Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece! And I don't like repeating myself! *glares pointedly at Disclaimer.
"We will definitely live life without regrets!" The young child pronounced those words with confidence as he watched the cool ocean waves lap against the shore.
And with that, Ace blinked back to life, sitting up abruptly in confusion. He glanced down, seeing rumpled blankets and a clean white bed, his surroundings having changed completely. Instead of calming ocean waves, a smooth beach, and nice warm sun rays, he was instead met with drab gray walls filled with bare necessities, and a simply crafted door that lead to a shabby bathroom. Running a calloused hand through his tousled hair, he saw that somehow he had wound back in his small, plain motel room. The freckled man couldn't remember walking to here, much less walking out the beach-
Oh. It must've been his narcolepsy that hit again. Thinking back, he remembered a brief flash of sudden fatigue, then he passed out before even hitting the sandy ground. At least some of his co-workers had the decency to drag him back here, though it was probably more out of duty than generosity. He yawned, knowing he probably didn't need to sleep properly tonight again.
Now, what was that dream again? It wasn't the first time he had dreamed of that scene, nor would he think be the last. Those words echoed in his head and refused to dissipate; some part of Ace knew it held a substantial amount of significance to himself as he was the one who said it, but he could never remember it clearly enough to recall who he was saying it to, nor the place where he was at. But there was a certain calming feel to it that told him wherever it was, that place was the closest he could call as home. The more he tried to think about his memories, the more his head hurt, and soon he had a literal headache that formed. It was as if there was a mental block on his brain that purposely stopped him from accessing his past; this was no doubt one of the effects of the mind wipe he was subjected to.
Ace suddenly jumped out of his bed hurriedly as he realized what he was about to do before he blacked out. "Shit!" he cursed out loud, one hand adjusting his shirt collar, the other twisting the polished doorknob that led out to the room. He sprinted down the halls and through the door, muttering quick apologies to any bystanders he had accidentally shoved roughly aside. But just as he got outside into the town, he skidded to an abrupt halt when a problem sprung up. He had absolutely no clue on how long he had been asleep for, so chances of the Straw Hat Pirates still around the docks were next to zero. Hopefully they hadn't set sail yet and would decide to spend a night, instead of leaving right after they got what they needed.
As he was about to take another step to begin wandering around the city and hope to bump into someone, the baby den den mushi sliming in his pocket began to ring. He sighed; it was as if fate was purposely trying to stall him from discovering his past. Maybe Akainu was secretly a god and could monitor him everywhere even beyond a dozen security cameras, having soldiers spy on him every day, and that stupid chip his body to track his every movement. Fucking paranoid bastard. He could just see his official with the same stern expression on his face as he stated grimly, "Gol D. Ace is a wild card. We simply cannot let him out of our sights, not even for a brief moment."
Cursing bitterly under his breath, he drew out the den den mushi, reminding himself to wash his hands later as this snail seemed unusually slimy. "Ace reporting, sir," he said into the phone.
The snail wore a funnily strict expression as it said in his current commander's gruff voice, "I'm calling in a meeting of all soldiers now in the southern inn."
"Why is that, sir?" Ace asked curiously, then reprimanded himself mentally. One does not simply question his officer because this one may very well tattle to Akainu.
Lucky for him, this guy didn't particularly seem to mind as he replied, "The Straw Hat Pirates has entered the island. Their crew is too powerful for one or two soldiers to handle, so we will formulate a plan to take them down and capture them. They are to be executed."
Executed? They were pirates, and from what he heard they weren't exactly greedy or bloodthirsty like the typical type that went around pillaging and looting. He didn't see the need to have them executed, as even worse pirates gotten permanent sentences to Impel Down, not death. Maybe the Government had a personal grudge against them. The morbidly optimistic side of him knew that this would give him ample time to question them after they had gotten captured. "Yes, sir!" It was probably a good idea if he didn't voice his questions to his superior before the man got irritated.
Almost as if he had heard Ace's thoughts, the marine added, "These are Fleet Admiral Sakazuki's personal orders, so I suggest we all carry this out flawlessly." There was a click, and Ace stuffed the snail unceremoniously back in his pocket, wiping the slime onto his pant leg.
There was definitely a hidden motive behind this operation then, he was sure.
