juice. "What happened?" he asked, taking a sip from the juice. It tasted odd in his mouth because of the mint taste from the toothpaste still lingering in his mouth.

"Sora punched Morganna in the face."

Ace spit all of the juice out, nearly spraying the waiter, who looked a little disgusted. "What?"

Eiichi chuckled a little and shrugged. "Yeah, like a couple minutes ago. Gossip spreads pretty fast here, especially when our little pirate goes punching girls in the face."

"Why did she punch Morganna?" Ace asked, incredulous. Sora had never gotten violent with anyone, ever before. It was a little surreal.

Eiichi crossed his arms. "Come on, Ace. You know the answer to that."

Ace downed the rest of his orange juice, slamming the mug on the table. Physical violence! Sora's jealousy was resorting to physical violence! Ace would have laughed – she was worse than him – if the situation could have presented it. Ace spun off his chair. "Gonna go find her!" he called to Eiichi, sprinting out of the bar.

He jogged in place, glancing around. He couldn't believe that Sora would do something like that. It made him happy and concerned at the same time. It had probably been a while since Sora had experienced anything resembling jealousy at all, and didn't really know how to react to it besides the only way she knew how – fighting. She was a fighter; she was a pirate. Of course she would punch someone in the face if she were angry. Sora probably never really got angry because she was friends with everyone here.

Everyone except Morganna.

Where would Sora be? Where would Morganna be?

Shopping street. Morganna did mention that she was going to be shopping today and told Ace to meet her there. Ace would meet her there. And he would leave with Sora. And…he would tell her. He would tell her how he felt and maybe if he were lucky, she wouldn't punch him in the face, too.

Sora pushed open the door to the Sky Pub, shaking her hand out. She smiled at Eiichi, who was raising an eyebrow at her. "I totally forgot how good it felt to just…punch someone in the face," she said, sliding into a barstool.

Eiichi sighed. "Oh, Sora."

"What?" she asked, shrugging. "I didn't do anything bad."

"Sora."

"I didn't kill her?"

"Sora!"

"Okay, maybe it did get a little out of control," she sighed, resting her chin in her palm.

"You think?" Eiichi scolded, bopping her on the head with a menu. "Why didn't you just talk to Ace?"

"Because," she said, sitting up. "I'm in no place to dictate who he talks to or hangs out with."

"You don't think this could have been avoided if you just told Ace, 'I don't like Morganna, so please don't hang out with her. Spend time with me'?" Eiichi asked, and Sora just dropped her face to the counter, groaning.

"I'm a crazy person," she moaned, lifting her face to drop it again. "I hate being like this. I wish these weird feelings would just go away."

Sora felt Eiichi's palm on her head. "You like him! Go tell him."

"Yeah, as a friend," Sora said, shifting her head so that her cheek was pressed against the wooden counter.

"Sora. You punched a woman in the face today."

"Well. She deserved it," Sora defended, sitting up again with her arms crossed.

"Go and tell Ace," Eiichi insisted. Sora just gazed at him, her eyes narrowed like she was having a staring contest with him. "I'm not playing, Sora. He obviously means a lot to you, so go and tell him. If you don't scoop him up now, then someone else will."

Sora just shrugged at that. "That's totally fine with me. I don't care. Ace and I are just friends."

"I give up," Eiichi sighed, shaking his head. "You know, when they leave and when you're miserable because you didn't tell Ace how you really feel about him, don't come crying to me because all I'm going to say is I told you so."

"Fine."

"Fine," Eiichi said, stalking off. Sora let her eyes linger on him for one moment, stood up, and dashed out the front door, the bell jingling behind her. As if she was going to let Eiichi dance in victory. Sora really did need to talk to Ace.

But where could he be? Sora ventured back into the shopping district. She had left Morganna there after punching her, and if Ace were anywhere around there, he probably came at the sound of commotion, which was when Sora slipped through the crowd and took the long way back to the bar. Just when Sora was about to head to Morganna's motel, she caught sight of them.

Morganna tugged the tall dark haired man into a little alleyway between a boutique and a bread shop. Sora balled her fists together. Didn't she just tell Morganna not to come near Ace? That woman did want to die, didn't she?

