A/N: Gonna try and get back on track now...

Chapter 13: New Companion

"Haah!"

Harry sighed as the villagers around him shrieked in shock. He C-stepped to the right to dodge the punch at his abdomen and watched with amusement as his attacker flew through the air in front of him like Superman. With careful timing, he raised a leg to lift Ace's passing thighs upwards, flipping the kid's body in a somersault. The boy, having experience with this favored technique of Harry's, rolled with the suddenly change in momentum and managed to land upright on all fours. He twisted around and launched off the floor to throw a kick at the taller male's chest. Harry simply thrust an arm out to grab the leg, then reached out with his other to grab the small hands that tried to claw at the limb entrapping Ace's foot.

"Next time," he lectured, placing the struggling child onto the ground, "don't precede your surprise attacks with a battle cry. You might also have better luck barefoot; I could hear your footsteps thirty seconds before you even tried to throw that first punch."

Ace glared, but he didn't attack again so he might have been listening.

The villagers were gaping at the scene, but Harry ignored them. This was the fifth time Ace tried to attack him in town, so he wasn't sure why they were still so shocked when it happened. He glanced upwards at the midday sun.

"Lunchtime," he announced. "Care to join me?"

Ace continued to glare furiously. This wasn't the first time Harry invited him for a meal after a failed attack. It was very insulting to him, Ace thought, that the prissily dressed guy considered him so low on the threat scale that he'd actually be willing to feed him. But so far, it was true that he'd had little success with his ambushes, and he did always learn a little something to use the next time whenever he hung around Harry long enough, and he was feeling kind of hungry as well…

Seeing Ace hesitate to refuse the offer, the young wizard took it as a positive reply and set the boy on the ground.

"This way, then," Harry said cheerily, pushing Ace lightly from behind in the direction he wished to go in. He avoided the bar, since drunk people tended to say things that triggered the child's ire, but there was a cute family diner in the village he'd grown quite fond of which should be safe enough.

"You're pretty strong for a kid," Harry commented feeling the strength behind Ace's punch as he caught it in his larger palm. Part of that strength was pure willpower; the boy put his whole body in each attack. As a child with such a small body, it was likely the only way to deal real damage to older opponents.

The rest of that strength was luck and talent. The boy was simply born with good muscle structure.

Ace growled in irritation as he tried to yank his fist out of the older boy's grip and failed.

"Did your grandfather ever train you?"

Ace gave up on pulling his fist and instead darted forward, grabbing Harry's hand and swinging his body forward to deliver a kick at his captor's shoulder in the hopes that the jolt would loosen Harry's hold.

Harry stepped back just as Ace's feet left the ground, ruining the boy's momentum and effectively nullifying the attempted attack.

"Well, I imagine not. You would try the patience of a saint if one ever tried to teach you something," Harry chuckled. "And I doubt your grandfather's a saint."

Ace scowled. "He's not my grandfather. He's just someone who was asked to look over me. He's already got his own grandkid anyhow."

"He asks you to call him Gramps, right?" Harry reminded. "I'm sure he considers you family at least."

Ace didn't reply, but Harry could tell from his averted gaze and stubborn pout that the child didn't believe it. Not for the first time, the wizard wondered just why Ace had such a low self-esteem. It was true he had no close friends in his village, but Ace didn't seem to want any, and it was true he had no idea as to what Ace's home life was like, but there also weren't any nasty rumors being spread in the village about him as anything other than the moody child he was.

"Next time you should ask him to help you out," Harry advised, deciding to move on from the more awkward subject of whether or not the old man from Harry's first day on the island truly considered Ace to be another grandson. "As a marine, I'm sure he's trained in fights," he pointed out, letting go of Ace's hand.

Ace smirked, slightly cockier now that all his body parts were under his control again. "Gramps could knock you back on your scrawny ass."

"Oi!"

"You're leaving?"

Harry tried to suppress a smile at Ace's expression. It was rare that the boy allowed such a childish look to grace his round face. In the week's time since he first treated Ace to a meal, he's only ever seen him glare or scowl or daze off with a blank expression; never smiles, though sometimes he smirked, and never shock as if he felt it weak to be taken by surprise by anything.

"Yes," Harry confirmed. "I've been here almost two weeks now with little purpose but to restock on fresher food. I've no desire to settle down anywhere, let alone here, so now's as good a time as any to move on."

