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Current Song : Venus by Tackey & Tsubasa.

"If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties." - Francis Bacon.

Chapter Nine : Resurface.

Antaeus poked the large piece of meat occupying more than half of his plate and sighed before gently pushing his plate away. Constantly thinking about Ace and the possibility that the Pirate King would find him took his appetite away. It was too bad. The piece of meat, along with the potatoes and strawberry cake was looking and smelling good. He felt horrible for not declining Robin when she offered to take him out. All of this nice food was going to go to waste because he was being a worrywart.

Sliding his finger down the glass of juice, he looked up to see Robin staring at him, her eyes filled with worry. Blushing, he took his hands away and slid them under the table and turned his attention to the people who were hurrying back and forth.

"Are you alright?" he heard Robin ask. "You aren't hungry anymore?"

"No," Antaeus replied softly, turning back to the half-eaten plate. "I'm sorry, it was a waste of your beri."

"It's quite alright," Robin chuckled warmly, taking a sip of her own glass of wine. "I'm happy that you ate at least some of it, so it wasn't a complete waste. Do you want to go home now?"

"No," Antaeus admitted. If he went home then he would have to think about Ace and the fact that he was the Pirate King's husband. And that was something he wasn't ready to face.

"Okay," Robin placed the glass down on the table with a quiet clink. "But I want you to realize that staying here isn't going to make anything disappear nor is it going to make it better."

"I wasn't-" Antaeus stopped when Robin raised an eyebrow at him. Flopping down on the table, he buried his face into his arms. "It's hard. It's hard to think that I'm married to a pirate."

"Is it really so bad?" Robin gently nudged him with her foot underneath the small table. "I'm sure Ace is very kind, despite his title."

"We can't be too sure of that." Antaeus raised his head, blinking and brushing his hair out of his eyes. "He might be freakishly intimidating, but I suppose he'll have to be considering he's the pirate king and all."

"What's this talk about pirates?" Sabo questioned from behind him, causing Antaeus to whirl around to see both Sabo and Drake staring at them curiously. It felt like years since had seen them, but it had only been a couple of days.

"We were just talking about it." Robin responded, she waved a hand to the two empty chairs. "Would you like to join us?"

"Yes, thank you," Drake slid into the seat closest to him while Sabo took a seat next to Robin. "Now, what are the both of you discussing? Pirates?"

"Don't tell me that more of them have been spotted?" Sabo spat, reaching for Antaeus plate and taking a bite of the meat. "Isn't it enough that we had to get our asses kicked by Blackbeard?"

"I'm sure this one isn't as bad." Antaeus blurted out. He touched his lips and blushed under his friends gazes. He hadn't expected to say such a thing, but for some reason he felt the need to defend Ace, regardless the fact that they were just talking about pirates in general.

"All pirates are bad." Sabo stated, still giving him a suspicious look. "Though, I'll admit that Portgas. D Ace isn't that bad."

"Isn't that a little hypocritical?" Drake questioned curiously. "You hate pirates in general, but you consider Portgas D. Ace, the pirate king, not that bad?"

"It's not hypocritical." Antaeus cut in softly, a teasing gleam to his eye. "It's a downright contradiction."

"Stop teaming up on me you asses." Sabo growled, stuffing a piece of meat in his mouth. "Let's talk about something else, alright? This pirate talk is freaking depressing."

Drake reached over and placed a hand on Antaeus injured arm. "How are you? You're healing up okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Antaeus grinned. "Robin is taking good care of me."

Sabo opened his mouth before shutting it with a click and grinning in approval. "That's good to hear, buddy." he turned to Robin who was quietly watching them. "Is he going to be able to move around soon?"

"Probably." Robin responded vaguely. "We will have to check with Dr. Kureha soon."

"We can go now!" Sabo stood from the chair, almost knocking it over in the process much to Antaeus amusement. "She'll check you over and give you the clear to get up and move around so you won't get a fat ass."

Antaeus eye twitched at the insult, he picked up his crutch and waved it in a threatening manner. "Watch your mouth, Sabo. I can still kick your ass, injured or not."

"Hah!" Sabo roared with laughter. "I would like to see you try."

