A/N: So this chapter was supposed to contain all the three days but it got a little lengthy so I had to split it. Thanks to chibi-yachiru-chan and arsonphobic for reviewing! And everybody else who followed and favourited the story, thank you. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: If I owned One Piece, do you seriously think Ace would've died?

Day 1

A dead body and a small boat had washed up on the shore in the morning. It was the talk of the town. Everyone on the small island was gathered around the scene, too afraid to get near the man lying dead in the sand. One auburn haired girl pushed her way to the front to take a good look. She bit her lip when she saw the body, no wonder everyone was afraid to go near him. The body was lying on its front, with the face buried completely in sand and the back visible to every bystander. And that back was completely covered in a tattoo of a certain infamous purple jolly roger. She turned away her eyes in fear and looked further down the beach, she could see the remnants of what was definitely a small sailing dinghy lying a few feet away from the body. They must have been caught up in the dreadful storm that struck a day ago, she thought. The quiet murmur that surrounded the scene died out as everyone decided to go back and let the body be. The girl was about to do the same when she snuck a last glance at the body and her eyes widened in surprise.

"He's not dead, he's sleeping!" She cried out but the crowd had already dispersed and nobody heard her exclamation. She sighed, used to being ignored all the time, she walked up to body and knelt down. She touched his back with the tip of her fingers and she felt it immediately. Devil fruit user, she thought to herself. She shot the sleeping man's head (well the back of it at least) a nasty look and got up to leave. She walked a few steps away from him, following the trail taken by the other townspeople when she suddenly heard movement from behind her. She stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly. He was now sitting up and spitting out sand from his mouth, he stretched is arms over his head and yawned slightly. His eyes still reeked of sleep as they gathered in the surroundings and eventually they landed on her.

"Excuse me!"

His voice rang in her ears. It sent a cold shiver down her spine, she was afraid, not of him but the tattoo on his back. She looked around and then back at him, lifting her finger she pointed at herself to confirm if he was talking to her.

The man cocked an eyebrow, an amused look settled on his face as he nodded, "Despite of what it may look like ma'am, I don't have a habit of talking to myself."

The grin he sent her was a cheeky one and she felt embarrassed as she studied her boots, refusing to meet his eyes. She mustered up all her courage and tried to shout in the rudest voice she could manage, "Well, what do you want?" It was obvious in the way he tried to conceal his laugh that the man could tell she was just trying her best to come off as an impolite person when in reality she was completely opposite.

"I was wondering where I could get a boat." He smiled at her.

She fiddled with the hem of her skirt and once again stared at her knee length boots, quite intrigued with their brown colour. She felt her cheeks grow hot under his gaze and she muttered quietly, not sure if he heard her, "It's a very small island and our town is the only settlement over here. We don't have spare boats but there is a ferry that leaves every once in a while."

She knew he heard her as he nodded in response and stood up. He dusted off sand from his black knee length shorts and took off his shoes and shook them till all the sand was out. Once he put his shoes back on, he set off towards the ruins of the small dinghy. The girl, unsure of what to do, stood rooted to her spot observing his every move. He rummaged through the broken pieces of dinghy, his back facing now facing her. She averted her gaze as the tattoo came in view and contemplated whether she should leave. And just when she was about to quietly make her exit, his voice made her stay.

"Where exactly am I?" He called out as he still continued his search for god knows what.

"Not so far from Water 7." She replied, trying to keep her voice steady.

"That's perfect. I can get an awesome boat from there." The glee was evident in his voice and even with only his back visible, she could tell he was grinning.

"That's also the first stop the ferry makes." She added.

"That's even more perfect." He turned around and grinned at her. In one hand he was holding a rucksack which he slung over his shoulder and in the other an orange cowboy hat. He put the hat on his head and started walking towards her. She shook her head vigorously trying to keep her face from getting warm again. He stopped a few steps away from her and tilted his head, an amused smile playing on his lips as he asked her, "I'm Ace and you are…?" He trailed off as he sized her up and despite her efforts, she felt her face get warm under his enquiring gaze.

"Leah." She said quietly.

"Leah. That's a weird name." He laughed.

She flushed as she glared at him, "What's so weird about it?"

"Well, it just sounds weird. Le-ah. Weird." He smirked at her.

Now that he was so standing so close, she could finally take a good look at him. He was a few inches taller than her and looked to be about the same age as her. He was lean and muscular, his skin was tanned and had a rough looking exterior. The reason she could tell all this was because he refused to wear a shirt which Leah found quite strange. Thick black curls jutted out from under the hat covering his face that had the most striking feature from which Leah couldn't take her eyes off, the freckles that spread in clusters over both his cheeks.

"Well I'll have you know that Leah is a very common name. It's simple and easy to…" She paused for a second and added in a small voice, "forget."

"Well I sure won't forget it. Now if you wouldn't mind Leah-chan, could you show me the way to the ferry?"

His smile was gentle and it made her blush. She avoided his gaze as she talked to him, "You can't go into the town looking like that."

He raised an eyebrow, "Looking like what?"

She took a deep breath and finally met his eyes, "You have to hide the tattoo."

All softness disappeared from his face as his smile turned into a cold blank stare and his voice came out in a deep growl, "Why?"

She stumbled as she took a few steps back, unable to avert her eyes from his face as she answered him in a shaky voice, "Because…because everyone's scared of it! I'm scared of it!"

