Chapter 78
The Weight of the Past

"Gomu Gomu noooo..."

From the time Eli had met with the two D brothers that was the worst alarm clock ever. Even more when the girl that had woke up with a start at the dreadful sound and found her body completely ensnared in the arms of her lover, naked.

Like a little animal caught in a trap, Eli struggled fruitlessly while the 'Rocket' got threateningly closer. Her heartbeats grew stronger and faster while the arms wrapped around her remained heavily enclosed on her exposed flesh.

Behind the clenched jaws, Eli uttered a loud gasp as she covered her body and that of Ace under the blanket. She could feel her heated breath brushing against the fabric while the regular snapping of sandals got louder as Luffy walked in their direction.

"Eli ! Ace !"

Squeezing her eyelids shut, the girl wished she could disappear from the rubbery teen's sight.

Impossible wish obviously.

Slowly, carefully, she rose her head out of the blanket. "Hey Luffy..."

A bright, face-splitting grin was the pirate's greeting.

"We're going to steal gold," Luffy said. "And then we're leaving."

Barely listening to his words as her mind was solely focused on hiding her naked body along with Ace's who was breathing against her back, Eli nodded stupidly.

"Are you coming ?"

"Sure... NO !" Eli shook her head rapidly.

A childish chuckle left Luffy's mouth and at that moment, Eli wondered if he had the remotest idea of what she was going through. Was the he aware of his brother's presence under the cover ? And more importantly, was he aware of what the two pirates have been doing to end up in such a position ?

Eli's face flushed crimson under the amused eyes of the black-haired pirate. Couldn't he just leave ?

"We'll- I mean I, I will prepare the Merry," she blabbered rapidly.

"Okay."

Luffy's large grin disappeared as he turned around to leave. Good riddance. Eli let a deep sigh of relief escaping her mouth until she felt hands moving across her skin. Shivers racing through her flesh, Eli's head snapped around as she uncovered the man behind her.

"For how long have you been awake ?"

A chuckle left his lips as they trailed up Eli's back. So much for an answer. Apparently very amused and absolutely unperturbed at his little brother witnessing such an intimate situation, Ace's hands caressed the embarrassed girl's skin. He was on conquered land, he owned her and the thrill she felt upon remembering the previous night's ecstasy didn't work for her self control.

"Ace...?"

Eli felt his hand pulling her around while the flame user shifted on her body. His crave she could see and his want she could feel. It was pressed in the flesh of her thigh; it was gleaming in the blackness of his eyes.

"You look happy..." Eli rolled her head to the side when she saw Ace's freckles looming above her, and soon, closer to her blushing face.

"I am," he whispered into her ear before kissing her lobe. "Aren't you...?"

Oh, she was... very happy indeed, and somehow... embarrassed. It was a first. Not the first but, waking up next to a man, remembering the touch and kisses, the moans and pleasures; it was a first. Such intimacy; she was exposed. Striped from her clothes as well as her emotional armor, she was exposed.

Yet Ace did not seem to care. He was the one who had spoke his feelings though. His heart and soul were bared and it seemed that it gave him even more strength and, obviously yet oddly, it also gave the flame user an upper hand on her.

"We have to go." Eli threw her hand in the direction of her clothing.

"No way." Ace smirked against her neck. "I'm not letting you go... not you Eli..."

Not... me...? As he plunged his large hand in her hair, a soft moan left Eli's mouth causing Ace's kisses to grow fiercer.

"What do you mean ?" she asked quietly.

"The others..."

His kisses and his overwhelming desire.

"...they always left..."

His heated breath and his hands.

"What others ?"

They all stopped at once. Ace lifted himself up, his dark eyes meeting green angry ones; a huge 'oops' was imprinted all over his face. She knew though, Eli always knew, or at least, she imagined that there must have been others. She wasn't stupid and Ace wasn't the restrained kind. Yet, never had she ever pictured them so vividly.

"And how many are you talking about Ace ?" Eli asked wryly.

Ace took a dry swallow while his smirk grew quickly weaker and his face paler.

"Were they pretty, Ace ? Were they kind ?"

Those questions only pained her further and deeper but the girl's restless mind was unstoppable. With every word passing through her throat, Eli felt her heart beating harder, fuelled by her blind anger. Like a large ocean wave, it rose inside of her, higher, looming threateningly before her sentiment of affection.

"Do you remember their names Ace ? Their faces maybe... or their bodies...?"

Eli had felt jealousy before but never for someone she had never seen, never for a group of people she didn't know. Yet she hated them, blindly. She felt cold engulfing her chest and burning her insides, she felt rage and shame stabbing her heart while a blinding blackness covered her senses.