"Enough," Robin rose from her chair before Antaeus could even consider rising from his own seat. "I think it's time for us to head home, Antaeus."

Groans of displeasure, coming from his own mouth, erupted from the table, but Robin stood with her arms folded, unswayed to their pleas and cries. Antaeus rose from the table, gripping his crutch tightly. He gave Sabo and Drake a small smile.

"It was good seeing you two again. You'll come by tomorrow? I'm getting kind of bored."

"Sure, no problem." Sabo slapped a few beri on the table, waving Robin's protests away playfully. "I can show you my new plans for my ship."

"Great! I'll be waiting." Antaeus clapped Drake on the back gently. "I'll see the both of you later."

"Have a good night, Antaeus."

"What he said. Have a pleasant night, Robin."

"Thank you," Robin murmured. "Stay safe." turning to Antaeus, she smiled at the nervous look he was sporting. "Are you ready? You can take a hot bath when we get back and relax on the patio."

At the thought of the bath, Antaeus sighed in pleasure. "That sounds awesome. Let's get going."

As Antaeus approached his temporary home, a terrible feeling settled over him, making him hesitate on the small hill that lead up to the moderate sized house. Narrowing his eyes, he frowned when spotted a single light flickering on the porch. He turned to Robin who was staring in the same direction as he was, wearing a thoughtful frown.

"Were you expecting someone?" Antaeus asked, not taking his eyes away from the light. The terrible feeling increased when Robin shook her head in reply. He took a step back and blew out a silent breath. He was acting like a coward and it needed to stop.

"Could it be Dr. Kureha?" Robin wondered, taking a step on the set of stairs leading to her home. "She has probably come to check up on you."

"Maybe," Antaeus murmured. Tightening his grip on his crutch, he took a step on the stairs and slowly started to climb. "Let's find out, shall we? Can't stand here and worry about it."

Waiting for Robin to catch up, Antaeus climbed up the remaining steps and hobbled down the path leading up to the porch. Lifting his head, he sucked in a sharp breath when found Dr. Kureha and Ace sitting on the porch sharing two large cups of sake.

Apparently, his gasp was loud enough to alert both of them and Antaeus found himself staring into a pair of endless black eyes. He vaguely heard a clacking sound and vaguely realized that he had dropped his crutch.

Ace gracefully rose to his feet and approached them, his handsome features darkening as he took in his appearance. Antaeus took a step back when Ace took a step closer in his direction.

"Luffy?" Ace murmured. "By the sea, are you right? You look horrible."

"Luffy?" Antaeus echoed slowly, letting his mind process it. "Who's Luffy?"

Ace flinched at his question, his dark eyes reflecting pain, sadness and anger. "You're Luffy, that's your name, Portgas. D Luffy." Ace directed his gaze to Robin who was watching the proceedings carefully. "You didn't tell him?"

"I have told him about you when he had a flash back." Robin stated softly. "But, he has not remembered his name-"

"Please," Antaeus cut in, his voice strangled. "Don't talk about me as if I'm not stand right here."

"I'm sorry, Luffy," Ace took another step forward, growling when Antaeus stepped back like a frightened rabbit. "Please, I'm not going to hurt you."

"I-I don't know that." Antaeus murmured, bravely staring into Ace's ebony eyes. "I don't know you. At All."

"But you will." Ace stated firmly. "I'll make sure of it."

Antaeus flinched at the promise, he turned his head and gave Robin a pleading look and thankfully, it was enough for her to step forward and place her arm around his shaking shoulders, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough for her to warn Ace off.

"Let us go inside, shall we? I'm sure Ace has a lot to explain to Luffy."

"Antaeus." Antaeus cut in, causing Ace to flinch and Robin to stare at him in surprise. "Please, don't stop calling me that." he pulled away from Robin's embrace and hobbled past Ace who looked like he wanted to grab him and up to Kureha who was shaking her head, giving him a sympathetic glance. Turning his head, he found himself by pinned down by Ace's eyes who took a step forward.

"I'm going to take a bath." he announced, pulling the screen door open. "You can all do what you want-"

"This isn't over, Luffy," Ace interrupted swiftly. "You be damn sure of that and don't think you'll be able to avoid me, your husband."

"We'll see about that." Antaeus shot back. "You can be damn sure of that."