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Current Song : No more hiding - Tales of Legendia.
"Our life is full of discord; but by forbearance and virtue this same discord can be turned to harmony." - James Ellis
Chapter Thirteen : Tsunami.
"So," Sabo banged his fist against the table they were sitting at harshly, causing their drinks to jump and spill onto the once, pristine tablecloth. "Are you going to tell Drake and I what in the hell is going on? Why are you hanging out with a pirate-No, scratch that, why are you hanging out with the King of Pirates?"
"He's my husband." Antaeus twitched at the stunned looks he got in return for his words. He figured it would be best if he came right out and told them. It would be no use in stalling or coming up with some crap excuse about why he was hanging around Ace. And besides, he had slowly come to the point of where he wasn't ashamed nor scared of the fact that he was married to one of the most dangerous men in the world. He had feeling that it had its perks.
"H-Husband?" Sabo spluttered, outraged. "He's your husband? How? When?"
"I find it amusing that you could be upset about something that's none of your business." Ace remarked, his face darkening with anger. "Really, it's funny,"
"Funny, I'm not laughing," Sabo growled, tossing Antaeus a concerned, yet betrayed look. How could this have happened? Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine Antaeus to be connected to pirates. He figured his friend never wanted to be considering that he was viciously attacked by Blackbeard.
"I take it you recovered most of memory?" Drake questioned curiously, his eyes going from Antaeus to Ace and back again. "Or, at least a good portion of it."
"Yes," Antaeus confirmed, smiling in Sabo's direction. "I'd figured that you would be happy for me."
"Of course I'm happy for you!" Sabo blurted out, his blue eyes flashing in offense. "I only wanted you to recover your memories. I just never thought your memories would uncover you being married to a pirate."
"I take offense to that." Ace spoke up, his lips pulling into dreadful smirk. "It's not that bad being married to me."
"Enough, Ace," Antaeus murmured, keeping a wary eye on Sabo, whose face was getting more red as the seconds passed. The last thing he wanted was for his friend to jump across the table and attack Ace, which would end up disastrous if Drake decided to jump in.
"He started it," Ace muttered in his ear, smirking when Sabo hissed at their closeness. Who knew it would be so easy to rile the boy up? He wondered how Sabo would do in a fight...
"Sabo, knock it off," Drake pulled the younger man's jacket and forcing him to sit down. "It doesn't going to do us any good if we started a fight here. I know it's hard for you, but we are sincerely happy that Antaeus has his memories back, right?"
"Right." Sabo straightened his jacket roughly. "So, you're Antaeus' husband, eh? What happened? Kidnap him?"
"No," Ace growled, smiling tightly when Luffy nudged their legs together under the table. "We've known each other since we were children. Luffy here serves as my shipwright."
"Shipwright?" Sabo brightened visibly, leaning across the table and invading Antaeus' personal space. "You build ships?"
"I used to," Antaeus admitted sheepishly, a blush growing on his cheeks when Sabo gave him an admiring look. "I used to work for the royal navy before I joined Ace's crew."
"Oh, you gave up a position in the navy for pirate work?" Sabo huffed, shaking his head in incredibly. "I hope it was worth it?"
"Sabo." Drake called out sharply. "That's enough out of you! We should be happy that Antaeus got his memory back. And yet, here you are, taunting him."
Chastised, Sabo lowered his head and murmured an apology, but Ace leaned forward and cupped his hand behind his ear in an obvious mocking gesture.
"What?" Ace asked. "I didn't hear you, Sabo. What did you say?"
"I said," Sabo repeated, snarling. "I. AM. SORRY. THERE ARE YOU HAPPY!"
"Very," Antaeus spoke up, surprising them all. "I know that you mean well and only want the best for me, but Ace is the best for me, Sabo. I would appreciate it if you could realize that as well." he clasped his hands together in praying gesture. "Please?"
"Fine, fine, I'll accept this but it doesn't mean I have to like it." Sabo grumbled good-naturedly. "Now, how much can you tell me about your days as a shipwright?"