His cold gaze turned into a glare and he remained silent for a while. She took a few steps back again as his fiery glare burned into her eyes. A few minutes passed before he sighed and finally pulled out a half sleeve pale yellow shirt from his strangely patterned rucksack and draped it over his shoulders, not bothering to button the shirt which Leah found quite distracting. He motioned her to lead the way as the heated glare reverted back to the cold stare. She could swear that the temperature was rising and falling according to his mood.

She nodded and quickly started walking towards the trail in the forest which led to their town. They walked in silence with Leah walking a few steps ahead her eyes on the ground and Ace observing the trees surrounding them. Once in a while she would turn around to check if he was still following her. She caught him staring hungrily at all the vibrant and juicy fruits decorating the forest trees.

"This island is just made up of fruits. Our town was founded by a shipwrecked crew a few years ago and since then we just export the various fruits that grow in the forest to the other kingdoms and islands. That's what the ferry is for." She told him though she wasn't sure if he was listening because he looked more interested in the fruits.

She heard him chuckle and mutter something but all she could make out was 'he sure would like that' and 'an island just made up of fruits'. When she turned around again the smile was back on his face. She felt relief wash over her whole body as they continued the walk towards the town.

"So what do you do?"

His voice caught her by surprise and she jumped up and then accidently tripped on a tree root and fell flat on her face. His loud laugh could be heard throughout the forest and she could feel the blush creeping on her face while lying down on the ground. She helped herself up and bent down and massaged her now slightly red knees. She straightened up and looked at him as he continued to laugh and wiped a tear or two from his eyes.

She couldn't bring herself to glare at him because he looked so happy so she just continued walking and answered his question, "I own an apple orchard."

"Oh, that's nice." He swiftly caught up to her and walked next to her as he stifled his laugh and grinned at her.

"It's nothing big." She muttered.

They walked alongside each other with Ace whistling and Leah trying to avoid looking at him. When they finally reached the clearing and entered the town, Ace looked a little disappointed with the shabby welcome sign and the dull looking town. There were not more than thirty hastily made houses with some of them on the verge of falling apart. But what did catch his eyes was the wide array of trees on each side of the road, providing shade and food for the passer by. And every house had a patch of trees with different fruits surrounding it.

"What's the name of the town?" He asked.

"They haven't decided on a name yet." Leah answered him, her eyes wandered over the few people roaming about the town and she immediately spotted the ferry captain and quickly turned towards Ace only to find him stuff his face with multi coloured berries that she had always hated. It was her turn to raise an eyebrow as she silently questioned him.

He just shrugged as he continued to eat.

She rolled her eyes and pointed towards the captain, "That's the ferry captain, you should go talk to him."

He nodded and quickly swallowed the fruit and started towards the captain when he noticed she was still standing under the shade of a tree, "Aren't you coming with me, Leah-chan?"

She shook her head and signalled him to hurry up. She watched him run up to the captain and talk. She narrowed her eyes as both the men laughed and shook hands and Ace made his way back to where she was standing. The Captain would've probably had a heart attack if he knew that Ace was the dead man from the shore, she thought.

"He says the ferry will leave day after tomorrow. They're taking a break because of the recent storm." He looked a little disappointed with that news, "I wish I could just swim back to my ship."

"But you'll drown won't you? Devil Fruit users can't swim."

Ace shot her a bewildered look, "How do you…?"

"You could stay at my place till then." Leah offered quickly as she tried to change the subject.

He stared at her for a while, trying to read her face but gave up after a few seconds. He winked at her as he replied in a deep, low voice which made her blush from head to toe, "Now I really wouldn't mind that."

"I only offered because there's no hotel or inn in our town and I'm the only person you know so far, so I thought…" She trailed off too embarrassed to say any further.

"Looks like I don't have any other choice but to accept your offer."

She looked up at him to see him smiling at her and she felt the blush deepen.

"Let's get going then." She squeaked and cursed herself for being so silly, she heard him chuckle which only made her feel more embarrassed.

Her small hut at the end of town was nothing special and one could easily miss it because of the large apple trees surrounding it. The hut was made of mud and clay with a bricked roof. On the inside it consisted of one large room which was the kitchen, the living room, the bed room all at once.

"You live by yourself?" Ace asked her as he looked around the small home.

"Yes."

It was almost noon so Leah decided to start on lunch, a meal she usually didn't bother with but Ace looked like he ate quite a lot so she decided to work hard. It's not like she was trying to impress him or anything she told herself countless times. While she cooked, the pirate exited the hut to look around the orchard and avoid awkward conversation. Leah lost track of time as she cooked a full-fledged meal. Quite happy with her outcome she looked around the house for the guest only to find the hut completely empty. She entered the orchard in search for him and a scary thought entered her head. What if he saw that? Her fear was affirmed as she finally found him in the back staring up at a tree which was hidden between two wide apple trees. The fruit hanging from the tree was not an apple or any other normal fruit for that matter.

"Devil Fruit." He said when he heard her approach from behind.

She stayed quiet. A long silent gap stretched between them as they both stared at the sole fruit hanging from the tree. She was observing the tattoo on his back when he suddenly turned around and looked her straight in the eye.

"You're hiding a Devil Fruit in the orchard."

-x-

A/N: So this is no longer a three-shot. Haha, I seriously cannot follow through a plan. So just a few more chapters to go which will be up shortly. Reviews are much appreciated and thank you for reading!