Spoiler alert : don't read if you haven't read One Piece chapter 550 (or been spoiled before reading other fics).

Chapter 35
Warm Solace

Walking aimlessly through the empty streets of Ido, Eli's running mind was driving the poor girl crazy. She wanted to think, really think about what Ace had just revealed to her, but she couldn't manage to simmer down. The words were overlapping in her head like a mad and unstoppable whirlwind.

Just SHUT UP ! she ordered her incoherent and rushing train of thoughts, holding her head tightly.

Ace's father... the death of his mother... Luffy and their fake brotherhood...

Fake ?

At that instant, Eli was so furiously angry at herself for letting her mind formulate this terrible word that she managed to crack down on her impetuous thoughts.

Luffy and Ace's brotherhood was everything but fake. How dare she think for even one split second that the two boys with whom she had spent a part of her childhood, the two boys she held so dearly, had a FAKE brotherhood ! Just because they weren't related by blood didn't mean they were not brothers. She should know, since she had always considered them as her family even almost as soon as she met them.

And how could she feel betrayed after Ace revealed a glimpse of his terrible past ? Hers wasn't pretty, either, and that was the very reason why she had preferred to conceal it.

How hard it must have been for Ace to share that with his friend...

At this thought, Eli was stunned on the spot.

Of course it was hard, he couldn't even look at me...

And what did she do ? She ran away... like always. Was it the only thing she could do when she was facing a difficult situation ? Run away ?

Eli hated herself; she had acted like total scum... despicable and worthless scum... Ace needed her to be with him and she turned her back on him. She just ran out on him and his feelings without a single word.

Without wasting one more second, Eli rushed back to the tavern, hoping that Ace would still be there.

"He's gone," the barmaid said while cleaning the empty tavern.

"How long ago ?" Eli asked urgently.

"Dunno..." She looked upwards at the clock hanging on the wall. "Ten minutes maybe..."

DAMN ten minutes ? Did I really wander that long ?

Dashing through the streets of the sleeping town in search of her friend, Eli tried to think of something to say to him to explain her reaction, but she had no excuses and Ace had every right to be mad at her... yet she hoped she could fix this.

But how...?

After a few minutes of a frantic yet fruitless search from one side of the town to the other, Eli came to the conclusion that Ace had gone back to the hotel and ran with all haste over to the establishment.

Entering the hotel, Eli rested her hands on her knees and took a few seconds to get her breath back. Besides running at her top speed through all the streets and alleys of Ido, her state of high nervousness made her heart pound so fast in her chest that her every intake of air teared at her throat from the inside.

"Did you see... my friend...? The young man... with an orange...hat ?" Eli asked the receptionist between pants.

"Yes," he replied, looking questioningly at the drained girl over his glasses. "He went to bed."

"Thanks," Eli said, before running to the stairs.

"Wait !" the receptionist called out, making Eli stop instantly. "He took a different room."

What ?

The man checked his register rapidly. "The room number... seven."

"Thank you..." Eli said, a bit dazed.

Climbing slowly up the stairs, Eli's resolve to see Ace was a bit shaken. If he had taken another room, it probably meant he wanted to be alone... Did she have the right to disturb him ? She had done enough damage for a night, hadn't she ?

Damn...

Eli's pace slowed down upon seeing the number seven carved on the bedroom's door.

She didn't even know what to say, so why would she even enter ? To stand there speechless before the friend she had hurt ?

Raaaah ! Eli ruffled her hair frantically.

Usually, Eli wasn't the kind of girl to bother herself with such considerations; she'd go with her guts and deal with the consequences afterwards. This time, however, the situation was serious; Eli had made a terrible mistake, and therefore, she couldn't make up her mind...

Open, not open ?

Guts or mind ?

Eli's head was burning up as she was facing an impossible dilemma...

To hell with mind !

The gutsy girl slammed the door open and took a heavy step in the bedroom.

"ELI !" Ace sat up instantly and looked at her over his shoulder, his back facing her. "What the hell ?"

"I'm sorry," Eli said, closing the door.

Ace turned his head and looked at the window. "It's okay, I-" His voice sounded softer than usual.

"I'm sorry !" Eli interrupted him. She didn't know what else to say, and she didn't want to hear him lessen her guilt.

As she marched over to him resolutely, the only thing Eli could see clearly in the light-less room was his large back covered with his white shirt. It much larger than her and the girl felt so small then.

"I told you, it's-"

"I'm sorry, Ace !" Eli interrupted again, a bit louder gathering her force and courage.

She climbed on the bed, approached slowly on her hands and knees and, without a fraction of doubt, wrapped her arms around Ace's broad shoulders.

"I'm sorry," she repeated softly in his ear, feeling his familiar gentle warmth diffusing gradually throughout her body.

The young man seemed stiff within her embrace, yet Eli didn't let go; on the contrary, she got closer, pressing her chest firmly against his back and nestling her small chin on his shoulder.

"I'm so stupid Ace, I'm so damn stupid !"

But Ace didn't say a thing, and his silence caused fear to twist Eli's guts slowly, yet painfully... The fear of the pain she may have inflicted him, the fear of losing him because of her stupidity...

Eli's mind filled with doubts. Will he ever forgive her ? Was it already too late ?

"I'm sorry..." she said with a slightly trembling voice as emotion started to creep up her throat.

And, at long last, Ace moved.

