(Still 3 days after Team FT fell into OP world)

"Ace?!" Nami exclaimed as Firefist sat up, rubbing his neck as if he had muscle pains. Wendy quickly came to his side to check for any new injuries, but the pain was due to him lying still for so long. He looked around sleepily, taking a little longer on Lucy, and then extended his arms and yawned.

"Man, that was a great sleep I just had!"

"Sleep?!" Charle repeated, raising her voice a few notches in anger, "that was no sleeping condition, you were in a coma!"

"You were dead!" Nami corrected.

"I'm dead?! So you're really an angel?" He asked Lucy, who immediately slapped his head.

"Shut up!"

"You're not dead, Ace-san," Wendy assured him, "we saved you and Shanks-san brought us all here, we've been waiting for you to Wake up for a while now, and the world thinks you died."

Now everyone stared at the bluenette as if she'd grown three heads.

Taking a deep breath, Wendy proceeded to explain to everyone what exactly happened ever since she arrived on that world. She told them about Marineford, and how Akainu nearly killed Ace when the latter jumped in front of the magma-fist to shield his little brother, how Shanks ended the war and how Charle and Wendy managed to sneak Ace away from prying eyes until only Shanks crew remained there.

She then explained that she healed them – which Lucy had already realized by herself, whereas Nami and Zoro seemed completely shocked – and that Shanks took both of them under his wing until they found the Strawhats.

She didn't realize how long that story was until she told it out loud. Even Ace seemed impressed with the parts he didn't know – mainly with the fact that a Yonkou had protected him and the little girl he had met in the middle of a war had saved him.

When she finally finished the story, nobody spoke.

"We should set sail then," Charle broke the silence, "we have been waiting for you guys to arrive so we could leave this island., it's not safe to keep Ace within civilization. Shanks said you should let everyone think you're dead for now, at least until you've gathered enough forces to make sure you don't get captured again."

"I'm enough to make sure I don't get captured again," he stated, looking fiercely at the exceed.

"Really? Then how did you end up in that execution stand?"

He was about to grab Charle when Wendy asked them all to be quiet.

"Someone's coming," she explained to the confused group. Nami, Zoro and Ace looked around puzzled. "I can smell blood, too."

"What do you mean you can smell blood?" Nami repeated.

Zoro seemed curious as well, but he chose to assume a battle stance instead of asking questions. When Ace seemed about to do the same, both Lucy and Charle jumped him.

"Ouch! What are you doing?"

"You are supposed to be dead! Don't go picking fights!" Lucy scolded him, holding him down while Nami created a mirage of a nearby bush to hide him.

The footsteps approached, heavy, faltering, as if whoever it was had trouble walking. Wendy guessed the blood was due to some injury that could be making the person have difficulty walking.

When he finally came within their sight – for it was a very weird 'he', Wendy noticed – Lucy and Happy relaxed whereas Nami and Zoro tensed.

He stopped once he could see the entire group, his eyes taking a little longer on Wendy and Charle before returning to Nami.

Wendy's eyes were still locked on the bleeding man.

"These wounds..." Charle spoke, horrified. He wasn't as bad as Ace had been, but he had gruesome cuts and bruises over his entire body.

"Aren't you a doctor?" Zoro asked, not abandoning his fighting stance. "This is a poor choice of trickery."

"This isn't a trick," Wendy protested, approaching the guy, "I can smell the blood, it's coming from everywhere in his body."

"I am a doctor," the man agreed, and she stopped halfway through reaching him, "I took care of any vital problems already, but performing self surgery requires time and safety I don't have yet."

"Law-san," Lucy acknowledged him, "you disappeared when that ship showed up. What happened?"

"A creature attacked us," he informed simply, and his tone made it clear that he would not be adding anything else to his explanation, "Bepo is gathering food and we're ready to depart. My job here is done."

"Your job?" Nami repeated, now angry too. "What was it, to serve us to those pirates?"

"To join you with Firefist," that surprised everyone, and Ace stood up from the hiding place, shaking the mirage away. He approached Wendy, oddly, as if he were protecting her.

"Why would you care about that?" Ace questioned, not as tense as the Strawhats, but Wendy could tell he was ready to fight if needed. She hoped he didn't need it, as she feared what would happen if he got injured so soon.

"I made a deal with Akagami Shanks, one worth taking," he answered, "I'll meet you again on the new world, Strawhats."

"Wait!" Wendy called, running after him as he turned to leave. She stopped when she reached him, and he looked at her without any emotions displayed on his face. "I can heal you," she added, putting both hands above one side of his waist, without really touching him, where the worst cut seemed to be, and focusing on her healing magic.

If that surprised him, he didn't show, keeping the same calm, composed expression.

He did acknowledge that she had a useful ability though.

"Maybe you should go with him," Charle suggested, surprising them all. "I know we just got together, but now we know that Lucy will eventually join up with Luffy's crew, and we can find them again later. It makes it easier to find the others if we're on two different pirate crews."

"That's true," Lucy agreed, ignoring everyone else protesting, "but Law-san's a doctor, right?" As she asked, he confirmed it, seemingly interested in having Wendy joining him, "and Wendy's a healer. It's not the smartest strategy to put two people that can heal in one crew, and leave the other with none."

"So what do you suggest, Lucy-san?"

"You go with Zoro-san and Nami-chan," she started, "and Happy and I go with Law-san,... if he agrees, of course," as the blonde looked at Law, he didn't say anything that indicated he opposed, but he didn't exactly celebrate with joy either.

Lucy sighed, were all guys on that world so brooding and mysterious?

"What about Ace?" Charle asked, looking at Firefist, who, in turn, looked directly at Wendy.

