Chapter Twenty-Four
The next morning, Yuki woke up stiff, but without any nightmares. Ace was still soundly asleep, drooling a little, on top of the covers. She carefully slid out of bed in order to avoid waking him, and grabbed a clean change of clothes before heading to the bathroom.
Ace, however, was awoken shortly after by the lack of warmth from her. He stretched out and sat up, looking over his shoulder to check the room for her. She was gone, but the bed looked recently disturbed, and one of the drawers of the short dresser was open.
He picked up the pillows, straightening out the covers and making the bed. It would at least look nice when she came back.
The discussion they had last night echoed in his mind. She hadn't woken during the night, after they had finally fallen asleep. Yuki had always healed quickly, for the injury she had been dealt. If she was truly feeling better, she could travel with him for a while.
He opened the door handle to see a surprised Yuki reaching for it. Taking a step back, he allowed her to enter the room.
"Morning," she yawned, smiling. "I didn't have any nightmares."
Ace laughed. "I know, neither of us woke up once we finally fell asleep."
She rubbed one of her eyes, laughing with him. "We really didn't get to sleep much, did we? It must have been, what? Two AM? Three?"
He nodded. "Something like that. You look better. Happier."
"I am. Talking with you helped a lot." Yuki sighed happily. "I think I just needed a day to fully get used to seeing you, Mizuki, and everyone else. I hadn't planned to reveal myself to you, ever. This was a surprise."
Ace tossed a pillow at her, watching her reaction. It was slower than he had thought, she nearly got hit in the face with it. She glared playfully at him and tossed it back, sending it spinning through the air.
Ace caught it with ease. "You really are physically weaker. Ignoring the fact that your guard was down, you could barely stop it before it hit you in the face. Your reflexes need more training. How's your sword arm?"
"Bad." She sat next to him on the bed. "I couldn't deal with Mihawk on my own. I wasn't able to beat him before, but at least I could keep myself from getting cut."
Ace thought about it. He wasn't exactly proficient with swords, nor would her sword do anything against him without her using Haki. They could spar together, but he didn't see how that would help her sword fighting.
He had a few ideas, but... "We could go visit Dawn Island. See Dadan, spar with each other, get you back up to speed. It might work well enough."
Yuki glanced at him, worried. "What if they don't welcome us? Or me?"
"Hey, don't worry about that! Remember, they care about you, too," he pressed.
She frowned, thinking. "Yeah, I guess. It could be a big help... training with you, I mean. Would your crew be okay with that?" She wondered about the Whitebeard pirates' 2nd Division Commander suddenly leaving to visit East Blue.
He chuckled nervously. "Um... I think so?"
She facepalmed, shaking her head sadly. "Go write them! If you want to do it, you've gotta at least contact 'em first!" That fireball could be so idiotic sometimes.
He grinned cutely at her, innocence and happiness filling his face. She picked up a pillow and shoved it in his face, causing him to break out in rich laughter. The two of them got engrossed in an energetic pillow fight.
Koala and Sabo made breakfast that morning. The two of them decided to treat the others with well-cooked bacon and eggs, toast, and chocolate milk. When the others joined them at the table, each place was tidily set out.
Robin was pleasantly surprised. "Oh, it looks delicious! You two made this?"
Koala nodded happily. "I thought everyone deserved something special, and Sabo offered to help me. We've got eggs and toast and bacon for everyone. I made chocolate milk with some cocoa powder and sugar I had tucked away."
Sabo grinned. "She's a good cook. I've gotten to taste her food a lot, recently, and it's been delicious every time."
Robin set her book down next to her plate and dug in. The other two went out to check the weather and winds, Sabo adjusting the direction of the ship, and Robin sat quietly, munching on her food happily.
When Ace and Yuki walked up, Robin was startled.
"Oh my!" she exclaimed. "What happened?"
The two pirates were covered in little white feathers, looking exhausted and embarrassed. They stood side by side in the doorway, shedding the tiny feathers every time they moved. It was an odd thing to see.
Yuki looked up at Robin sheepishly, and said, "We got in a pillow fight."
"I see." She looked them up and down, standing up and plucking one of the feathers off of them. She chuckled and crossed her arms.
"How did this happen?" she asked, gesturing at the feathers.
"We may have... ripped open the pillows," Ace replied quietly, smiling a little.
Sabo and Koala came back at that moment, stopping short when they saw the two feather-covered pirates. They were very confused.
Robin explained. "They got into a pillow fight and the pillows ripped open."
Sabo shook his head, laughing.
"Really." Koala looked at them suspiciously, joking around.
"Of course you did. If we give you two pillows, it's bound to happen. I guess we'll have to pick up new pillows, then?" Sabo added.
Yuki grinned, and turned to look at the table. "The food looks really good. Did you guys make it?" she asked.
Sabo nodded. "It was mostly Koala. She's a good cook."
The fiery pirate high-fived her. "Nice work. It looks awesome, thanks!"
Shortly, the entire group had dug in. They all enjoyed the food. Sabo ended up stealing a strip of bacon from Ace's plate, ending up with very charred bacon himself. Breakfast ended with a meeting about plans for the near future.
Sabo got the others quite, and spoke. "Ace, Yuki, Robin, I need to know what you are planning to do after this. There's still an invitation to work with the Revolutionary Army, but with your meetings, and the party, plans might have changed."
Ace decided to speak up next. "I think I'm going to head back to my crew for a week or so, and then try to visit Dawn Island. Yuki might come along, too."
"Yeah. He wants to help me get back up to full strength. You know how bad that weakness is. If I get into a fight with a Vice-Admiral, I may not win," Yuki added. "If he can get permission to visit our home, I'll go along with him."
Sabo nodded, and asked Robin, "What are you planning on doing?"
Robin shrugged. "I'll go with you. It will help me more with the Revolutionary Army than to be with Ace and Yuki. I've got two years to train, minus a few months. I'll help you during that time."
Koala grinned. "Well, we got one person out of all this."
"Yeah," Sabo added, "one more ally to go on missions. Ace, Yuki, you know that I'll come running if you ever need anything."
Ace and Yuki smiled at him, remembering their youth together.
"Of course," Ace replied contently.
"Oh," Koala began, "are you planning to leave us at Alabasta?"
The two of them hadn't thought of that. Yuki was silent, working things out in her head. Ace looked puzzled for a moment. Probably wondering about what Marco would say, or some crew member's reaction.
"I'll have to talk to Mizuki," Yuki said. "I can't make a decision right now."
Ace nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and I have to write my crew. Can I go do that now? I think I've got a pretty good idea of what needs to be said."
Sabo sighed. He knew that Ace really wanted to see Dadan and Makino and the others. Once he set his mind to something, he would accomplish it. He was like Luffy that way. Yuki was following along happily, glad to have her friends back.
"Alright, you go do that." Sabo rubbed his shoulders. "We'll see how things play out, then."
Everyone relaxed, going off to do their own things. The ship was peaceful and quiet once again.