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Relevant Tarot Cards :

-Minor Arcana-

The Queen of Swords: Woman with a cool demeanor that enhances her allure, possessing a talent with words that can be used to either lead one gently and persuasively over to her side, or tear an argument to pieces.

-Major Arcana-

The High Priestess: She offers illumination, reveals secret paths and hidden dangers, and also a still, quiet place between the pillars of dark and light, existence and negation, wax and wane where one can pause, see, feel and reflect on what one really wants to do once they've gained an idea.

2. The Queen of Swords - The High Priestess

By the next day, Luffy had nurtured a desire to see Ace again and he'd been hoping to see him at the eatery on 10th Central again during lunch.

A desire that came to be at midday of that same day.

Luffy'd been tasked with getting sandwiches for the upcoming meeting concerning the V-project. The entire Communications Department was to partake and it was expected to take up most of the afternoon.

He found Ace sitting at the counter, sipping his coffee and reading a paper.

"Hi," Luffy greeted him while waving at Caimie to come over. He then looked up at him when he felt Ace's gaze on him, meeting his appreciative smile. Luffy noted that he looked tired.

"Hey," Ace greeted in turn, turning his body Luffy's way on the stool. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're stalking me."

Luffy grinned as he watched Caimie come over from the other end of the counter. "You're right. We have to stop meeting like this."

Ace cocked his head to the side. "Oh, I didn't say we should stop," he said, letting his eyes go over Luffy's frame.

Luffy bit his lower lip, sensing his lecherous gaze on him and secretely loving it. He turned his head his way. "I'm just here to pick up some sandwiches for my team," he informed him.

"Ah..." Ace grunted in dismay, expression growing colder as he turned away from Luffy again. "For the meeting, I presume."

Luffy pressed his lips in a firm line, knowing exactly what was going through Ace's mind. "It's not going well, is it?"

The young Director of Marketing took a sip of his coffee and shook his head. "Understatement."

Luffy made a sympathizing face. "Marco was in a foul mood this morning too, and the entire atmosphere at work is just morose."

Ace sighed and closed his eyes. " We had a blamestorming session early this morning with Rayleigh, Nami, Marco and old man Jinbei. Not really something I needed on this particular morning. Or any other one..."

Luffy watched him take another sip of his ristretto and winced. Rayleigh was the Director of Sales and Jinbei was the Director of Finance and Nami was his right hand. If all the head executives of the Sales, Finance and Marketing departments had a meeting this morning, it's certain to have been an intense affair. And it looked like Marketing came out as the underdog.

"What do they need for us to do?" Luffy questioned.

"Come up with something grand and spectacular, but within a very limited budget and if possible keep it local to Sabaody, too," Ace replied with a sarcastic tone. "It's not that we can't do it, it's just that we can't seem to reach a common ground with Vivi's team."

Luffy greeted Caimie cheerfully with a kiss on her cheek and told her about his order. As she walked away again, he turned to Ace once more. "And what do they want for us to do? To come up with something grand and spectacular?"

"To come up with something grand and spectacular," Ace said at the same time, chuckling as Luffy grinned.

Luffy thought about it for a second. "Where were we planning on having the event?"

Ace gave him an assessing look. "Marco told me you have a Masters in Event Planning. I will be the first one to admit that we're in sore lack of someone with those qualifications. What do you know about Media Event Planning?"

"Well, that you need an estimate of the number of attendants you want and a venue before you can start hammering out the details," Luffy replied, fully aware that they didn't have that figured out yet. He knew that Mugiwara used to hire an external Event Planning Company to give their events shape, but apparently this time around, they wanted to do it themselves.

Ace shook his head and grunted. "We've been so busy looking at the financial aspect of this thing that we haven't even taken the time to look into possible venues. Since it's our first venture into the mobile phone market, we want to do add celebrity branding to the product and keep the event local to Sabaody. All in all, we expect to have somewhere between three to five hundred attendees. Mostly investors and the press."