"She saved my life," he stated, matter-of-factly, but making her blush shyly either way, "this power of hers is probably the only thing that could have kept me from dying given the injury I received, and she barely knew me when she chose to help. I don't know what I'll do now that Old Man's gone, but before I figure it out, I owe it to her to help find the rest of her friends, and I also need to find Luffy, so until then, I'm with you, kiddo." Saying that, he put one hand on Wendy's hair and messed with it in a kind manner, which didn't fit his tough looking stance or expression, but was still sweet.

"So Ace's on the Strawhat crew, that settles it," Charle spoke, ending their conversation. They all nodded in agreement and Law immediately turned and walked away.

Lucy and Wendy parted ways, both of them feeling torn between the blond's strategy - that indeed was the best option they could come up with - and the idea of separating just as they found each other. But Lucy knew that Wendy would be safe, and Wendy knew that, out of everyone in her group, Lucy was probably the smartest one, so she'd definitely be able to find them all again.

Both of them worried a lot more about the ruckus the other three members of Team Natsu were probably making in a strange world.

Lucy hurried after Law with Happy in her arms, and she glanced back at Wendy one last time before she got out of each others vision field. Wendy waved goodbye with her usual gentle smile.

"Well," Zoro's voice attracted the bluenette's attention, "should we get a new ship then?"

••

••

Lucy still remembered how she felt when she first came to Fairy Tail: she felt like she was intruding a Family, like an outsider, but she also felt excited about being in the guild of her dreams. Also, everyone included her in everything quickly – Natsu, Gray, Levy, Mira… they were all kind and welcoming, so the intruding feeling quickly went away.

This time, joining Law's crew, she felt like an intruder again – and a piece of meat, too, if the men's glares at her were of any indication – but unlike Fairy Tail, they weren't the most welcoming bunch. They didn't oppose to her joining – she made sure to ask again - but didn't seem interested in getting friendly with her either.

Bepo, the talking bear, was the only nice one, and he and Happy seemed to find a lot of things to talk about.

They boarded the submarine and she found herself a quiet corner, feeling too uncomfortable with the men's stares at her to join them. After sometime alone, watching the water, though, she started to feel bored, and couldn't summon her spirits because she needed to save her magic. She should have asked Wendy whether the girl had been feeling tired faster in that world, too, but now that ship had sailed – literally.

After too much boredom, she left her lonely place and joined Law, deciding that if she were to feel a little less like an outsider, she had to get to know him.

If only everyone was as friendly as Natsu…

Shaking that thought away – it wouldn't help her now, as much as she'd like to meet the fire dragon slayer again – she approached Law.

"Thank you for letting us tag along," he didn't look at her as she spoke, "why, though? You're not an ally of Zoro and Nami, right?"

"We're pirates," he spoke, as if that should be enough an answer, "we're all competing to reach One Piece first, so we can't afford to make friends. There's no point in an alliance now, maybe in the new world…"

"Who attacked you?" That came from Happy, who approached them along with Bepo.

"A weird ship," Bepo answered when Law wouldn't, "we've never seen a ship like that, or heard of those pirates, and they were strong. They should be famous, which is odd…"

"They're looking for non-devil fruit users," Law added, looking back at the rest of his crew, drinking and laughing, "people that have made it high into the Marine wanted list without any devil powers."

"Devil powers?" Lucy repeated, "we've heard that Devil Fruit term already, what is that?"

"It gives the person that eats it the power it has," Bepo explained, "it's weird that you guys don't know, though. Aren't you a devil fruit user?" He turned to Happy.

"I'm an Exceed!"

"That's not even a word!"

"Room"

The word interrupted the discussion and a weird dome formed around them.

"Shambles"

Suddenly, Lucy and Happy were on the opposite side of where they'd been, and a chair lied in their previous place. Lucy blinked, a little lost, and looked interested at Law.

"That's a devil fruit power," he informed them, before leaving to join the rest of his crew.

Lucy sighed, walking back to her previous place and making sure to put the chair back. This was going to be a very long journey.

Just as she sat down, one of the men shouted that they were approaching an island. Soon after that, the submarine stopped.

Lucy got out of it as soon as she could, excited to meet a new place and hoping she'd find Grey, Erza or Natsu. She also wanted to get some new experiences to use as a writing material – she had to make the best of that weird situation, right?

"It's a pink island!" Happy's voice verbalized her thoughts, as they both stared blankly at the overly pink island. It looked like something Sherry would have decorated.

Just as they began to walk forward – Law's crew were looking for a few supplies they couldn't find in the previous island, and Lucy wanted to explore – they heard shouting, and the sound of many people running.

Soon after that, the weirdest people Lucy's ever seen appeared in her field of vision, chasing after a seemingly regular, albeit really fast, blond man.

••

••

Author's note: Oh my, you guys are so sweet! Thank you so much for all the sweet comments, really! That's so gratifying!

So, everyone seemed really interested and concerned about the Ace/Lucy ship: I won't be doing that! Sorry to those who hoped for it, but I'd rather be honest – I'm a NaLu shipper to the end, and it feels like it wouldn't make much sense to ship her with someone from a different world – it's not like they'll stay there forever.

I do plan to play with them a bit later on – he's One Piece's version of Natsu, in a way, so I do see them having some chemistry in the long run, but not now, and it won't be a thing (more like how Loki and Lucy are, y'know?).

I do plan on shipping Ace with someone, though *smiles*

(To be honest, Lucy's the kind of character that can potentially be shipped with pretty much anyone in my opinion – I can see her with Zoro, Law, Ace, Gray, Loki, even Laxus, and mainly Natsu, which is the one I go for!)

I think that was the main concern in these past comments, so anything else I'll address in the next chapter to avoid a longer Author's Note, but again, thank you all SO much!