-Willow-

I didn't know why I was standing here telling Ace these things. After all every word that had left his mouth so far could be a lie, he could be lying. His name, the fact that he was Luffy's brother, everything, it could all be lies. With strangers it was never impossibility. And as much as I enjoyed Ace's company he was still a stranger to me, one that I had met just today not even an hour ago.

"So he's already claimed you?" he asked. I began trying to deny that I had been claimed by Luffy but he paid no mind to my protests and added, "Well that's no fair." Before he turned away from the picture depicting the beetle in Luffy's hands and the paper under that which was his claim to that picture. He had told me that he only reason that he had left it with me was that it was his promise that he'd be back for his future artist.

"E-excuse me?" I asked wondering if I had heard him right. Surely I hadn't. Why would he say such a thing to me anyways?

"Is he doing well?" Ace continued on as if what he had just said wasn't weird at all, as though we hadn't already been over this. But it was kind of cute that he was so concerned about Luffy that he had forgotten that we had.

I nodded unable to help but smile. Luffy had made a fool out of the pirates that thought that they were big and bad and could rule our island, and he hadn't even killed them! "Yeah. He's a great kid." I informed Ace as though he wasn't already aware of this fact.

He nodded with a quiet, "Yeah. But he sure does make a big brother worry."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. Worry, that word with Luffy and his antics that must be an understatement.

I was about to say something when there was a long and loud half gurgling half growling sound. When it finally ended we stared at each other for a few minutes in complete silence.

Unsure of myself I asked, "W-was that y-your stomach?" I didn't even know that a stomach could growl that loudly!

Ace reached up and scratched the back of his head sheepishly and then admitted that yes, that noise had indeed been his stomach.

"Are hungry?" I asked.

He gave me this 'why else would my stomach be making these noises?' look as the words accompanied the look I was receiving.

"W-would you like to eat in town?" I nervously asked him. I didn't really want to go and I didn't really want to spend the money plus nothing good ever came out of me going into town for anything other than what I needed. But I only had enough food for me to have two and a half meals for a little under a week and judging by that growl that came from his stomach that wasn't going to be enough for the both of us.

"Yes please." He eagerly said with a nod of his head.

I didn't know if I should be offended by his eagerness to go out and take it as an insult to me and my cooking or if I should just drop it. After a little battle I decided to drop it. The boy was probably so hungry that he didn't really care where- and most likely what- he ate as long as he ate. Plus he had said please.

I wet my lips hoping that this wasn't a mistake before saying, "Alright, let's go." We did have quite a lot of time to kill before dark and walking to town, eating and walking back would certainly kill lots of that time.

Without a seconds thought of my personal space he linked our arms together and pulled me to the door and opening it said, "Ladies first." The fashion in which he said it with a little bow and a smile, reminded me of Sanji. Ace closed the door behind up and off to town we went.

-Ace-

Willow had a certain confidence about her as she walked us through the awesome forest. So far this having a guide thing was working out well. I even got a free meal!

We chatted and she even laughed a few times and they weren't nervous laughs or laughs of surprise but because she actually found something funny on the way there. Or she did until we reached the outskirts of town.

There the change was dramatic. She seemed to lose all confidence and her answers and responses were either really short- as in one word short- or just mute nods and shakes of her head.

When I asked where we were going she said, "Ocean View Diner." But that was it. There was no farther elaboration on how good it was, how much more of a walk it was or anything else of the sorts, she had just answered and that had been that.

Quietly her and slipped into mind but I was sure that she was unaware of the action as she wove her way around the freestanding square tables in the middle of the room and back to a corner booth.

We sat there for a few minutes before menus were distributed to us and a voice said, "Hey. I thought we saw you walk in here Willow." When I looked up I expected to see on person, one waitress. Not two nearly identical ones standing side by side. Looking back and forth between the girls and Willow I wondered if they knew her because she had stopped staring down into her lap or at the no longer empty tabletop.

"Yeah. I'm surprised you're here so late." The other one said more discrete about the way she was looking me over. "I bet it has something to do with him right?" She asked the tip of her tongue skimming over her thin lips.

Maybe they were used to Willows quietness because if not the one with the shortest hair was being quite rude to her when she asked, "So where did you manage to find this handsome hunk?"

By the looks I was receiving I think it was safe for me to assume that they thought Willow had somehow picked me up at a bar or something like that. I was honestly surprised when Willow answered her question. Granted the answer was only two short words but it was the most I had heard her speak since coming into the city.

"The forest." Was all she offered the curious twins.

"This . . . thing came out of that forest?" One of them laughed as the other picked up where she had stopped.