"'The Bloom Room'."

Ace stilled. "On Paramecia?" he then asked, a new smile growing on his lips. "That's a lounge, isn't it?"

"That's the one," Luffy said, nodding. "It has a large stage fully equiped for presentations or performances and the main room's capacity is well over the 500, so if there are extra guests it won't get cramped. It has a large, underground valey parking and a private parking lot behind the building to onload equipment and whatnot."

"What about concessions?"

Luffy grinned at him, "Not to worry, depending on the number of attendants, the price for drinks will be reduced or, you can take advantage of the fact that 'The Bloom Room' has a partnership with 'Sanji's Kitchen' and take the full service package with food and drinks."

Ace tilted his head to the side in wonder. "I take it you know the owner of 'The Bloom Room'?"

"She's my sister," Luffy admitted with a smirk.

Ace grinned, visibly impressed. He took a look at his watch and downed the last of his coffee in one go. "Ok, you've peaked my interest," he said, picking up his coat from the empty stool next to him. "How much time do you think you'll need to come up with-"

"A day," Luffy said excitedly, smiling broadly. "I have virtually all the information at hand."

Ace put on his coat and chuckled. "Then I'll put you on a special assignment today. I'll tell Marco to push the meeting to tomorrow; neither of us are in the right state of mind for this upcoming meeting anyway."

"Okay," Luffy agreed.

Ace had taken a few steps in the direction of the door when he changed his mind and turned around again. "I usually like dinner around 7-7.30, how about you?"

Luffy blinked. "Eh?"

"I'll ask Marco for your address so I can come and pick you up," he stated, putting on a black fedora that complemented his features handsomely. "You can give me a full report for your event planning strategy then."

Before Luffy could decide between being stunned or overwhelmed by the fact that his superior had practically just asked him out for dinner, Ace gave him another smile that made his insides tingle with unexpected anticipation. He didn't trust his voice, so he just nodded, silently hating the fact that he must've looked like an overexcited schoolboy at that precise moment.

"Alright. Later, Luffy," Ace said, popping the collar of his coat and turning again. "I'm looking forward to it," he added over his shoulder, still smiling.

By the time the back of Ace's coat had dissappeared in the crowd outside, Luffy still couldn't grasp what had just happened.

"Who is that guy?" he heard Caimie ask behind him. "You were talking to him yesterday too."

Luffy slowly sank down on a stool and turned around to face her, pulling the plate of ordered sandwiches she had brought towards him. "He... He's the head of our Marketing Department."

Caimie's eyes grew wide. "He's your boss? Damn... the man is fine!"

"Yeah... and he just..." Luffy took a breath, "He just asked me out..."

Caimie bit her lower lip hesitantly. "Oh Luffy... are you sure you want to...?"

He smiled at her, loving her for her concern. "I know what you're thinking..."he whispered, looking away again. He then fell silent and closed his eyes.

"Do you still hear from him?" she asked after a moment, her expression gone sorrowful.

"No, not really," Luffy said, a jittery smile forming on his face. "And it's best this way. I don't want to go back to that place." He took the plate of sandwiches in his hands and prepared to leave. "I gotta go. Thanks, Caimie."

Caimie nodded in acknowledgement and watched him go in a rather hasty manner, her look of worry never fully dissipating itself.

The house felt abandonned when he got home later that evening.

The sound of the grandfather clock in the living room ticking away the minutes echoed through their large welcoming hall, the melodious sonance of small birds chirping in the inner courtyard entering through the opened glass panel doors. He followed that sound, going through the archway on his right and into the spacious living room before taking a right and entering their romantic courtyard with their tree and pond. An ornate, black cast iron round table with matching chairs stood right by the pound, visibly dressed for dinner. He let his fingers go over the strongly texturized trunk of the tree as he continued on, momentarily enjoying the last rays of sun playing against his hand before advancing up the few steps ahead and into the beautiful and bright white and beige kitchen through its glass panel doors.

