~ ... Devil Fruit or Angel Fruit? ... ~

"Yo, nee-san!" a crewmate called. "What's the hold up?"

"She's stayin'!" Ace barked, walking off to the lush jungle of an island. "The pansy's got cleanin' to do while we're gone."

"I'M NOT A PANSY!" Nesi complained, stomping her foot.

"Just don't get dirt in my cabin," Ace said, waving a hand behind him. "You make the ship shine like new, and we'll start our first lesson today."

"Re-re-really, captain?" Nesi questioned, clutching her small push broom. Her eyes may as well have had stars trapped in them.

"I ain't teachin' ya jack-piss if my baby is still dusty. I want my ship shiny!" Ace yelled back in a sing-song manner.

Nesi said nothing more but pouted cutely and sighed. She supposed she could work a bit easier with the boys gone. She had just hoped that she'd be able to join them. Captain Ace didn't say why he was docking at this random island, but the boys knew and kept snickering at her when she tried to eavesdrop. Her left hand was still sensitive from losing her finger, so she had to be careful when handling her soaps and waxes. She decided to start in the small crew cabin. The bunk beds and hammocks needed some serious fixing. Walking into Ace's cabin, she took some paper and a bit of charcoal from... the table acting as a desk and walked back to the crew's cabin. There was no space for her in there, so she opted to craft a space for herself between the quarter deck and bulkhead of the ship. She just needed to plot the perfect stairway without Ace's knowledge, and she had an idea of how she'd like for it to look. Writing down some objectives for herself, she started working on fixing up the crew's bedding situation... and maybe installing some kind of window to let some air in!

"Hey, captain, what are we looking for out here anyway?" Corale asked, worried about leaving Nesi on her own. With her being the resident damsel in distress, she'd get kidnapped without anyone knowing if everyone just took off without her.

"Devil fruit," Ace replied, nonchalantly.

"D-d-d-de-devil fruit? It's on this island?" his biscuit-chewing crewmate questioned, sweating profusely at the opportunity to see the fabled produce.

"That's what that guy in town said. The fruit I found was already at my hometown. That's how I got my powers. The girl's gonna need a fruit if she wants to be strong enough to surpass me. She's got the moxie. I'll give her that. And I saw her using haki after her finger was cut," Ace explained, mimicking the action of scissors cutting a thread. "She just didn't recognize what it was. If she can at least match up to me, then I can train with her full force. No holding back. That's what she wants."

"Why do you wanna train her?" Corale asked, stopping his walk and making Ace stop himself.

"She wants to fulfill this dumb dream more than anything. That's what activated her haki," Ace answered, almost curtly and vaguely.

"You respect her, don't you?" a crewmate asked, smiling softly at Ace's back. "Do you think...? If she was willing to die for what she wanted, then can you see her going the distance?"

Ace didn't say anything in response. He just remembered running through the trees to fight at her side, but... he was too late when he got to her. She had already been stabbed and her finger cut. While she was unconscious, he tried to find someone who could maybe reattach the finger or give her a prosthetic, but no one could provide that kind of surgery other than someone from the mainland and she didn't have that kind of time with the bleeding. When she was properly patched up, he read Makino's letter again and again and finally asked around about her. The elderly couple taking care of her explained the situation.

Nesi's father was a pirate who struggled to find regular work, but her mother was a marine - an ensign to be specific. She had a lot of potential and was completing training and missions at a consistent, admirable pace. She could've been an admiral within a few years... until her future husband visited their island for oranges and herbs. Nesi's mother thought nothing of the man, but he wormed his way into her heart and gave up his life at sea to work legitimately and earn a steady keep to court her. She gave up her career as a marine and followed after him. Their union wasn't unusual, but it wasn't well-liked either. They had their fair share of hardship just because they chose to be together. However, they never showed Nesi the harshness of others and instead raised her with love, wisdom, and patience. They taught her that a pirate and marine could coexist together, so Nesi strived to be something that married the two just as her parents married each other. Nesi wanted the knowledge and respect of a noble but the freedom and tangibility of a pirate in order to create a life that served the country and not the government. The World Government was working too hard and was entirely too focused on separating and distinguishing classes of people when everyone should be able to live comfortably and survive. If you earned more to maintain land or keep a consistent source of job opportunities, she had no problems with that, but she didn't believe in debt or paying unaffordable homage to the royalty through tax or whatever other method. Both were man-made and corruptible. Her dream was to form a group that served the people, regardless of nationality, with the help of the marines and the pirates to some degree. To safeguard and to liberate.

