Title: Nice to Meet You!

Genre: Friendship

Summary: Ace makes a new friend.

Portgas D. Ace leaned grumpily against the railing of the Moby Dick, arms wrapped around his legs. Another one of his attempts to take Whitebeard's life had failed, resulting in him being thrown though the wall of the giant man's cabin again. As always, he awoke in the infirmary of the massive ship, patched up and ready to go and try again. The nice, redheaded nurse had been there this time, giving him that look of compassion that made his insides twist with disgust. He didn't deserve her compassion or pity, nor did he deserve it from anyone on the crew. He deserved their anger and their loathing for what he tried to do time and time again to their captain. He deserved to be locked up in the brig of the ship, not allowed to walk wherever he pleased.

Despite the fact he deserved these and even more, the only thing the Whitebeard Pirates had shown him was kindness. The doctors and nurses patched him up every time he was hurt, the cooks made sure he had food, and the entire genuinely tried to include him in whatever they did. For the most part, he replied with a, "Thanks, but no," and they would leave him alone. Sometimes that pompadoured man, Thatch, would stick around and talk to him (or at least try), and the pineapple-head guy, Marco, would try to persuade him to join the crew, but most of the time he was left alone to sulk.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts he didn't notice the light footsteps approaching him until they were about three feet away. Assuming it was Marco or Thatch, he lifted his head to tell them to please, go away, but he was surprised to find it was someone else entirely.

For one thing, the person wasn't a man, but a woman. She wore a simple, white t-shirt and tight, black capris, and her hair was in a braid pulled over to the left side of her neck. The most noticeable feature about her was her bright, golden eyes, which seemed to pierce through Ace's very being. She grinned when she saw he had finally noticed her.

"Hey there," she said with a small wave of her hand. The other hand was behind her back, obviously hiding something from Ace's view. "Mind if I bother you for a second?"

This was certainly a turn of events. Not many of the women on board bothered talking to him because they thought he was rude. Ace had seen this particular woman around the ship, mostly arguing with Marco or laughing with Thatch. She was also friends with the redheaded nurse in the infirmary. He was about to tell her to leave, but he reconsidered and shrugged instead. The woman's smile widened, lighting up her whole face.

"Hey, thanks!" She sat down beside him, and without warning, wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling him closer to her. She took out the object from behind her back and held it in front of them. "Smile!" She said happily as a bright flash came from the device.

Ace blinked a couple times to rid his retina of the spots caused by the flash. He turned to see what she was holding, only to discover it was actually a camera. He scowled. He didn't like having his picture taken, especially by an enemy (unless it was the Marine photographer, of course). He was about to tell her so, but the wide grin on her face stopped him.

She held up the picture for him to see. She was smiling at the camera while he had a dumbfounded expression on his face. Now that bright smile was directed at him. "I'm definitely keeping this one." She stated. She held out her hand to him. "I'm Aerie, by the way."

Thinking it would be rude not to, especially to a woman, Ace shook it. "Ace," he said simply.

"Nice to meet you, Ace," she said happily.

Ace smiled a little, then turned his head to resume staring at the wall in front of him, expecting her to leave. When it was silent, he assumed she had left. He was startled, thought when she said, "So, are you gonna sit and sulk all day, or are you actually gonna talk to me?"

He turned back to her. She was smirking at him, making him flush a little. He sighed, gaining a little control over his foul temper.

"Sorry," he said gruffly. "Not used to you guys sticking around for long."

She shrugged. "It's cool. You're upset, I get it. Everyone gets that way sometimes, and it's hard to get some alone time, especially on a ship with this many crew members."

Ace snorted in reply. Darned right it was impossible to be alone. Crew members constantly bugged him to join them in their escapades or to explore an island. Every time his answer had been no. Aerie was watching his reaction, probably to see if he would get mad and storm off.

When he didn't act out of anger, she sighed and leaned back against the railing. "'Course, it wasn't always this way." He gave her a questioning look, so she explained, "I remember when I first joined the crew. We didn't have nearly as many members, but we were still a force to be reckoned with. With me, we had about five hundred members."

Ace's eyes widened. Marco had told him some time ago that there were over 1,600 members! "How long have you been here?" He asked uncertainly.

A corner of her mouth lifted into a smile. "Kid, I've been on this ship longer than you've been alive." She saw his shocked expression and laughed.

Ace's jaw hung open and his eyes bugged slightly. There was no way this woman was a day over twenty-five, maybe thirty! "What-? How- Just how old are you?!" He immediately winced. He didn't mean for that question to come out that harshly.

To his surprise, she laughed harder. "Oh, you are so precious!" If possible, Ace's jaw dropped further. "Seriously, you should see your face right now!" She was hunched over and tears were streaming from her eyes.

Aerie finally stopped laughing, and sat back up, wiping stray tears from her cheeks. She chuckled and said, "Oh, kid, I haven't laughed that much in ages." She sighed and leaned back against the railing again. "Actually, I just turned forty-one." She glanced at him and smirked. "You're gonna catch flies with your mouth open like that."

Ace closed his gaping mouth and looked away. After another moment of silence from the teen, he muttered, "Sorry, that was rude of me."

Now it was Aerie's turn to be surprised. She quickly recovered, and smiled at the boy. "No worries, we're both pirates. We're not the most polite people in the world." His embarrassed glance her way made her smile even more. Oh, this kid was just too cute!

The two sat in comfortable silence until they heard Aerie's name being called from another part on deck. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Sounds like Marco needs me again," she muttered. She stood up and stretched before looking back down at Ace with a soft look in her eyes. "Nice talking to you, Ace." He nodded in reply, but before she left she asked, "Ace?" He looked at her, and her mouth curved upwards into a smile. "You've got such a handsome face, kid. It's a shame you use it to frown all of the time."

With that, she turned and walked away to find Marco. What she didn't see was the color that had risen to Ace's cheeks, and the small, reluctant smile that came with it.

Savage Kill: Tell me about it! When I thought of this I cried. I purposefully skipped the part where they died in the anime because I knew I'd cry. Yeah, they're doing just fine. :)

XxFire-PhoenixxX: Haha, thanks! I don't think he will because I don't think power is really Marco's thing. Plus, I'm not one-hundred-percent sure he is the new captain. For now, it's just a theory.

Hehe, guess I finally decided to write... But, I have a good reason! It's called homework and stupid teachers that want me to finish all of their homework X(. Ugh...

You know the drill! Favorite, follow, and review! See you next time!

~Batman