"Tell me Ace."

"Listen Eli." The flame user set his gaze on hers, gravity weighting heavily in the depth of his eyes. "You're special to me, you've always been special."

Ace curled his hands around her arms, causing anger to pour throughout her body. His hands, they had touched other's body before, and the intimate moment they had shared the previous night, he had lived before.

"Don't touch me !" Eli shook her naked body and turned around, wrapping tightly the blanket around her skin.

She felt wounded to her core, ashamed and... dirty. And the worst part of it was that, Eli couldn't mouth or even see the source of such an ire. But the anger she felt, like a starving beast that was claiming for more.

However, her angry eyes widened as Eli heard Ace sigh behind her; the unbearable sound of his annoyance, sending the girl to the edge of her sanity.

"WHAT ?" she roared, jerking around. Whether it was due to his absence of clothing of any sort or shape or her ire was unknown, but as she glared at Ace, Eli's face turned crimson.

"How can you act like this !" Ace said scornfully, apparently not interested in his state of nudity. "I'm not the one who's still fantasying like a ten-year-old on a childish crush !"

"THE HELL ?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Eli."

"You mean... Towa...?"

"...Whatever." Ace muttered, now averting his gaze.

Briskly, he stood up to get his clothes. The two pirates were both silent while the flame user was dressing. Wordlessly, Eli stared at his back, incapable of finding words as they flowed frantically through her mind. Was he right ? Did her feelings for the Sutan soldier remain no matter how much she loved Ace ? And if it was true, was there no more room left in her heart for the black-haired pirate...?

As she shook her head, Eli managed to clear her mind of the troubling thoughts blinding her from the truth of her sentiments. Slowly, she stood up as well, holding her resolve tightly in the green of her stare, just like the blanket around her.

"He's dead Ace ! He saved me and he's dead," she claimed. "And now you're-"

"And now he's mister perfection forever."

"You're being... mean..." The disdain in his voice and the disrespect for the memory of this hero felt like a punch in her stomach. "You left and had sex with all these women, and now you're turning this against me..."

"I should have waited for you for three years ? Is that what you wanted ?" He barked.

Her head dropped as Eli clenched her fists on the blanket. Her naked skin was quivering within the grasp of feelings she couldn't understand. "... I did," she said very quietly.

"What ?" Ace seemed to doubt his hearing as he looked at her from over his shoulder.

Did she ? Did she really wait for him ? Eli wasn't quite certain of the truth that had passed through her tightened throat without her consent. It was more like she had never met someone that had mad her heart pound like he did.

"I... I didn't want anyone else..." she stammered.

"Well, I'm sorry." His back still turned to her, Ace put on a shirt. "But I'm not perfect..." His voice low and harsh, and as he turned around to look at her, Eli lifted her face up and saw something akin to regret stirring in his eyes. "I'll never be."

"I don't want you to be perfect !" Eli said loudly. "That's not what I love about you, idiot !"

For a moment they silently stared at each other. Eli had made her point and was waiting for the flame user's counter attack. But Ace didn't say a word. No, not a word, not a sound; oddly, a smirk slowly made its way to his lips.

"What ?" Eli asked, slightly irritated.

And still.

"WHAT ?"

His smirk not losing an ounce of intensity, Ace picked up Eli's clothes and handed them to the bewildered girl. "Here."

Casually, he tucked his hands behind his neck and started walking in the direction of the beanstalk while Eli's green glare clung onto his back.

As he disappeared, her eyes fell on the pile of clothes in her arms. What could have changed his mood so suddenly ? Eli wondered while she let the blanket slide down from around her body. But the image of his smile, his freckles, and his lovely dark eyes, if mocking, brought a grin to Eli's face. With a little sigh, she quickly slipped inside of her pieces of clothing and trotted along in direction of the beanstalk.

It took her about a minute to climb down the giant vine and, as she planted her feet on the ground of the ancient city, Eli saw Ace, Zoro, and Usopp. The two elders were having a discussion she couldn't hear from where she stood, while the teenager was apparently doing some kind of trade with the Skypieans. Rubber bands for dials...?

In the corner of her eyes, Eli saw Robin and, as she set her gaze on the archaeologist, she saw her disappearing behind a group of trees.

As Eli stared at the trees where the woman was last seen, the Suntan girl remembered the discussion she had with her a couple of days ago. Apparently Robin had some information about Suta. Maybe she could answer the question that Ace had brought up the previous night. That question that never before she had dare formulate.