While Ace disagreed with the idea of working with the marines for anything, he couldn't get Nesi stomping out a marine out of his mind. She was really serious about it. He was a firm believer in fighting for the life that you want because he had to do it himself. Like Makino said, Nesi was fighting for the same thing just in a different space. His first pirate apprentice. He didn't really think about what being a captain, or even the Pirate King, really meant. He just thought he'd rally up like-minded people and go for glory. To hell with the consequences or steps in between, but... he actually inspired someone to stop being a pushover and really go for something. He's only ever known Shanks to be that kind of guy since he helped and inspired his little brother to go for the title of Pirate King. Sure, Ace befriended a lot of people quite easily, but he never... thought about what it took to be a good leader. It's not something that was taught. His grandfather's main objective was for him to be controlled, obedient, and temperamental. He would've been something worse than a government dog. He would've been a ghost had he stayed with Garp. In truth, he understood where Nesi was coming from. She didn't want to be some ghost, just haunting the lands without a voice or a face.

She didn't need the devil fruit. The reality was he needed a minute to think about how to train his apprentice. Shanks was kind of an every man's man. He rolled with the punches. You just couldn't talk smack about his friends and get away with it. He had a lot of people behind him because he could share a drink with you, celebrate you, and defend your honor in the same breath. Ace became a captain from the ground up. He was never someone else's apprentice. He had the charisma and the physical power to lead, but he needed certain strengths to be a good leader and a better captain. He had to put himself in Shanks's shoes for a moment... and he didn't know how. Ace may have told the Spades that Nesi needed to match up to him, but he needed to match up to her. What does being a pirate apprentice really mean? She's not some loyal follower. She's trying to get somewhere. So, he would hunt for the devil fruit, bring it back, give Nesi the option to eat it, and go from there. A vicious growl broke Ace from his thoughts. Before he knew it, the boys were already cowering in the back as he was approaching a large monster that seemed to be waiting for him to acknowledge its presence.

When Ace looked up at it, he smiled, cracked his knuckles, and summoned his fire powers. The beast was blocking a tree with orange and yellow devil fruits. Ace was pretty sure that the devil fruits were purple to blue-purple, but the beast letting out a roar caught his immediate attention. He questioned it no further...

Nesi was quite happy with the small window she installed for the crew's cabin. She even watered the small garden she built for the window boxes. She managed to find a few friendly flowering plants on the island's shores and wanted to keep the nice colors around, so she gathered them up and made sure they'd be okay in half-sun and half-shade areas. She even collected some for herself in unused crates and boxes.

The bedding looked a lot better with fresh hammocks and washed cushions and sheets. She swept, dusted, washed, and waxed the area quite thoroughly before leaving it and climbing up the stairs to look at the tattered sheets and bits of fabric that was left. She didn't have a proper bed herself, so she had to embarrassingly take Ace's bed. He slept comfortably at his table. She didn't dare ask how. She couldn't get a wink of sleep, inhaling his scent well into the morning hours. Normally, one's natural odor was calming. His was not. Dude reeked! And he snored! Walking over to a pile of sticks she was evaluating, Nesi finally chose one of proper dimensions and built a small stand. Nothing extravagant. Just a hole and some old shoe soles to anchor the stick. She soon made a clothesline with another stick of equal dimensions. Humming a small lullaby to herself, she started working on washing and cleaning the leftover fabrics that were still of good quality. Those that were dried by the time she finished sweeping the deck would be part of her new sleeping hammock. Since there was no room on the small ship for her, she elected to rest outside. It was more peaceful that way anyway.

Nesi rested herself for a moment to think about lunch before she heard the bellowing of a huge beast and saw a burst of fire shoot upwards. She yipped out of fear before hurrying to her feet. That might've been Ace! Should she go help him?

"Yo, nee-san!" a crewmate called, gaining her attention.

"What are you doing here? Where's the captain?" Nesi questioned.

"He's... handling business," the crewmate answered, rubbing his fingers together. "Is it cool if I board the ship? I'll get out of the way if you're cleaning right there."

"Deuce, what is going on?" Nesi demanded, flinching at another blast and roar.

"Nothing you should worry about. So... can I come up there?" Deuce asked again.

"I mean it's your ship. You can do whatever you want," Nesi answered, shrugging before another blast shook the earth and the ship. "Are you sure he's okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine!" Deuce reassured. "He just found a beast to fight. You know that captain of ours. HA HA HA HA HA!"