Sora forced herself to take a deep breath. She couldn't lose her composure twice in one day. It was just something about Morganna that really ticked her off and she wasn't going to stand by and watch her take away someone important to her.

So, Sora ducked into the bread shop, holding up her finger to her lips, showing the owner that she didn't want to talk. She shuffled to the wall adjacent to the alley, glad that the window was already half open. She would be able to hear them.

Sora sighed inwardly. She would definitely not be telling anyone about her stalker adventures. She was worse than Ace. At least Ace never punched Marco in the face and followed her and Marco around like a spy.

"We're going to leave in a few days," Morganna told Ace. Sora could almost see her seductive smile and resisted every urge in her body that told her to blast open the wall. No, Sora thought to herself, a good spy would remain invisible. A ninja. "I think that you should come with me back to my ship and spend the night."

Oh, no. Oh, no, oh, no, oh no. Morganna was inviting Ace back to her ship! Sora felt her stomach drop. He couldn't say no. Sora hated to admit it, but Morganna was a beautiful woman, and men couldn't resist her. Sora felt so winded, the air in her lungs leaving her. This was it. She had lost. She made a move to leave, but Ace began to speak.

"Ah, um, look, Morganna, I'm really flattered," Ace said, scratching his head. "But I can't."

"Can't?" Morganna repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, I phrased that wrong," Ace said with a chuckle. "I don't want to."

"What?"

Ace took a breath. "There's already a woman here that means a lot to me. She…makes me happy, and um, I really care about her. She trusts me, and I want to be able to share myself with her, and her only."

Morganna scoffed. "Is that Belleville? Are you sleeping with Sora?" she spoke with disgust, outraged.

"No," Ace said immediately, waving his hands. "We're only friends."

"Why does she matter so much then?"

Ace grinned. "She just does." He paused for a moment. "It was really great meeting you. Good luck on your voyages."

Sora stood, frozen. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Ace had turned her down. Then she realized that she needed to escape. Leave the shop! Leave the shop! Sora darted for the front door and nearly crashed into someone coming in.

"Hey," Ace greeted with a grin, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, hi," Sora said, running a hand through her hair.

"Whatcha doing?"

"I love…bread," Sora stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the entire world.

"You know," Ace said slowly. "You're not the only one with haki."

Sora stood frozen, her entire body paralyzed. She blinked a few times and with the most neutral face she could make, only said, "Oh."

Ace slung his arm around Sora, leading her out of the shop. "Were you following me?" he whispered, kissing the top of her ear.

"I was doing no such thing," she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"You're too cute."

"Why didn't you go?" Sora asked softly, averting her eyes to the ground. "I know she's pretty, Ace. Well. Maybe before I punched her, but I'm not blind. You don't need to…do that for me."

Ace's expression softened. He sensed her the moment she walked into the bread shop. He had grown so used to feeling her presence that he definitely knew that Sora was behind the wall, listening to everything he said. It was actually kind of cute that she was so roused up. This really bothered her, didn't it? Ace stopped in his tracks, moving in front of her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, causing the woman to look up. Tell her. Just tell her!

"I…care about you," Ace said. He cursed inwardly. He couldn't tell her. He couldn't do it. He was such a coward! "And I meant what I said back there. I'm not interested in Morganna. The woman I am interested in is…this really sweet girl with tiny, tiny boobs. She likes cheese, and she gets really jealous really easily. And I think that is so, so cute." Ace kissed her nose, running a hand through Sora's hair.

"Well, I don't know who you could possibly be talking about because I have huge boobs, and I never get jealous," Sora replied, sticking her tongue out at him again.

Ace laughed, shaking his head. "Ah, of course," he said, playing along. He shifted, allowing his arm to sling around her again.

"Who is it, then?" Sora asked, surprising Ace. She normally just let topics like this drop.

"Hm?"

"Who's the girl?"

Ace glanced down at her, and grinned. "It's a secret."

"Oh," Sora said, nodding like she understood. "You ever gonna tell me who it is?"

Ace paused for a moment. What was Sora doing? She knew that the person Ace cared about most in the world was her. Right? Ace noticed the light blue swirls in her eyes, sparkling the ocean when the sun rose. She did know. The man smiled. "Yeah," he said, kissing the top of her head. "Someday."