"I think that went okay." Antaeus murmured, closing the door to his room with a quiet click. "Though, I could do without Sabo's prejudice against pirates, as well deserved as it is."
"Well deserved?" Ace repeated incredulously, sitting on the edge of the bed. "How is that well deserved?"
"Well we had a little trouble with Blackbeard before you came." Antaeus confessed quietly, leaning against the door and crossing his legs at his ankles. "Basically, Blackbeard destroyed Sabo's boat just as he was about set sail away from Baterilla."
"That doesn't mean he should he spread his hatred to all pirates." Ace scowled lightly. "Not all of us are bad."
"Including Shanks?" Antaeus chuckled when Ace flushed lightly at the reminder of the Yonko. Red-haired Shanks, or just Shanks to anyone who personally knows him was a laid-back man who had encountered him and Ace when they were children and was the one who inspired Ace and by default him to become pirates. Of course, Antaeus shared Ace's dreams of becoming a pirate one day, but his love slowly turned to creating ships rather than commanding them. He loved the smell, the feel of ships and the sight of them departing from the docks going into the sea. Antaeus had made a name for himself in the royal navy as the man who created some of the most powerful ships to a traitor who turned tailcoat and joined pirates.
But despite what people thought, it was his own choice to join Ace and the Spade Pirates. He was not kidnapped as so many of the papers from Goa Kingdom said.
"Including Shanks." Ace smirked suddenly and patted the seat next to him. "Come over here."
Flushing at the invitation, Antaeus shook his head and coughed lightly. "I-I'm okay right here. Thanks."
"You act like I'm going to bite your or something." Ace rose to his feet and made his way to his husband. "I can be very gentle, you know?"
"Gentle?" Antaeus placed a palm against Ace's chest in a clear effort to stop the man from advancing any further. "What are we going to do that requires you to be gentle?"
"Don't act obtuse." Ace smiled tightly. "I think we both know what I want."
"Of course." Antaeus returned the tight smile, his eyes burning with mischief. Ace was indeed a handsome man, but nowhere near smooth enough for him to hop into bed with.
Yet.
"You don't want to? Am I getting the wrong impression from you?" Ace took a careful step back to stare him clearly in the eyes. "If I did then I apologize."
"No!" Antaeus blurted out before he could stop himself. Blushing lightly, he continued, his voice more soft and more reassuring. "You didn't get the wrong impression. I just think that we shouldn't just jump into this, you know? I know that we've had sex plenty of times, but I don't think it's best if we just...you know?"
"Yes, I know," Ace purred softly. "I will keep my hands to myself, but in return I want to sleep next to you tonight. It's been such a long time since I felt you next to me and well...I miss that."
Him? Ace? Sleep together? No, he couldn't have possibly heard right. There was no way that Ace wanted to sleep next to him tonight, right? He vaguely wondered if the older man slept nake- No, bad thoughts, bad thoughts.
"Luffy? You okay with this?"
"Yes! I'm fine with it!"
"Liar," Ace smiled sadly, leaning forward and planting a chaste kiss to Antaeus' cheek. "I'm not going to force you into something you don't want to do, alright?"
"Alright." Antaeus replied, staring at the floor, unable to take the sadness that was in Ace's eyes. He supposed that he should have been honest with the man about not wanting to sleep together, but at this point he couldn't bear to break the other's man's heart anymore than he already did. Regardless of the fact that it was no fault of his own.
He felt fingers under his chin before his head was lifted up and he found himself staring into Ace's eyes. A breath of relief flowed out of his throat when he saw no anger visible in Ace's movements or features.
"Off to bed." Ace ordered gently, grabbing his shoulder and pushing towards the bed. "I'll come see you in the morning."
"But Ace-"
"Good-night, Luffy." Ace murmured, stepping out of the room and closing the door gently behind him. The sound of the door closing sounded louder than it did to Antaeus ears. It was as if that door served as a barrier between them now and that fact scared him almost to the point where his breath left his body and he suddenly realized that he was having a very small, but worrisome panic attack.