"Something smells good," he whispered, walking around the large kitchen island and up to the black haired woman standing behind the stove. He met his lips with her right cheek as she turned to greet him.

"I didn't hear you come in," she said, letting go of the knife she was holding to cut up some bell peppers. She gathered them up in her hands and dropped them in the wok, where other vegetables were already frying.

"Hey, Zoro," Luffy greeted the green haired man sitting in the plush breakfast corner to his right, browsing on his tablet.

Zoro looked up and waved a hand at him. "Oy. How was work?"

"Interesting," Luffy replied, dropping his carrier bag on the table in front of him. "If I get this new upcoming project right, I may be able to help save the company a whole lot of money and help my sister's venue gain some national attention."

"Oh?" Zoro replied, looking up from his tablet.

"Yeah," Luffy grinned. "Hey, Robin, how would you feel to having Vivi perform in 'The Bloom Room'?"

Robin turned towards him. "Vivi? Vivi the songstress, Vivi?"

Luffy nodded. "Mugiwara is about to launch a new phone and they've contracted Vivi to be the face of their advertising campaign. We're still working on the details of the PR event, but if they like what I have in mind for it, 'The Bloom Room' might be getting a lot more attention."

"How did you manage this in just these two days that you've been working for them?" Robin asked, unable to hide her growing excitement.

"Well, the director of Marketing and I kind of hit it off," Luffy answered, trying to downplay it, but failing miserably. Notably because of the big goofy grin he couldn't help sporting when he said it.

"You mean you fucked him," Zorro interjected, not looking up from what he was reading on his tablet. "Even for you, that's fast. Not to mention, quite ambitious."

"You did not just say that," Luffy said, chuckling, but visibly offended. He knew that Zoro was joking, but this kind of jesting hit too close to home for various reasons.

Zoro grinned up at him, a twinkle in his eyes. "I did not just say that."

Luffy grabbed the tablet out of his hands and held it out of his reach when Zorro tried to take it back with a protesting exclamation. "Asshole!" Luffy said, sticking out his tongue out to him. He then looked at the tablet. "Does Robin know you surf on gay websites, Ro?" he said with a frown.

"Give that back, twerp!" the green haired man growled, hitting the palms of his hands on the table as he moved to stand, making Luffy jump away from the booth and breaking into a run as Zorro took chase.

"Robin, keep your fitness freak of a boyfriend in check!" Luffy called as he ran out into the courtyard and further into the house.

Robin giggled and shook her head, returning to tend to the food she was cooking.

A few moments later she heard Zoro's returning footsteps and Luffy's muffled protesting yells mingled with breathless laughter. She looked at them and burst out in laughter at the sight of them.

"I have brought back jackass for dinner. You cook, I eat, woman!"

Zoro was carrying Luffy over one shoulder with the younger boy's arms firmly stuck to his sides so to rend him unable to trash around too much. He'd stuffed a piece of cloth in Luffy's mouth, which explained the muffled sounds he was making.

When Luffy tried to look over Zoro's head to wordlessly implore his sister's help, Robin lost it and doubled over with more laughter, wiping away tears at the dead serious face Zoro was making, even when Luffy hit the side of his head against his in attempt to get free. Twice.

"Alright, man," she giggled when Luffy grunted in defeat and dangled helplessly from the bigger man's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Give me back my brother before he loses consciousness over hitting that rock you call a head."

Luffy made a sound between a relieved moan and an agreeing grunt behind Zoro's back and Zoro put him down with a chuckle. "Jackass all bones, no meat anyway."

Luffy rubbed the side of his head, shooting deadly daggers Zorro's way as the other man went back to sit in the breakfast corner, tablet back in his possession. "All muscles and no brains make Zorro a dumbass," he whispered, grinning deviously at the death stare Zorro gave him.