"Who attacked your island ?"

Resolutely, Eli strode in the direction of the jungle as well...

"Hey Twig !"

… Her resolve diminishing in strength as Ace joined her.

"Miss Chronicler ?"

Now looking at her feet, Eli took a deep breath. Because of the discussion she had with Ace the previous night, the Sutan girl had decided to face the ghosts of her past, after all, she wasn't alone anymore.

"Robin." Eli walked up to the archaeologist's side. "You said you made some investigations about... Suta."

Hearing the name of the girl's homeland, the black-haired woman's face showed a hint of emotion, surprise maybe. Silently, she looked at Ace over her shoulder before setting her deep gaze back on Eli's.

"It's okay." The girl nodded. "He knows."

"And what do you want to know ?" Robin asked.

Eli cleared her throat as she started to walk, motioning the archaeologist to do the same.

"Do you know who attacked Suta ?"

For a silent moment, Robin thoughtfully gazed in Eli's eyes. "The World Government."

Obviously, this was a surprise for Eli, and her face didn't conceal that emotion. "Do you know why ?" she asked.

"The reports stated that Suta was a threat for the World's peace." Robin said calmly. "Sutans were said to be anarchists that were fomenting a rebellion and that they were forming a powerful army in secret to achieve their goals."

Speechless and utterly bewildered, Eli felt her Sutan blood boiling. What a lie. Sutans had exiled themselves in order to protect the world from the destructive power of Rokushiki. Did the World Government misread their intentions ?

Eli didn't notice that she had stopped walking. Lost in the thoughts, she had also failed to notice that her two fellow crewmates were now looking at her. Wordlessly, she started into space while chewing her bottom lip. Maybe they were right... Maybe Rokushiki was too dangerous, and that even in spite of the Sutan's will to keep it secret-

"Twig ?"

"Ah !" Eli started and looked around at the two black-haired pirates who were observing her. "Sorry ! Where were you going Robin ?"

"The Shandians have found the Golden bell..." Robin looked in the distance. "I wanted to see it."

"Let's go then," Ace said.

After a few minutes, the pirates arrived at the edge of Upper Yard. They could see the beanstalk that had fallen the day before. It was lying on the ground and overhanging into the White-White sea. On the shore, two dozen Shandians were pulling the Golden bell on the soil of the island.

As they stared at the shiny bell, a clamor elevated from the crowd. Amazed, Eli remained speechless. It was bigger than she had imagined it would be. At the feet of a large pedestal made of gold, she could see three large pillars, the fourth was lying on the ground, and up the stairs, two larger pillars were holding the magnificent, golden bell.

After a moment of silent observation, Eli turned around to look at her crewmates. Ace was staring at the bell, a large grin of pride plastered on his face while Robin looked more interested by the pedestal, or most likely, at a series of inscriptions engraved in the yellow metal.

"It's the tablet that our ancestors sacrificed themselves to protect..!" One of the Shandians said. "There seem to be some writing on it, chief."

"I cannot decipher this ancient language," the Shandians' chief said. "But that's not important because-"

"Before the heart of truth there is no need for words," Robin read aloud, causing the bewildered Shandians to shift their attention toward the archaeologist. "We are the recorders of history, existing in harmony with sound of the great bell."

"Can you really decipher that ancient language...?" The chief of the Shandians asked.

Wordlessly, Eli looked at Ace questioningly. What was so mysterious about an archaeologist that could read ancient inscribing ? But the black-haired pirate only shrugged, apparently, as clueless as the girl.

Without answering the chief, Robin took a few steps toward the pedestal, a grave look darkening her beautiful face.

"The ancient weapon with the power so strong that it was name after the God 'Poseidon'..." the archaeologist trailed off, disappointment lowering her warm voice.

While -now quiet- Robin stared at the ancient writing, a loud clamor rose from the Shandians. The word 'weapon' echoing on the Upper Yard.

"Was that what you were talking about ?" Eli quietly asked Ace.

"I guess it is." The young pirate nodded. "Maybe the people of Ohara were the only ones who could read those instructions and maybe... maybe the World Government considered it was a threat for them."

Sadness and pain spreading inside of her with her every heartbeat, Eli shifted her gaze onto the archaeologist; they had so much in common, so much, yet they were so different. Was that why Robin had been wanted since such a young age ? She carried the fault of her people on her back, as well as their deaths, and she was all alone.

Something akin to disappointment painted across her face, Robin turned around to leave.

"Wait !" A Shandian called out. "There're some words on the side. Did you see them ?"

