Ace's Second Chance 10
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Beware the 11 Straw Hats
Zoro saved Akainu from drowning at Tashigi's request, now the Fleet Admiral was unconscious inside an ice prison. The pirates were catching their breath after a fierce battle and hoping that the New World had more adventures in store for them.
"And he keeps asking weird creatures to be a Straw Hat…" Nami rolled her eyes as Vivi laughed. The navigator was commenting on the unexpected behavior and odd tastes of the captain while they were waiting for Kohza.
"Vivi, this time you must join my crew." Luffy smiled and Nami hit him on the head, because he made Vivi. "Do I count like a weird creature?" she sobbed.
"Your Majesty, your interactions with the pirates would put you in danger but I will overlook them since we are on the same situation. Both of us are grateful to them, which reminds me…" She turned to Zoro. "Roronoa, take good care of my sword, it's the payment for saving my life. I still have a debt with you, though. Two years ago you also saved Vice-Admiral Smoker so I will give you the proper log-pose for the New World." She said and gave him the three bubbled object.
"Thank you and take care." Zoro said avoiding the girl.
"You too, follow the most stable needle." She blushed. "It's the safest route."
"I'll keep it in mind… don't overdue yourself." He scratched his head and saw Nami with the corner of his eye. The redhead was playing with a white heart-shaped cloud and when she noticed him staring at her she crushed it and laughed.
"Witch." Zoro muttered. "Excuse me?" Tashigi yelled outraged. "Not you…" He replied nervously. Tashigi giggled and waved good bye as she saw Doberman coming with a boat to take the survivors to the closest marine base. Thanks to his Haki the swordsman survived the lava attacks and made it to the shore to call for back up. The pirates hid and Tashigi kept their secret.
An hour later Kohza and Pell arrived in a small ship. The former rebel rushed to the Princess. "This is your last chance… call your father and tell him to stop." The blond panted for air, clearly he was stressed out and put a snail phone in front of her.
"What is going on?" Ace noticed Vivi was nervous. She didn't know what to do and it seemed like she didn't want to approach the snail phone.
"My father doesn't think I'm suited to be Queen." She started to explain but Kohza interrupted her. "Hurry, the signal will be lost." He dialed the King's number.
"King Cobra wants to take the throne from Vivi but I know she wants to be Queen, she was born for that and she has put all her life in this kingdom." Kohza explained and Vivi waited for her father to respond. "You've been with her for two years, you can't deny what I'm saying." The blonde told Ace and the pirate nodded. As much as he wanted Vivi to travel with him, he had to admit that the girl was born a princess and her people would always be first in her heart and mind.
"Father, listen to me." Vivi pleaded and the pirates tried to stare at something that wasn't the blue haired girl. "Don't go to Mariejois… I know I'm not ready to rule Alabasta but I can do it, give me time and I will prove I'm a capable leader. Don't take the throne from me." The princess' words echoed in Ace's head, it was final, she would not go with him. "I'll show you I'm not a failure."
"I never believed such a thing, I knew you were not happy in the kingdom so I decided to take the burden of being Queen from you… you would never chose between Alabasta and your friends so I chose for you, I want you to be happy." The snail spoke with Cobra's voice.
"I want to be Queen, just give me a grace period to travel with my friends…" Now the pirates' undivided attention was on the conversation. "It will be the same as when I infiltrated the Baroque Works." She pleaded.
"Even if it breaks my heart that you leave again, I'll allow it." He sighed, admitting his defeat. "However, if you are discovered I'll have to take extreme measures."
"I'll return after Luffy becomes the Pirate King. I will learn everything from the kingdoms around the world, and comeback ready to take the throne." She said with determination.
"I love you, my little princess, take care." The snail cried, the girl replied with tears and the communication ended. The pirates rushed to hug Vivi, it was a really special occasion, the Straw Hats were together once again.
"Wait, where did Carue go? I left him at the beach when I came here." Vivi wouldn't leave without her loyal friend.
"Carue is been on this ship ever since you two split. He somehow managed to get here to wait for you." Pell explained patiently while Vivi hugged the duck.
"He did the same at Whiskey Peak." Vivi laughed.