Ace was quiet for a few moments, trailing along behind Harry as the wizard made a few last minute purchases to stash in his boat.

"Take me with you."

Harry halted in his tracks, startled, and looked back at the boy. Ace stood there, fists clenched at his sides, eyebrows furrowed and jaw tense.

"Excuse me?" Harry asked, not quite sure he heard correctly.

"Take me with you," Ace repeated, his cheeks suddenly flushing. "Gramps says I'll find out if I should've been born if I keep living, but I don't know what he means by that. I've been alive for nine years now thinking that life's kinda stupid. I mean, I don't get the point. But, yesterday, and the days before, I didn't think life was stupid 'cause I was too busy trying to think of a way to punch you. I want everyday to be like that, until I beat you," he concluded firmly, scowling at Harry as if daring the older boy to make fun of him and his simple dream.

Harry felt as if his mind was stuttering. While the past week had seen his 'relationship' with Ace grow to be more – friendly? – than their initial interactions which had consisted only of frequent failed ambushes, he never imagined Ace would become so attached to their time together.

So the question now, he supposed, is whether or not to say yes.

A part of him immediately wanted to say no. To take a child with him while traveling who knows where? First of all, it was bothersome to have to take care of a – what? Nine, maybe nine and a half, year old boy? Not to mention it would be dangerous for Ace and returning him would be annoying as well. He could apparate back to this village of course, but that would mean flaunting his magic once more to civilians.

But how could he possibly say no when as a child he too wanted nothing more than to be taken away from his 'home' that rated his very existence as less than worthless?

He scowled lightly at this thought. Ace's situation and Harry's situation were different. Sure, the villagers weren't fond of Ace, but that was mostly a result of the boy's belligerent attitude, and every once in a while he received visits from a grandfather figure who loves him. Plus, he always did think it was stupid when people acted in certain ways towards kids because it reminded them of their own pathetic pasts. The past was the past – you can't change it by making some random child your proxy and trying to live your own fantasies through him or her. It isn't good for you, nor is it fair to the kid.

Then again, it wasn't fair to the kid either to deny him just because Harry didn't like the reasons most other people had had in his current situation to take the kid along. He needed his own reasons to be making a decision.

Ace was strong for a child his age – that was true.

Harry was perfectly capable of taking care of a single dependent – that was also true.

If he took Ace along with him, Ace would know about magic. Well, Ace wasn't a blabber mouth, nor an inquisitive mind. He'd take the new abilities into stride without demanding any explanations, Harry was sure. If his grandfather found out, though…

Ha, his grandfather. Harry wondered if his guardians would mind Ace's impromptu decision to leave the island. And whether or not he'd end up with an angry marine pursuit for kidnapping. Haha, of all the crimes Harry had ever been accused of before, kidnapping had never been one of them.

Did he care?

"Meet me at the port before sunset. Pack some clothes," he ordered, and then turned back around to finish his shopping, smiling when he heard the pitter-patter of Ace's footsteps as the boy ran off to prepare. If Ace could pack his things without protest from whatever adults were supposed to be watching over him, then Harry wouldn't put any more thought into the guardianship matter.

The crude world map Addams had sketched for Harry those months ago was no work of art. Upon a simple scroll of yellowed paper were a few dozen lines, precisely measured out to outline key features of the globe in dried blood. The navigator didn't even bother adding many islands, so to the casual eye, the scroll appeared to hold little more than the cross which Harry knew highlighted the Red Line and the Grand Line. Ace certainly didn't think much of it.

"What's that supposed to be?" he asked scornfully. "Some sort of charm to ward off ghosts?"

Harry's lips quirked as he rolled the map back up to put in his pocket. "You believe in ghosts?"

Ace scowled. Two days ago, he would've denied the existence of supernatural things like ghosts as things little kids are scared of for no reason other than them being pathetic like that. Two days ago, he had yet to witness Harry's unique sailing style (Ventus!) or Harry's efficient fishing technique (Accio!) or Harry's 'rain song' (Aguamenti!) or Harry's oil-less lamp that burned blue in a glass jar. At this point, he wouldn't be terribly surprised if Harry himself was a ghost, let alone deny the idea of ghosts existing.

Harry chuckled. It was terribly fun shocking the child with magic – he understood just a bit more now why wizards enjoyed muggle-baiting so much back home, even if it did lead to fines to pay the obliviators that would need to drop by and erase the damage.