He remained still as the tremors left his body and his heart rate to slowed down to reasonable pace. Placing his arms around his waist, he took a deep breath and let a hysterical giggle escape his lips as his body finally stilled. He didn't mean to drive Ace away, he didn't mean to really. This wasn't what he wanted.
Wearily, he allowed his arms to fall back to his side and made his way towards the bed, shedding his clothes along the way. He reached the edge and fell on the bed for once not bothering to get under the thick blankets. His eyes slid closed as his body loosened, exhausted by the days events. Sabo and Drake were irritating but protective of him and Ace, well, Ace was his over-confident, overbearing self and he wouldn't change that for the world.
Antaeus would have fallen into slumber had not it been for the piercing pain that attacked him suddenly and instead of screaming in pain, he bit his lips and allowed the pain to take him into his latest memory. A memory that was finally pieced together at long last.
It was hot, unbearably so, but he didn't mind as he hammered away at the giant hole placed in front of him. He wondered how these idiots caused damage to this ship almost on a daily basis. Didn't they know that the wood, nails and extra hammers cost beri? Or did they think it was free?
"I'm really sorry about this, Luffy." a deep voice called out from behind. "I've told them countless times about having fights down here."
"It's alright, but maybe you should talk to Ace about it? You know he doesn't like his crew fighting." he spit out a nail and caught in his hand and placed it against the board and started hammering away. "This is getting crazy, Marco."
"Nami gets in a bad mood sometimes." Marco muttered sheepishly. "Do you think I could trade her for another navigator?"
"Sorry, no take backs!"
"Are you saying that because you don't want her or because it's her turn to be on this ship?" Marco grunted leaning against the doorway to the cabin. It was small, but adequate with a simple bed, desk and closet. It wasn't a five-star hotel, but the crew members under his command didn't need such things.
"It's her turn to be on the ship." Luffy huffed playfully. "Her shift ends this week, so you can-" he dropped the hammer to the ground when a resounded boom echoed through the ship.
"What in the hell?" Marco muttered, eyes lifting to the ceiling in confusion. "Those idiots better not be playing around again."
"I don't-" Luffy's nose twitched as the smell of smoke came over him. He had no time to comment for Marco was suddenly grabbing his wrist and dragging him out of the room. "Marco!"
"We have to get you out of here." Marco snarled. "He's going to kill me if something happens to you."
"What about everyone else?" Luffy asked, flinching when the ship shook. He vaguely wondered who would be foolish enough to attack them. The thought of marines doing so passed by him and he shivered at the notion.
"They're fine-" Marco cursed when the ship shook again, this time the shot was powerful enough to rip a hole in front of them. Marco couldn't suppress the shiver and rage at the thought of Luffy being in the crossfire.
"Marco! Marco!" a voice screeched from above as they ascended the stairs and made their way to the deck. "It's an admiral!"
"What in the hell are you idiots doing? Fire back!" Marco roared over the fire and raging sea. "And start putting out those fires for goodness sake." he turned to Luffy who was looking quite pale. "Listen I need you to-"
The ship was assaulted again and Luffy found himself flying off the deck and into the sea. He could barely hear anything as the sea rushed around him, choking him and taking his life away little by little. As the currents took him away from his home and most likely towards an early grave, he wondered if Ace would be upset? Would he be angry or sad? Of course he would, Ace constantly told him he loved him after all and Luffy returned those feelings wholeheartedly. He closed his eyes and allowed the sea to take him and hopefully it would be to safety instead of the dark pits of the underworld or wherever he would end up when he died.
Antaeus opened his eyes and found himself back in his room and unfortunately on the hard, cold floor. His seizures must have been particularly bad if they caused to fall of the bed, but it mattered little. What did matter was the fact that the memory flash he had so long ago was finally complete. He finally knew how he ended up on this island. He just needed to clarify whose fault it was. He pulled himself off the floor and dragged himself out the door and towards Ace's room where he knew the pirate would have the answers he needed.
A/N : Luffy is getting to his memories back and we're getting closer to this story ending. This story was meant to be short and not to have a really deep plot that has them attacking Blackbeard or anything like that. So, stayed tuned for the next chapter of In Loving Memory.