Chapter 47
The Fugitive

If Eli had to make a list of the worst waking ups she had experienced in her life, being pecked by half a dozen of seagulls would easily be in the top three.

Her eyes gradually cracking open, Eli tried to endure the excruciating rays of the morning sun. She brought her hand to her forehead, where apparently her heart had decided to move without her consent, throbbing painfully against her skull. And when her sleep haze faded out, the girl shooed the annoying birds away, wincing at the strident sounds of their screeches.

Sitting up groggily, Eli rubbed her puffy eyes, and with a loud yawn, the woozy girl looked around, slowly becoming aware of her surroundings. From what she could observe, she was in a deserted part of the island, on the beach, and the sun had already risen high in the sky.

So east is somewhere over here... Eli thought, dizzily standing up. But where the hell is the town... ?

Looking alternatively at each side of the deserted beach Eli saw no indications of the way to the town, and watched absently the trench that she had dug while running frantically all around the small island.

With a deep sigh, she started walking toward the direction her empty and growling guts enjoined her to follow. Luckily, after a few minutes, she came across a little stream of fresh water. Crouching by its side, Eli freshened up her puffy face and drank to wash away the bad taste lingering in her furred mouth. Once she felt a little better, the pirate girl resumed to her walk along the beach, accompanied by the regular sound of the waves gently lapping the sand.

All the while, Eli did not think even one split of second about what she had done the previous night...

After almost an hour of lazy walk, Eli finally ended up finding the town, and soon, the port where the Merry was docked. On board, she could see that her crewmates were already packing in their stuff and some food supplies.

"Where have you been ?" Nami asked, apparently annoyed as an heavy frown appeared on her pretty face as soon as she saw her friend climbing on the ship. "The log post is set and we almost waited for you."

"Yeah... good morning to you too Nami," Eli said, rolling her eyes at the girl's rude greeting.

"I hope you got your stuff because we're leaving," the navigator added.

"Well..." Eli bowed her head to look at herself. "Give me a minute I have to get my bag and shoes."

"Got them," someone said from behind her.

And Eli instantly knew who it was. The voice was quite unmistakable after all. Hearing it she felt blood rushing out of her face while a mighty shiver ran down her spine.

"Great... Thanks," she said quietly, staring forward into space with wide, shocked eyes.

Eli noted that, apparently, her heart had came back into her chest, since it was now pounding violently against her rib cage as the images of the previous night came to haunt her groggy mind. Courageously, she started walking away, while fighting against a slight sensation of vertigo.

"You look pale Elisabeth~" Sanji said, his voice muffled as Eli's pulse was throbbing in her ears. "Are you hungry ?"

"I'm fine..." Eli managed to say while she walked dizzily over to the storage room. "Shower... I need a shower."

Once she had closed the door of the storage room, Eli glided down along the wood with a deep sigh, in order to calm her frantic heartbeat. Her body felt so cold, and her hands absently rubbing the skin of her arms to warm herself up did not seem effective enough.

Oh, god... Eli looked at her trembling hands and awed at the effect two simple words had on her. Holding her head, the nervous girl wished that it was all a nightmare... but it wasn't. The excruciating and heated memory was very real, and so was the young man haunting her mind.

Clenching her fists weakly, Eli stood up using the wall for support, and went to her bedroom for a change of clothes. This was obviously needed for multiple reasons; the more important one being the need of leaving the ones she had been wearing when she was-

Don't !

Holding tightly the clean pieces of clothing against her pounding chest, Eli wearily climbed up the stairs. After entering the bathroom, she carefully locked its door. Once she had tested the doorknob several times for safety, she quickly slipped out of her evil clothes, throwing them roughly on the floor as if to punish them.

Under the hot water, Eli wished that it could wash away the sensations that remained imprinted on her bare skin. But obviously, no matter how much she would rub it, it would still linger there...

Ace's hands were so warm on her arms... then on her back... and finally on her breasts...

With an agonizing sigh, Eli roughly grabbed her small breasts as if to erase his gentle touch. Closing her eyes, she pressed her forehead to the wall, water running on her back. She was sure of it now, she was undoubtedly going mad. Behind her clenched eyelids the face of Ace remained. His half lidded eyes were burning with desire, pulling her into the recollection of the steamy hotel room...

"THAT'S IT !" Eli shouted, and turned off the hot water to jerk herself out of her heated fantasy with the help of a freezing shower.

Trembling cold, she dried herself rather quickly, slipped in her clean clothes and resolutely sat down on the bathroom floor. The girl had apparently decided to stay there until... well, she didn't know for how long she would bide there, but she was sure of one thing; she couldn't go out. Because behind that locked door, she would have no hiding places, and she would inevitably end up facing him.