"That was actually a map," Harry explained, standing up in the small boat to glance around them, "drawn by a terribly ambitionless man. If anyone could manage to draw an accurate world map with just his own mind and a pen, Addams could. Pity he lacks the desire."

Ace looked somewhat skeptical, but chose not to comment and asked instead, "So does this mean you know where you want to go now?" They'd been drifting aimlessly for almost three days now and Ace wanted nothing more than an opportunity to stretch his legs beyond the occasional swim next to the boat. He never thought he'd miss something like dry land so much.

"Yep," Harry chirped. "East Blue has been terribly boring so far, so I think I'd like to pop back into the Grand Line – what do you think?"

Ace gaped. "You want to go to the Grand Line, in this?" he snarled, gesturing to their tiny vessel.

"Well, obviously we'd be split to pieces if we tried to go in the conventional manner. I was thinking more along the lines of skipping the sailing completely and popping onto a populated island where we might be able to hitch a ride with some passing ship," the wizard replied, taking in the sail and securing barrels and oars beneath the seats.

"That made no sense whatsoever," Ace pointed out.

"It will," Harry grinned, rearranging his outfit from its current appearance of battle robes to a shirt, trousers, and a cloak. "Now, depending on what happens, we may end up getting involved in some trouble, as it is the Grand Line, after all. I'd really rather you not become a wanted criminal at your age just because I'm a trouble magnet, so we'll have to change your looks for as long as we're there." He reached over and ran his hands through Ace's hair, ignoring the boy's irritated squirming, and lightened the color to a dirty blond. Ace stared at the water over the edge of the boat when he caught a glimpse of his new hair color in the reflection, so shocked that he didn't even react when Harry ran his thumbs over the boy's cheeks and erased his freckles.

"There we go," Harry pronounced. "And I'll call you Jack from now on, alright Jack? Off we go!"

And with a thundering crack, the boat and its two passengers disappeared from East Blue.

A disgruntled marine slouched over the railing of the crow's nest he occupied, absently twirling his spyglass in his left hand.

"Why do you even need that," he spoke mockingly aloud in a wheedling voice. "Surely you can do better without? Cheh," he scoffed. "Bunch of idiots," he grumbled, "thinking it's so easy to master the abilities of a Devil Fruit as complex as mine."

He swept his gaze through the glass to view the surrounding waters. "No matter," he continued to himself, adjusting the focus of the spyglass to bring into view the harmless driftwood and birds he found in the distance. "They're all just jealous because they know I'm destined for better waters with a power like this. So what if I was demoted for taking it out of storage without permission? Once I've proved how valuable I am, I'll go much farther up the ladder than any of these morons could ever dream! I'll leave East Blue behind soon enough for fame and riches in the Grand Line!"

His monologue paused when he saw a large piece of driftwood turn out to be a small rowboat instead. Damn. Whoever's there probably needs help, being so far out in open waters on such a small vessel. What a bother.

Unfortunately, the spyglass wasn't strong enough for a good look at the boat's passengers. "Nothing for it," he decided with a smirk.

"Throw-Sight."

The marine's vision tunneled rapidly, zooming in further and further until suddenly, he saw past the boat. Quickly, he tried to pull his sight back, but ended up tugging too hard, and he fell on his arse with a groan as the sensation snapped in his eyes. He only caught a glimpse of two passengers. The smaller one was a blur – he could tell it was a child, but not much else. The second was older, and he saw the man had black hair and wore some kind of flowing black outfit.

"Throw-Hearing."

"East Blue has b-… boring…-op back into the Grand Line - …"

Again, the words faded in and out of hearing range, but what the marine managed to pick up alarmed him. It certainly wasn't everyday a man sailed in a small boat with a child and talked about going 'back' to the Grand Line.

Gripping the railing firmly, he tried once more for a visual.

"Throw-Sight."

The child was a blond, and the man had green eyes and was wearing a long black coat despite the warm weather.

The strangeness of said outfit, however, was lost on the marine lookout when the boat disappeared.

Literally.

And though he spent the next ten minutes scanning the seas with both his devil fruit power and spyglass, there was no sign of either human or their ship.

Heh, the marine thought to himself a little helplessly. It was as if they teleported or something.

A/N: And so Ace joins Harry on his next adventure. A lot of short scenes, I know, but I'm finding that it's easier to start off new 'stories' that way.

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