Everyone boarded the ship that would take them to the Thousand Sunny. Zoro and Ace had a score to settle with Kohza, so a three sided fight took place on deck. Robin, Nami and Vivi had tea and pastries, courtesy of Sanji, and listened to Brook's music. Luffy, Usopp, Copper and Franky acted the battle with Akainu for Pell. Overall, the short journey to the Sunny was Vivi's farewell to her beloved kingdom. She hugged her loyal guardian, childhood friend and bodyguard, and thanked them for everything they did for her but that she would return in no time. Pell advised her to always remember that she was a Princess and act as such. Kohza told her to have fun and think about home every time she could. Kuzan told her that he would be watching her every move and he covered her face with the hood of the blue desert gown. "Don't let anyone see you, wear hoods all the time and avoid the spotlight as much as you can." He patted her head.
"Ok, so you had an accident and broke both legs." Kohza made up an excuse to cover for Vivi's absence. She smiled nervously and hugged him. "Thanks for everything." She winked and boarded the Sunny.
"There goes a pirate ship full of royalty." Pell commented. "The Princess of Alabasta, the future King of the Pirates, Soul King, the King of Snipers… and I guess Ace being the son of the Pirate King makes him the Prince of the Pirates."
"We were right, Vivi did choose a prince." Kohza laughed.
The former admiral laughed and turned his back to his friends while they shared gossips they heard about Golden Mask and the Princess. Some were really crazy and others were pretty close to the reality.
Some days later, Hina entered Impel Down to pay a visit to her former superior. The pink haired woman sat in front of Sakazuki, ignoring the obscene comments of the other inmates. "How are you doing today, sir? I dismissed Princess Vivi's envoy so I can read the newspaper for you." She talked to him in a professional tone.
"The Straw Hats were seen at Sabaody. The pirates had fun at different parts of the archipelago. The Captain, Straw Hat Luffy crashed a restaurant with his brother, the infamous Fire Fist Ace. The rest of the crew kept a low profile but the reporters couldn't help to notice a mysterious crewmember. They assumed it was a woman since she was with the Burglar Cat and the Demon Child, she was also carrying Chopper on her arms. Any ideas, sir?" Hina asked casually. "Look at that, Attach also updated their wanted poster pictures… that man is an enigma, you never know when he will appear, he just shows up with pictures, takes his payment and leaves. He never ever speaks, If only we knew what he knows" The Vice-Admiral extended the paper to the man glaring dangerously at her, he was wearing a muzzle which made him look more sinister.
The pictures were from their encounter at Alabasta. Luffy had a bright smile and wide eyes, it was taken during the "Thunder Show". Zoro had a deadly glare and he was trying to cover someone with dark hair, it was taken the first time Akainu tried to kill Tashigi. Sanji's face was not seen, his hair was wet and covered his eyes and nose. Nami was bending to the camera with a flirty look, obviously she fell for the magazine trick again. Robin was pointing a gun at Akainu but the poster didn't show him. Usopp had a triumphant grin and a hat covering his eyes, the picture was taken after he shot Akainu. Brook's picture was Soul King's poster. Franky was making his 'super' pose and his hair was spiky. Ace had a smug grin and fire all over his arms. Chopper was sleeping on Robin's lap, and the last one was a hooded figure with two chain-like objects, the peacock slashers.
"They called the new one the 'Peacock'. Cute, right? After all, the color of the gown is similar to a peacock's body and the things she carries look like the tail." Hina smirked. "By the way, I wonder if Fire Fist will remain with the Straw Hats for a while or he'll go back to the Whitebeard Pirates as soon as he enters the New World. Anyway, there's also an article about Bonney, looks like she's causing some trouble again, it's all my fault." She pouted. "But I already paid for my mistake, you helped me redeem myself." The woman read some more on the newspaper and then squeaked. "It's a reminder of the mysterious disappearance of Bentham... All those trouble makers, too bad Law is on our side, his stories were amazing." The woman sighed but Domino prompted her to leave since the prisoner was moving his chains in an attempt to kill the Vice-Admiral. "I came to say bye. I'll see you on my next vacations, I'm entering the New World today with Fleet Admiral Kizaru and my pair of idiots… forgive me, those words are taboo. I'm sorry this happened to you, you were just trying to do your job." She shook her head and left with the guard.
"He was awfully quiet. Is something wrong?" The pink haired woman inquired in Sakazuki's odd behavior. "Normally he would call me horrible names."
"Ma'am, the former fleet admiral failed a suicide attempt." Domino informed. "Since he was well restrained, he tried to bite his tongue. Our doctors acted immediately and we were able to save his life."
"That explains the muzzle." Hina sighed. "Don't let him die, the Gorosei want him to pay for stepping on their authority."