And that was something that she couldn't endure, at least for now.

Eli shifted backwards a bit to lean her back against the wooden door. She brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs with a deep sigh.

"Eli ?"

The girl's eyes widened hearing Ace calling her from behind the bathroom's door.

"I know you're here."

Oh, god... Eli stood up, and swung around like a shot. She stared at the door and walked backwards until her back hit the opposite wall, as if she was scared of the simple wooden door.

"Okay... I'll do the talking then."

Rapidly looking around, Eli found only one route of escape; the porthole.

"First, we can't deny what we did last-"

Eli opened the little window and slipped her head outside. The railing seemed a bit far, yet, she was sure she could manage to reach it with the help of her long arms. Of course the sea was just below, and if she fell she'd end up dead, purely and simply. However, Eli didn't seem to care about that frivolous matter for now.

She got back in the bathroom to take the chair, as it would help her in the delicate procedure.

"-are both adult and we were quite aware of what we were-"

Slipping her head through the porthole was easy. However passing through her shoulders was a different kettle of fish; she had to slip one arm first.

Damn !

"-know you're scared but you have to-"

Twisting and turning she managed to slip both her shoulders. Eli pushed herself with her hands while trying her best to keep her balance on the small sill of the porthole.

"ELI !" Luffy yelled from above her, making the fugitive jerk her head upward. "What are you doing ?" Apparently he was going to fish since he was holding his fishing rod over the railing.

"GYAAAH !" Eli screamed in disgust as his bait was swinging awfully close to her face. "Take that away from meeee !"

The entomophobe let out a sigh of relief as Luffy withdrew the repugnant worm, and resumed to her escape. She pushed a little forward while trying to grab the ship's edge, under the puzzled stare of her young captain.

Stretching her hand, she felt her fingertips brushing against the wood. Almost there... Eli winced as her hips seemed stuck in the little window. Who could have thought that one day the skinny girl would have wished to be even more curve-less.

Hearing the sound of heavy footfalls closing in Eli's eyes widened in fear.

"I can't believe you !" Ace said, leaning over the railing, a dark frown on his face. "Just how old are you !"

Eli was stunned for a second as her terrified eyes met with his. Her heart stopped, and her body froze in the stupid position she was in. Obviously, she wasn't ready to see him yet. Gathering herself, she managed to snap out of it. Eli slipped her hands inside of the porthole to pull herself back in the bathroom, and flee the flame user's burning eyes on her.

"Oh no you're NOT !" Ace growled before dashing away.

And Eli didn't know what to do... Go in ? Go out ? Apparently she had no escape possible from him. But her dilemma was shortly resolved as she found herself completely stuck in the small window.

Hearing a loud, crashing sound coming from the bathroom, Eli gulped audibly... He was here, and apparently not very happy.

"LUFFYYYYYYYY !" she yelled out as she felt two large hands grabbing her ankles. "HELP ME !"

Her big, desperate eyes locked on his, she stretched her hands in his direction. But the teenager only grinned, and quite widely at that.

Feeling Ace pulling her in, Eli contracted her shoulders just in time before they passed through the porthole. The girl hit the floor with a loud thud, and found herself instantly pinned beneath Ace. He was blasting an heavy glare at her, his hands capturing her forearms beside her head.

With all her might and will Eli tried to tear out of his hold but didn't manage to budge at all.

"You are very strong, very very strong. You know that ? Well I'm sure you do." Eli blabbered her head rolled upward to avert his gaze. "You don't seem to work out as much Zoro does, though. I wonder if you're stronger-"

"I like you Eli."

Eli swallowed hard, and rolled her head a bit farther away from him.

"-than him," she continued as if she hadn't heard a thing. "Maybe you could do some kind of contest, you know, to test that out or something. Arm-wrestling obviously, yet Sanji would have to use his leg 'cause-"

"You're unbelievable !" Ace interrupted her endless flow of words with a very annoyed tone of voice. "You heard me, right ?"

At that, Eli was silent at last. Of course she had heard him, he was hovering only a few centimeters above from her. She could even feel his breath on her neck. Yet, what he had said would have better stayed unheard, because what he had said was ultimately impossible, and possibly the biggest lie she had ever heard.

"... Yes I heard. And no, you do not."

"What !" Ace said bewilderingly. "That wasn't a question Eli !"

Despite of the situation she was in, Eli was finally calm. She rested her head on the floor with a deep sigh, and gravely looked at Ace, her eyes diving into his. He was her friend, and because they were friends, above all, yet, nothing more, she couldn't let him say what he had said.

"Maybe I can't deny what we did... Even though it was obviously a big, big, mistake..." Eli said with resignation. "But I certainly won't let you try to find an excuse for it by putting stupid and nonexistent feelings into it."