"He must be a lost traveler or something." Though she didn't say it the tone spoke for itself, silently adding, 'why else would she have found him in the forest?' to the end of her sentence.

"I'm a pirate." I informed them. I had not been a lost traveler. As it turned out I had been exactly where I had wanted to be, so I hadn't been lost. Maybe I had been a bit dazed and confused but that was where i wanted to be.

"So are you going to introduce us Willow?"

At that she seemed to come alive, stammering over just about every word that she spoke. "Oh . . . um Evalyn, Ava, this is Ace. Ace, this is Evalyn and Ava, the twins. We'll both take waters to drink."

She ordered our drinks before I could stop her and before I could protest the girls pocketed their pads of paper, said that they'd have those right out and over their shoulders as they walked away said, "Oh and try not to bore the cutie to death would you Willow?"

"Why water?" I asked. Jeez even juice would have been better, or hell soda. I bet this place didn't sell any good alcohol.

"It's free." She said sliding the menu away from her muttering about how she already knew what she wanted.

"Oh and what is that?" I asked skimming over my menu.

I swear I might shoot her if she said a salad. Girls need to eat too! I hated it when i went out with a girl for a meal and then they didn't eat.

But my eyes stopped on an entree that was titled Willow's special. So now the artistic introvert had meals named after her?! While reading it and listening to her describe her usual at the same time I realized that it didn't sound half bad. I mean I wanted to order the entire menu and then run but I doubted that she'd be able to keep up with me unless I of course threw her over my shoulder.

Because I needed my guide for tonight I couldn't end up losing her in the process of a dine and dash.

So because of that I was forced to ditch both plans and ordered an extra-large fry.

Once our orders were in and the twins had left once again I asked, "So do you live alone?" I supposed that was kind of a stupid question to ask but you never know when it comes to people and parents. Maybe her mother worked days on end in town and maybe her father at an entirely different island most of the year leaving her alone often. They weren't currently on good terms with each other.

"Yeah I do."

"Don't tell me that you don't get lonely." Jeez shy or not she probably didn't get out enough or have enough fun or go to enough parties. Hell she probably didn't know the joy of a good party.

She shook her head. "Believe me or don't, that's your choice, but I like my seclusion." She paused then asked, "So are you really a pirate?" She did seem to be a bit dubious of my previous statement but she didn't seem shocked or angry at the idea. And despite the slight doubt she seemed calm enough, as though the idea didn't really frighten her. Yet me suddenly waking up had.

I nodded. "Yup. So where are your parents?" She hadn't told me that they had died in ditches so they were probably still alive right?

"Six feet under Ace. But unless you wish to talk about your parents, your father to be more specific, in turn for me talking about mine, then I wouldn't keep asking about them." She growled in a quiet tone.

I have to say I was shocked that that had just come from her and I'm pretty sure that I was the only one who had the privilege of hearing it as well her voice was so low and quiet.

"Uh . . . ok." I agreed. I guess that was a touchy subject with her as well. "Fair enough." I completely understood not wanting to hand out information about your parents to random people and I certainly wasn't about to tell her about my father- guess she had picked up on that earlier today- unless she wanted me to talk about Pops. Man I could talk about the old man all day.

When plates were set down in front of us we tanked the twins in unison and while Willow took time to cut her burger in half before eating it, I began devouring mine. "This is good." I said not slowing down or waiting to swallow my current bite.

"Um . . . A-Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"You- you do realize th-that your food is going nowhere right? No one's going to steal it or start trying to kill you or something like that. Please slow down. That is really unhealthy for you to eat so fast."

I nodded and slowed down but not that much. It probably wasn't enough to appease the teal haired girl but this burger was close to one of the best burgers I had ever eaten.

"Are you going to eat that?" I asked pointing to re remaining half of her burger as I finished mine. We had ordered the exact same thing and she wasn't sick or riddled with diseases- that I could tell anyway- and I couldn't let that half of a burger go to waste. But before she could answer me I asked, "Can I have it?"

Instead of a verbal answer and simply pushed the basket away from her and closer to me. With a word of thanks I devoured it in less than a minute. Gulping down the last bite I thanked her again and struck up a small conversation as she waited for the bill. I tried to talk about her friends and likes, to coax longer answers out of her so that I wasn't having a one sided conversation. I tried to stay away from the subject of her parents and closer to things that I figured would be ok for her to talk about.

But despite me trying to keep the conversation on her the topic that she seemed to be the most comfortable talking about was Luffy and the straw hats.

She went into great detail about how he had saved her island from a group of pirates. And when I asked her to describe the crew he had accumulated she happily obliged. After that I found myself talking about when we were kids and all of the random things we had done.

But I can't remember exactly which memories I had or hadn't told her about.

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