Sakazuki glared and struggled to pursue the pink haired woman he hated so much, but he hated Vivi even more, the Princess didn't have enough after his defeat, she made sure that someone would remind him of his failure and keep him updated on the success of his enemies. In few minutes he was forced to calm down because of the punishment inflicted by the new demon guard, Mino-Chihuahua.
"The Princess of Alabasta forgave him for his actions and even hired someone to visit him every week to read him the newspaper." Hina told Kizaru as the elevator took them away from level 6, as the new Fleet Admiral, Borsalino had to make a tour on the prison. "That wouldn't be allowed if she didn't have the favor of the Celestial Dragons."
"Women are scary." Kizaru elongated the last syllable and went to his ship. "All of them say they forgive you but they will make you suffer as much as they can." He said and Hina nodded. "Remind me of lecturing Sentomaru about not angering women."
At Sabaody, Silvers Rayleigh was finishing the coating for the Sunny when the pirates came back from the Amusement Park. Shakki greeted them with drinks and food. "This place is so lively with all of you here." The woman smiled. Nami went to sulk in a corner due to a condition called 'Treasure Withdrawal'. According to Usopp, the navigator gave up on the gold and jewels of Alabasta because she couldn't take money from her dear friend.
"I love it, everything is so bright and crowded." Vivi felt like swooning. "I can't believe I missed this kind of places." She sighed.
"Now you are here and I'll show you the New World as I promised." Ace got close to Vivi, and she gave him puppy eyes.
Nami and Robin giggled and Ace looked at them seriously annoyed, he was ready for answers. The pirates went outside to see the Sunny and Vivi followed them, only Franky stayed behind. "Tell me what's with all that giggling." The Whitebeard pirate threw his arms in frustration.
"It's a girl thing." Nami winked. "Girls giggle at emotional displays, specially the cheesy ones." The navigator squeaked and Ace's eyebrow twitched. Women.
"There is another girl thing you must be aware of, Mr. Ace." Robin's smile became murderous. "If you hurt Miss Wednesday we'll make sure you want to turn yourself to the Marines." The archeologist was serious. Franky noticed the dangerous atmosphere and discretely moved towards the door. Ace gulped, those two were crazy.
"And if we see Vivi crying… Ask Franky what happens." The redhead narrowed her eyes and pointed at Robin who formed an X with her arms and clenched her fists. The poor cyborg burst in tears at the reminder of his pain.
It was official, the powerful Fire Fist Ace was scared of a pair of women. "Do we understand each other, Mr. Ace?" Robin smiled sweetly again and passed by the D carrier, Nami did the same and waited for a nod, then she followed her friend. Ace sighed and composed himself before joining the crew.
"Ace, what took you so long? We are about to cheer for our new adventure." The princess smiled brightly and he returned the gesture.
"All right brats… get strength from your dreams." Rayleigh encouraged them.
"I will be King of the Pirates." Luffy yelled and as the others shared their dreams, Ace realized that his dream was help his little brother to find the One Piece, and kill Blackbeard while he was at it. Vivi wanted to learn from the Kingdoms all over the New World to become a capable Queen. Their dreams would take them to different paths in the future but they would enjoy every single moment they had together and they would certainly find a way to never leave each other's side.
"Forget you are a Princess, live the moment and have no regrets." Ace whispered and lifted his jar of booze. Vivi smiled and stared at the sky, imagining all the amazing adventures she was about to live with the Straw Hats and his beloved Ace.
"I forgot to tell you, Mr. Marco the Phoenix was waiting for you in the New World, you were supposed to meet him in six days after picking up Ace." Vivi gasped.
"Say those things sooner." All the pirates yelled.
The End
Excuses so you won't kill me:
The development of a romance is not my forte… in my mind they fell in love at first sight so I was not able to make it flow in the story. At the end the story was a bout Vivi joining or not the Straw Hats… I hope you like it anyway. :D
My favorite couple (since Ace-Vivi can't happen T_T) is Zoro-Tashigi. There are a lot of rumors and speculations surrounding Tashigi and I'm eager to know the truth. And I can't wait for her to have more interactions with Zoro. XD
I'm sorry for all the times I screwed up, I tried to fix them.
The Peacock is not very original, I really like it though.
Attach the photographer is so funny, but I made him more mysterious. Hope it was a nice change.
I love Kohza because he supports Vivi all the time and knows what she wants before she realizes it. He's like the perfect friend and he is also cute.
I hate Akainu XD I hope he pays 100 times in the Anime for killing Ace. (I wish he was alive, a fan can dream right?)
You know how they say, 'you can't have everything in life'? That kinda sucks so at least Vivi can have everything in this story XD
'Till next story :D