"That is no longer reassuring," Nesi said, sighing. "But it must've been huge if you're back here already. Well, your cabin is all clean. You can chill in - huh?"

Nesi couldn't get another word out before Deuce rushed back onto the ship, bringing sand and mud on the deck with him. She mostly growled at this before sweeping up the deck. Guess break time was over. She'll make seafood stew and bread chips for lunch in the meantime. One crew member after another started trickling in with more scratches and bruises than the last one. She was stuck in the kitchen, so she didn't notice them, but she did hear their voices. That meant more sand and soil was on the deck. She couldn't turn away just yet. The kitchen was so close to being cleaned. It took her and Deuce a couple of minutes to unjam the kitchen window so the smoke and dust could escape the room. Once she got air, she went to work while Deuce walked around the ship. Everything looked tidy enough to him. The bunks looked awesome! He could sleep in there all day! The smells of herbs wafted to his nose, though, so he sat outside and just enjoyed the serenity of the seashore with Nesi.

It wasn't long before everyone was eating. Nesi was the last to eat as she went out to collect tree saplings. Edible, or friendly, saplings, of course. As Ace and the rest of the Spades went on their treasure hunting adventures, she was sure they would need things on their voyage to the Grand Line. Having food already on the boat would help in the long run, so she potted her edible plants and lined them up in a corner where her sewing spot was located. While she was carrying a cute vine, a small Draco lizard made a noise at her. It looked quite cute to Nesi with its pinkish skin and big eyes lined with blue scales. Not wanting to be attacked, Nesi backed away and smiled to walk around it. She might've messed with its nest, so she took care not to disturb it further, but it followed after her without her realizing it. Going so far as to sneak into her apron pockets! Odd.

"That a baby beast or somethin'?" a familiar asked behind her, startling her and the Draco.

"Eek!" Nesi yelped, nearly dropping her vine. She turned around to shout at her captain before she came face to face with the severed head of a large monster. "AAAAAHHHH! Why did you bring that here?"

"I liked it," Ace answered simply, smiling at his prized head and prized bag of... fruit? He then continued, "He was actually a challenge! So, I'm gonna gut it and stuff it! We're going back to that other island anyway. I need to talk with the guy again about this fruit. Color's different."

"You're stuffing that... thing out here, right?" Nesi asked, pointing at the head. She felt bad for the creature. It didn't sign up for this treatment.

"No, my room. I'm puttin' it on the wall," Ace answered.

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" Nesi argued, making Ace raise a left brow. "We share a room, you inconsiderate jerk! It's already a stink hole in there! Don't make it worse!"

"Did you not clean the captain's cabin, pansy?" Ace questioned, furrowing his brow with some annoyance and adding a low growl to his voice.

"Cleaning your cabin doesn't mean put a rotting corpse head in it!" Nesi argued. "And it for damn sure doesn't mean it'll smell nicer after you're done with it!"

"You didn't clean it, did you?" Ace questioned darkly. "Your orders were simple, Llandala. Clean the ship. Regardless of what goes on that boat, or what condition the thing is in, you do as you're told. That's how marines operate, and, by in large, that's how pirates operate. Obedience is mandatory for survival and climbing up the ranks. Everyone follows the damn rules no matter who's in charge. You want people to listen to you, you better damn well make sure you know how to listen to others yourself. Do I make myself clear? Instead of you following orders, guess what I'm seeing right now? You taking your sweet time to decorate my ship with a bunch of plants when that's not what I asked you to do. I'm guttin' my head in my cabin. This ship better be spotless before nightfall. You've got men on board now. You just made this difficult for yourself."

With that, Ace walked right past her and said no more. The crew was actually flabbergasted at the exchange. Ace was never that stern with anyone before. Nesi's shoulders drooped at Ace's words. She was cleaning the ship as ordered. It just took a bit longer because of... oh... She was doing too much. He just wanted a quick clean. The Draco lizard crawled up to her and nipped at her eyes as a gesture of wiping away her tears. She nuzzled with it and brought her vine aboard the ship. She decided to work from the bottom of the ship and up. Ace walked into his cabin, seeing that the floor was at least swept and the hammock and sheets were much better looking that before, before he squealed at himself and danced on his toes excitedly.

"Did you hear that monster head?" Ace questioned, twirling a bit. "That was so cool! I actually sounded like a real captain! I was all like, 'You went against orders. Now face the consequences.' Gah! So cool! And it felt good. So hype! Oh, I need to think of a good penalty, though. Hmm... oh-ho-ho-ho, monster head... you just gave me quite the idea."