Eli loosened her embrace seeing Ace turn around slowly. Sitting down on her feet, she let her hands fall on the mattress with a soft thud and watched him sitting in front of her, her eyes focused on his face... a face she had never seen on her dear friend before.

A smile that was soft and sad at the same time...

She wanted to sort things out, to comfort him. She wanted to tell him her affection for him... but the words never found their way through her throat, and so Eli let her body speak the words her mouth could not form.

Bringing her hands to his cheeks, Eli straightened up slowly and gently rested her forehead against his. It seemed so natural; the girl's movements were gentle and smooth as if she had done this a million times.

"I'm so sorry..." she said quietly.

Her eyes diving into his dark orbs, Eli had the sensation she was facing a little boy yearning for her tenderness. She felt so bad to see him like that. Her friend, the usually so strong, so arrogant, and so fearless young man was in such a state of vulnerability... and that was all her fault.

Eli let her thumbs brush softly against the freckles she loved so much.

"I just felt a bit lost, but I'm here now..." Eli paused biting her bottom lip. "Please don't hate me..."

Ace closed his eyes and drew a long and slow intake of air before opening them again. Looking at Eli with pure tenderness, the young man brought his lips a bit closer to hers.

"That's my line... idiot..." Ace said slowly.

As he lifted a hand to her face, Eli let hers slip slowly down to his collar bone. Their foreheads still pressed together, she could feel Ace's breath caressing her face, the scent of litchi mixing with that of sake...

"I could never hate you, Eli..." Ace whispered, gently brushing his warm fingers against her cheek.

At those gentle words, she smiled softly with relief and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his chest against hers.

When he returned her embrace, Eli closed her eyes, loosening up in the warm solace...

"I can hear anything now," Eli said serenely. "I want to hear everything you have to say... if you still want to tell me..."

And he did.

Ace told Eli everything of his troubled childhood, from how her mother had sacrificed herself for him, to his meeting with Luffy.

His story took them long into the night. Lying next to each other on the small bed, her eyes locked on his, Eli listened to his every word without interruption. She soaked it all in unconditionally. It made her understand, at last, where her dear friend had gotten his strength, his bravery, and his boundless arrogance. And the girl accepted everything, even the darkest parts... for they all made him the man he was now.

And when there was nothing more to tell, their minds finally at ease, the two pirates fell asleep next to each other peacefully...

"Eli..."

The first rays of sunlight warmed her skin, or was it Ace... Eli slowly opened her eyes.

"Hey," Ace said tenderly with a soft smile on his face, slowly withdrawing the hand that had been lightly caressing the waking girl's arm.

Eli returned his smile. "Hey-" She cut herself off slapping her hand over her mouth as the bad taste lingering on her tongue reminded her that her breath must smell horrible. Blushing lightly, she stood up dizzily and walked to the bathroom under Ace's amused gaze.

While performing her morning ritual, Eli couldn't help but smile, and why would she ? She was so happy. The night talk she had with Ace had been a revelation for her, and now she felt closer to him than ever before. The young man had opened his heart and now Eli finally felt like she understood him. All the things that had made her feel uncomfortable when she was with him had all found their meaning through his revelations.

And now that she shared the knowledge of the two brothers' past, Eli now felt like she was really part of their family.

As Ace joined her in the bathroom, Eli beamed at him happily. "So, do you know if the others are awake ?"

"I think I heard someone yell 'I'm hungry' a few minutes ago," Ace said, smiling.

"Okay, so... if Luffy is awake, everyone is," Eli said mockingly.

After a few minutes, they got out of the room and went down the stairs. At the reception desk, Sanji, Usopp, and Vivi were paying the bill.

"Morning !" Eli greeted, her happiness shining through her voice.

"Good morning," Vivi replied, smiling. "The others are waiting outside, we'll go as soon as you're ready."

"Where have you been, Elisabeth ?" Sanji asked, only focusing on the girl as she and Ace walked over to the reception desk. "I was worried."

"It was too late when we came back from the tavern," Ace said casually. "We took a different room so that we wouldn't wake you up."

Eli smiled, inwardly enjoying the little secret thingy.

"WHAT ?" Sanji yelled in bewilderment, his face darkened with anger. "You shared a room with him, Elisabeth ?"

Eli nodded cheerfully, gathering the sum to pay for the room.

"Did something happen between you two ?" Usopp asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. "Eli looks VERY happy."

"Yup." Eli grinned. Something really great.

At that, Sanji started yelling incoherent insults at Ace, glaring at him belligerently, and seeing him just smirking in response, the angry cook started burning up.

"Ohohoh~" Usopp giggled sillily, a hand before his face barely concealing his goofy smile.

Behind him, Sanji launched a kick at Ace."Stop smiling !"

Eli sighed and turned around to face the long-nosed marksman, completely ignoring that in the background Sanji was running after Ace whose smirk grew in direct proportion to Sanji's anger.

"What 'ohohoh' ?" she said coldly, folding her arms.

Usopp began singing childishly. "Ace and Eli sitting in a tree-"

Of course, Eli's reaction was immediate; she grabbed his long nose and threw him out of the hotel. "Don't be stupid !" And while she was at it, she hit Sanji on the head to calm him down Nami-style.

Like anything like that could happen... Eli huffed, looking scornfully at the two knocked-out pirates.

to be continued

Betaed by Iwin Ulose.

Okay, this one is my favorite chapter now !

So how many of you thought they were going to kiss ?
Mwahahaha~ I'm such a tease !
Please ! NO ! Not the the tickles... *run away*

See you soon~