He grimly pondered all the possibilities for this meeting while he took off with borderline inhuman speed towards his destination, as his commander explicitly said he did not want anyone to interact with each other while they were here. Surely the Straw Hat Pirates weren't that powerful were they? He was pretty sure they could also just do it the dirty way, sneak up in their room during the night and slit their throats (which was a horribly primitive method that Ace didn't prefer to use).
Within moments he had arrived in front of what he knew as the captain's door and skidded to a halt. Knocking sharply, he stood there waiting as his heart returned to a normal rate.
The door swung open and he stepped in, seeing that he was the last one to arrive. All of the other soldiers had all assembled in the middle of the cramped room, each dressed up as normal civilians. They all regarded the leader with respect, casting a brief disdained look to him as if saying, "You're late!"
"Ace reporting, sir!" he said with a salute when the door slammed shut behind him. He retreated into a wall corner and slid down, content with his position behind everyone else. It had become somewhat of a habit for him to be unseen and blend in with everything else, in order to perform a lot of the missions he usually got, and from experience he knew the less attention someone gave to you, the smaller the chance of getting picked out and be remembered.
"Like I was saying," his superior resumed talking, a hand running through his rumpled black hair, "the Straw Hat Pirates have docked on this island, and it is our duty to capture them and send to prison as with all good-for-nothing pirate scum."
Ace didn't really like how this man often spoke. He exaggerated and showed heavy bias those who deemed below him, using derogatory terms such as scum to refer to the lowly criminals; this was effective in riling his soldiers, but rude. He always took personal offense when another person spouted incorrect facts about pirates.
"However, their captain, as well as the rest of the crew, has monstrously powerful abilities, which lead to several incredible yet horrific feats. As you have all heard, two years ago they attacked Enies Lobby, utterly destroyed the place, and declared war on the government just to retrieve a captured member. Excluding Nico Robin, their crew only numbered seven. The captain himself had broken in and out of Impel Down and was part of the-" He suddenly coughed and broke off, glancing at Ace apprehensively.
The freckled man was confused at why he would stop talking, and why he had given him the strange look. Ace, for one, was curious about what other things the Straw Hat captain had done; if what their leader said was true, then he was a man to be reckoned with, having done so many of the unimaginable.
Their leader cleared his throat and proceeded once more. "Due to the huge danger involving the Straw Hats, I have devised a plan. First of all, I'll address the problem of if we start an all-out battle against them, it may cause a huge amount of casualties, which we want to avoid as much as possible. I have also stated before that the people of this island do not take the Marines kindly, so if we do fight, they will side with the Straw Hats."
"Um, captain Shigeru?" one of the newer marines raised his hand hesitantly, a look of uncertainty on his face.
"Yes?" The man flicked back a strand of hair as he answered.
"I don't think the civilians will be a problem," the rookie said in a small voice. "I mean, they don't know how to fight, right? Like, none of them have trained in Rokushiki or anything."
Shigeru grinned wryly and wagged a finger. "The sad thing is, my dear soldier, men of this island are rather powerful for commoners, because they live in the turbulent atmosphere of the New World, where anything could happen."
The young marine nodded and shrunk back into his seat.
"As I was saying," the commander continued, "this would take out the method of capturing them in the street. They are very capable of resisting and putting up a tough fight, so we have to isolate them to the north of this island where it's virtually uninhabited except for animals. From our research of people the pirates have encountered before, it has shown that they are righteous beings-" here he snorted, probably thinking righteous would be the last word he'd use to describe such scum, "so we will simply offer them a challenge for a fight in the north. Our research has also showed that the captain loves fighting challenges. We will not use any assassination tactics, as we Marines will not become so lowly to perform something so dirty, it is only something we expect pirates to do."
Like hell we won't, Ace interjected darkly in his mind. If what he did all the time wasn't low, then he didn't know what it meant to resort to foul tactics anymore. As far as he was concerned, the Marines were heavily corrupted and many of them were as far from "righteous" as possible. At least the pirates openly admitted they were "bad guys".
"Another important thing is that we must keep our identities a secret. If we openly engage the Straw Hats, our faces will be remembered, and that's the last thing I want to happen. We are expected to possibly return to this island, so we absolutely cannot take chances."
What was he insinuating…?
"I expect all of us to be disguised in some way, shape, or form. You are not allowed to perform any techniques that will distinguish yourself from the others, nor are you allowed to use Devil Fruits because the user could be automatically identified."
There were grumblings, but they were silenced quickly with a steely gaze.