As she looked over her shoulder and let her gaze travel into the direction the Shandian was pointing to, Robin seemed petrified. With wide eyes, she stared at a little inscribing carved next to the ancient tablet.

"What is it Robin ?" Ace asked walking up to his crewmate.

"We came here, found the text and followed its guidance." she read aloud the words that were as undecipherable as the rest of the text. "... Gol D. Roger."

Hearing Ace gasp, Eli looked at her lover. The bewildered look that was on Robin's face, was now on his. Thoughtfully, the girl remembered the night that the freckled pirate and her had shared in Alabasta. His father... the father he hated so much... With wide-open eyes, the young man stared at the words his father had written years ago when he had tread this very ground.

"Roger you say ?" Gan Fall asked from behind the pirates.

"Do you know him ?" Robin took a few steps in direction of the knight.

"Twenty years ago there was such a guest on Sky island."

Ace's face was tensed and so was his jaw.

"He said that he was a pirate of the blue sea."

As she stared at her lover, Eli didn't know what to say, what to do.

"Hey Miss, that boy wearing a straw hat..." Gan Fall said. "He reminds me of Roger. Are they related ?"

Like a shot, Ace spun on his heels and strode away.

"Freckles !" Eli called out, running after him under the surprised eyes of their black-haired crewmate. "Hey ! Wait !"

But Ace didn't answer. His boots kicking hard the ground of the Upper Ward's jungle, he took long steps in a vigorous way, as if he didn't know that the girl was following him.

Planting her steps in his, Eli felt pain awakening in the muscles of her legs, and with that burning and swelling sensation, Chopper's warning came back to her mind. She wasn't allowed to use her powers and apparently, her very body was on the little doctor's side.

"Hey, wait up !" She yelled, and that probably for the first time of her life. Eli took grip of his arm but this didn't stop the young man. "What's wrong ?"

With a grunt, he shook his arm to tear off the girl's grip.

"ACE !" Eli yelled, anger and frustration spreading in the air as she did so.

Within a few minutes, they reached the Merry. Ace jumped aboard the ship and roughly threw his bag away. Utterly puzzled by the young man's attitude, Eli stared at him as he prepared the ship for its impending departure.

"I thought you hated him !" Eli said loudly. "At least Gan Fall didn't compare him to you !"

"You.." Ace glared at the rope in his hands. "You won't understand anyway," he muttered.

"Then tell me !"

"I DON'T KNOW !" Ace barked, startling the girl as he did.

Slowly, Eli put her hands on his; they were trembling. "Tell me Ace," she said softly.

"It's... It's just..." Now calmer, Ace set his dark eyes on Eli's green ones. "I wanted to be different... and now, I learn that I'm walking in his steps."

"But you are different..." Eli lifted her hand to his cheek.

"How do you know that ?" Ace argued, pain and fear stirring in his eyes. "Maybe I'm a demon just like him !"

"Are you stupid ?" Eli pressed her body against his and gently caressed his cheek. "A freckled demon ? Impossible." She smiled.

A faint smile made its way to his lips as Ace gazed and Eli. "You're stupid," he whispered.

"Listen... Maybe we are all demons. Maybe I was meant to die with Suta because we represent a threat for the World... I don't know... but... but I love this life..."

It felt so unfair then. The guilt; it stung on the girl's insides. Were they meant to bear the sins of there ancestors on their shoulders ? They only wanted to be free. Within the warm embrace of her lover, Eli let melancholy wash over the both of them.

"It's so unfair... We didn't do anything wrong, Ace."

Silently, Ace tightened his embrace on her thin body. "I know..."

Demon, anarchist, weapon, threat... The entire world seemed to be against them at this instant; bitterness spoiling their dreams of freedom. Unfair...

It was then that they heard them, their crewmates, their family. Slowly, the two pirates looked in the direction of their yells. They were all here, running toward them, large smiles plastered on their faces. Luffy was laughing and his belly laughter echoed all over Upper Yard and in the hearts of the two pirates.

No, they did nothing wrong, they just wanted to live their lives; pirate lives... freer than anybody.

to be continued

Betaed by charmedward.

-You can now go read Twig 19-

Happy new year everyone :)

Have you made your resolutions ? As for me, working on Freckles is definitely one one them.
Please 2011, give me creativity, time, and productivity. Give me focus and protect me from the sluggishness.

I wish I gave you a more light-hearted chapter to start the year with but it'll have to wait for next week. I'll be working on it as soon as I published this one.

Despite the heaviness, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope I'll see you very soon.