As promised, the ship was cleaned by nightfall and the sea air dried up the wet deck quite rapidly. While the boys were marveling at the handiwork and small garden Nesi now possessed, they started to wonder where she went. She had dinner ready with sauteed vegetables and fruit with fish, but they didn't see her in the kitchen or mess hall. She just disappeared.

"Captain. We can't find nee-san. Do you think she jumped ship?"

Ace got up from his gutting workbench and looked for signs of his pansy. She really did disappear! Nah, she wouldn't jump ship... would she? Nah. Looking into the ship's small rooms, he finally found her. She had fallen asleep in the middle of sewing in what looks like some laundry room she made. It smelled good in here. It was just soap and perfume, but it might've been wax, too. To preserve the wood. The little Draco lizard that decided to stay with her was sleeping on old sheets and fabrics that were marked as trash. He seemed comfortable. Kneeling in front of his apprentice, he sort of took in her features this time since he didn't really get to do it before when they met. She was orphaned like him. Adopted by older folks like him. To think, she would've just been a regular housewife for someone. He wondered if she knew how to steer a ship with her old man being a pirate and all. Her mother could've learned a thing or two about ship maintenance or safety protocols. He still remembered some of the stuff that Garp taught him as a kid before he left home. Would she have been a marine's choice for marriage or kids? Garp never mentioned anything about his old lady if he had one. Nesi really would've been a ghost. Never heard, never mentioned, never...

Taking up a leftover piece of paper that Nesi had on the side with a piece of charcoal, Ace gave his apprentice one last look at her icy blue hair, missing finger, and fluffy skirt with the pet Draco uncurling and then coiling up to get comfortable again. Unconsciously, he started to write.

Hey old man,

You probably won't care about this, but I've got this apprentice now. I'm trying to think of ways to help and things to teach, but... I wasn't prepared for this. I just started being a captain! Today, I got on her case about being obedient to authority. Listen to that bout of irony! Me, the one who'd trash a village before he did what people told him to do, is telling this... respectable girl to listen to him. Tch! Bet you're laughing at me right now! Well, I did learn some manners from Makino! I'm not a total trainwreck!

This girl's got a pretty good head on her shoulders. She's impressionable and doesn't just follow along with anything that comes her way. She believes in doing right by others. I don't know what drew her to me of all people, but... I want to help her. We share something in common, so I guess that's why. My thing is... you're really one of few men who I can say taught me something in life. I didn't like being told what to think because that's too in-line with being thoughtless and not having any sense of self or identity. Looking at her, I can see how your teachings would've affected her. She would just disappear into nothingness. I didn't like that when I was a kid. I know she'd hate it. She hates it now. I want to show her how to think like a pirate, but... she's trying to think like a marine, too. She wants to be both things. It doesn't make sense to me, and I really don't like it, but... She wants this so much. She lost a finger behind it. There was so much blood.

For once, I need your advice on how to be a good mentor to a young marine. The pirate part I can do. It'll just be trial and error starting out, but I think Makino was onto something. I don't just have to understand my apprentice's dream. I have to understand the parts of her mind that lean towards a genius expertise. She's really good at prioritizing and organizing things. Even though I gave her the simple command of clean the ship, she analyzed each room, designated spaces for certain tasks and built stations to work. My command was the main objective, but she micromanaged and worked with a meticulous hand. She's naturally thorough. The boys' cabin and bunks look brand new! The kitchen is on its way to looking like the restaurant where she used to work. She even gathered edible species of plants that she formally recognized.

Doing the extra stuff isn't practical on naval battlefields, but that's what she's good at. How do I take her talents and implement them to the lifestyle of both the pirate and the marine? If you had a young student like her, what would be the first thing you'd teach her in her journey to become a marine? I noticed that she worked the spots where we frequent the most first before I yelled at her. After she got chewed out, she worked from the bottom of the ship to the top and started the laundry. She even decorated the cabin with plants and a window, but she didn't necessarily do that in this laundry room she made under the forecastle deck of the ship. There's a vine and a potted plant that she hung up and placed in a corner in here, but it's not really decorative. It's just placed in here like it's meant to be part of a habitat. Might be for the lizard that adopted her. She did kinda fall asleep mid-sewing, so she might've been trying to decorate it but stopped.

What should I teach her beyond learning self-defense?

(P.S. Try not to choke on air, ya crabby old gas bag.)

~ Ace