"So the plan is fairly simple. I will send you all out to scout for the Straw Hats, deliver challenge letters, and await them. A quick battle, capture, send back, and our business here will be done, with hopefully some of us promoted to a higher rank. I would also like to add that it is vital that we don't screw this up. Fleet Admiral Sakazuki himself has ordered us that we must capture the Straw Hats at any length, as they are to be executed instead of brought to prison." He clearly added the last sentence to firmly drill in the soldiers' heads that they had to complete the mission no matter what, and do it well. This would be a good incentive for all of them. "Dismissed!"
Ace was out the door in a flash before anyone else responded, adjusting the cap he had worn since first arriving on this island. His free hand loosened the collar uncomfortably as his mind was jumbled, trying to understand why this entire thing was so important. There was just something about the Straw Hats that Sakazuki wanted to prevent badly, to the point where they were almost never mentioned. His knowledge of them was the bare minimum. Heck, he wasn't even sure of what they looked like! There were so many strange things that circled around this one pirate group that he didn't quite understand, but suddenly a chance was offered to him.
He grinned to himself morbidly. If it was up to Ace, he would rather seek the captain out, than capture and question.
To clear his mind and shove reality away, he ended up sitting on the beach again, cap angled so it casted a heavy shadow over his face. Bystanders wouldn't be able to see his features clearly, but again barely anyone would ever be in this area.
The breeze calmed him, and he took a deep breath of the refreshing scent of the ocean. His fingers dug into the loose sand, filtering it absentmindedly as he searched around for smooth pebbles. Burrowing his fingers deep in the sand, he pulled out a particularly large stone and hurtled it out into the sea, perhaps using a little more strength than he really needed. Far in the distance the rock flew until it smashed into the rough surface of the water, creating a large splash. The resulting ripples, however, were quickly broken up by the tide that was steadily becoming higher. The sun would set soon.
"It's a nice view, isn't it?" a rich, feminine voice said.
The sound startled him, and Ace jolted in surprise. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a tall woman with dark, long and wavy hair that cascaded down to her waist. Shades pushed her bangs out of her blue eyes as she watched the waves with a mysterious smile on her face.
"Yeah, I guess," he replied, digging around for another pebble to toss.
"It really calms one down, especially how the waves would rhythmically rock a ship like a gentle, swinging hammock." He heard a slight shuffling noise and knew that she had just sat down on the sand.
"You a writer or something?" He sent another stone flying, though the resulting splash was not as impressive as the previous.
From his peripheral vision he saw the corner of her mouth lift up even higher. "No," she responded softly, "simply a seafarer."
"Must be nice to be able to go about the ocean so freely," he said wistfully, his hands leaving the sand.
"Now why would you connect the ocean to freedom?" There was curiosity in her voice now.
He gestured to the waters. "Look at it. It's so vast and open, with few boundaries to trap you in. You could go freely, anywhere and everywhere, following the wind's current if you wanted with no restrictions whatsoever."
She chuckled lightly. "What an interesting way you put it. I wholeheartedly agree."
He imagined himself sailing Grand Line as a pirate, completely free and no longer under anyone's rule. He didn't even have to follow the law and could live freely, even form his own band of comrades that would follow him through thick and thin, maybe calling themselves the Spade Pirates. The name brought back a sense of nostalgia. So lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice when the woman had discreetly left him until the sun had fully set and night had fallen.
Ace's head snapped up when he remembered the words of the mysterious woman.
She had called herself a "seafarer".
She was one of the Straw Hat Pirates.
He cursed under his breath, wishing he had taken a closer look at her face. But by now it was too late, he had no idea where she would be, and he had to return to the inn now that it was getting late. But there was still tomorrow, which held the prospect of meeting the Straw Hats again.
Sighing, he brushed off grains of sand and headed back towards his temporary home.
I zoned out an amazing amount of times while writing this chapter. Didn't like it very much, but it's important and necessary. So Ace has met Robin unknowingly~! You'll notice that the entire time his face was hidden, so Robin didn't get to see his face… or did she? Also, Ace would not recognize her as he never met her before (at least, from what we were able to see)! *laughs evilly* Don't you all worry though, Ace will meet Luffy soon enough, something like the next chapter~
I hope you guys liked this chapter! And please review! Or else I can't update this nearly as often, because I update according to how much popularity each story receives~ I can't leave one alone for too long, and I do have to write other things! Till next time! I'll try not taking so long since I totally forgot I didn't update this for quite a while.
~Shen