"Are you eating with us, Lou?" Robin asked, putting a salad on the kitchen island.

"I have dinner plans, but thank you," he whispered back quietly.

Robin watched her brother attentively as he said that and immediately spotted the hesitation in his voice.

Luffy needed to talk.

She finished putting the noodles, vegetables and meat in seperate dishes before adressing her other half. "Can you take these outside? I'll be there in a moment, but you can start without me if you'd like."

Zoro came over to pick up the salad and the noodles, kissing her on her lips as he did. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," she whispered back, smiling reassuringly. She watched him step out and dress the garden table for two for a moment before turning to her brother. "Let's go upstairs?"

Luffy only nodded and followed her.

"Caimie called me earlier, so I know."

Luffy sighed from his seat on his windowsil in his room, looking through the open window on the first floor at the tree in their courtyard, watching a small brown bird chirping away without an aparent care in the world.

"I heard he got married and has a son now," Luffy said.

Robin sat down on his bed, not saying anything.

"Do you know who she is?" he asked her.

"A woman called Makino. She owns a daycare center in town," Robin answered softly.

Luffy nodded in acknowledgement but remained silent.

"Luffy."

"I know..." he said, voice about to break. "It's funny, I managed to spend the better half of three years without having to cry when I thought about him, but this piece of news shatters all sense determination I had."

Robin moved off the bed and seated herself behind him, wrapping her arms around her hurting brother. "The best way you found to get over the loss of him was to move to the other side of the globe. All you did with that was running away and God knows I know that that is not the answer."

Luffy closed his eyes, letting twin tears roll down his cheeks. "Bee... it's been four fucking years!" he whispered in frustration. "I'm back and yet all I want to do is run again!"

"Lou..." she whispered comfortingly.

"I miss him so fucking much...!" Luffy whimpered. "And I'm so tired of this constant weight on my chest."

Robin closed her eyes and just held him. "The best thing for you right now, is to focus on your job, Lou..." she advised him gently after a moment of silence. "You promised him that you would follow and concentrate on your own ambitions. You promised him that you would move on. Not run away."

Luffy sniffled at that and opened his eyes. "I've been trying, Bee... I really have..."

She smiled gently. "I hear that a certain Director of Mugiwara's Marketing department has asked you out to dinner tonight."

"If you knew that, why did you ask if I was staying for dinner?" Luffy remarked, wiping away his tears with the back of his hands.

Robin chuckled, "Just to see if you weren't going to cancel at the last minute."

Luffy had to admit that he'd thought about coming up with an excuse to keep from going out with Ace tonight. "I... he is kinda hot."

"Oh?" Robin said amusedly. "If he's as hot as he is sincere in his interest in you, give it a shot. Whether it's purely professional or something else... Just no running. Or litterally fucking away the pain."

He stilled in her arms and thought about the many, many, many ways in which he tried to forget about his pain. He then nodded and turned around in her hold, wrapping his arms around her waist in turn. They remained like this for a long time, just enjoying their rediscovered intimacy.

"Hey, Bee?" Luffy then whispered, his gaze resting on her stomach. "Zoro may be a gianormous idiot and five years younger than you, but he'd make a good father. You guys are so good together and he makes you happy, it's so obvious."

She smiled down at him and kissed to top of his head, admiring the fact that eventhough he was hurting, he could still find room in his heart to think of another's happiness. "I know," she said. "Age ain't nothing but a number, right? You taught me that," Robin grinned when Luffy made an agreeing sound. "And we've been trying," she then admitted in a whisper, to her brother's surprise.

They spent another hour heartedly talking to each other, sharing each other's company like only close siblings could.

When the doorbel rang later that evening, Luffy had amassed enough confidence to walk out of the door again and into Ace's black BMW, willingly prepared this time to take things as they would come.

If only for the sake of the promise he made to Shanks.

To be continued...

Up next : 3. The three of Hearts - Temperance

-BDP-