"What ?" Ace's looked at her incredulously.

"Be realistic, you just want to have fun with me. And there is no way that you 'like' me, because you are you and I am..." Eli paused, sighing again. "Well, I am me."

"And what is that suppose to mean ?" His black eyebrow went up making Eli roll her eyes at the ingenuousness of the young man.

"Even if we put aside the fact that we are friends, and that friends don't 'like' each other the way you implied," Eli said in a very teaching manner, which could have been quite impressive if she wasn't pinned beneath Ace, on the bathroom's floor. "There's no way that I believe you because... because you and I is a thing that could never happen."

"And why is that ?"

The serious lesson Eli was giving Ace did not have the effect predicted on the young man, as a smug smile appeared on his face, making Eli question his intelligence... or hearing. Because in her opinion she was explicit enough, and she shouldn't have to add anything to make him understand, and agree, to her rational point of view.

"Listen. Let's say I'm Luffy," Eli began, as apparently Ace needed some tangible example to understand her reasoning.

"Oh, god." Ace started laughing. "And who am I ?"

Eli frowned. Why couldn't he take her seriously for once ? It was very clear that she wasn't trying to be comical there.

"You are..." Eli took time to think, while Ace's eyes lit with amusement. Nami ? Vivi ? Robin ? No, none of them were enough shocking to be a good example... Oh, I know !

"Empress Hancock !" she finally said.

Eli peered at Ace's face, waiting for his epiphany since, with the help of her perfect example, there was no way he could not understand, at last. But Ace didn't seem to understand as he was the perfect picture of surprise; his eyebrows raised high up on his forehead, his eyes so wide opened that it almost looked like they were about to pop out of their orbits, and his mouth gaping stupidly.

Yet, Eli ignored it all, and continued with her demonstration.

"Now, imagine the Empress Hancock liking Luffy..." she trailed off as Ace started laughing loudly, tears forming in the corner of his eyes, and thankfully releasing the girl from his tight grip.

"Impossible !" Ace managed to say during his laughing fit.

Eli rubbed her aching forearms while observing Ace laughing and rolling on the floor. Maybe the image of Luffy and the gorgeous Hancock was too much for him after all... But finally, he seemed to understand. There was no way that a man such as him could like a girl such as her. The flame user had obviously misinterpreted his alcohol-induced sexual crave for something else. Maybe he liked her, but not in a romantic way, Eli was sure of it. She had always been sure of it.

A small smile on her face as the previous awkwardness had vanished during their little argument, Eli slowly stood up, yet, as she was about to walk out of the room, Ace slammed his hand on the wall next to her head, making her squeak in surprise. The girl turned around and pressed her back to the wall, trying to create as much distance as possible between him and her.

"Are you aware..." he began quietly, his smug face dangerously closing in on hers, "... that you just compared me to the most beautiful woman in the world...?"

And with that Eli's face instantly flushed in embarrassment. Drooping her head to avert his deep, roguish gaze, she persistently stared at her feet, for the sight of his muscular chest showing through his opened shirt wasn't quite more endurable.

"Well... you are... quite... sometimes... I guess... slightly... good-looking...?" Eli stammered, her face burning up with every words that managed to pass through her tightened throat.

And there he went; laughing again at the completely mortified girl. Yes, he was good-looking, and attractive, and popular... Extremely at that. And those were the very reasons why Eli knew that it was impossible for him to like her. Yet, making her admit it out loud and then laughing at her for it, was purely and simply, mean.

Impulsively, Eli clenched her fist and hurled it in his laughing face, making him shut up, at last.

After blasting him with a glare of pure hatred, Eli tried to walk out of the bathroom once more. But once more Ace held her back. A frown on his face, the young man pined her between the wall and his heavy chest, and pressed his forehead to the wall next to her head with a deep sigh.

"I really like you..." he said.

Those sweet words and the seductive tone of Ace's voice felt like a punch in Eli stomach, making her shudder with fear.

"And now I'm sure that you too." Ace lifted his face to gaze deeply into her frightened, green eyes. "So you can struggle all you want... But I'll work my way under your skin Elisabeth..."

to be continued

Still to beta... I hope you don't mind, but I didn't want to make you wait, and I tried my best to correct everything on my own.

So, now you got your confession.
Yet, it is so impossible for Eli, that she just thinks that Ace lied just to have 'fun' with her.
And now he's threatening her (quite seductively). Not a very bright move if he wanted Eli to believe him.

I like Eli's escape... A lot :)

I hope you enjoyed that chapter, and see you on Monday for the next ;)

Got an other gift YAY !
It is from Tropicall and you can see it on my profile.
Thank you my dear Tropicall for this gift 'from a writer to an other' :D