Hello everyone, here is the next chapter

We'll have a lot happening and some bonding between Ace and the pirates, which is needed. Things also progress both fast and slow, and I hope it isn't too bad

There is also an important AN at the end, so please read it

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

Ace gave a small sigh, looking at Deuce, who was ready to leave for a mission with a group of the division he was in.

"Be careful, okay? I want you back in one piece." The man gave a chuckle. "I was your first mate for a year. Believe me, a normal mission will be nothing compared." That had her chuckle too, making her calm down a bit. She didn't like it, that the man would leave and be gone. "How long is it that you'll be gone? You didn't say yesterday." Deuce shook his head a bit, and before he could speak, Fossa was there.

"It will take about 3 weeks, two and a half if we're lucky."

Ace gave a nod. That was still way longer than she would like. Deuce gave small chuckle. "Come on now. I'll be back before you know it. And, remember what we spoke about." Ace gave a small nod. When Deuce had told her this yesterday, he had said she should use this opportunity to 'bond' more with the others. She knew she had to at one point, but would have liked to postpone it more. Deuce gave her a clap on the shoulder, before he left for his mission.

Ace could handle 2 or 3 weeks without the man, right? What could happen?

-x-

Ace gave a sigh, feeling a bit… lonely. Which was just insane. She was on a ship surrounded by hundreds of others. But, she missed Deuce, the one she usually was with.

She had tried, half-heartedly, to be around the others and try and be friendly, but she usually kept her distance, stayed in her room, or hid out on deck. She just didn't want to rush into this, still feeling unsure. It was stupid, she knew that. She had decided to join them, and she didn't regret that, but wished Deuce was here with her. There was only a bit over 2 weeks left, she could handle that. At least if things went as it had the last 2 days. She did have a feeling Marco had said something to the others, sometimes seeing the man giving a glare when someone was getting too close or was just too much. It made her feel mad- she could handle herself- but also a bit thankful she didn't need to face everything yet.

During the next week, she managed to get a bit closer to a few, those being Izou, Marco, and Haruta, especially the latter. She liked the female commander, she seemed kind. The others were kind too, but they were more… rash, forward, or stoic. It was a start at least.

After two more days, she found less and less being outside as they were close to a winter island, being snowy and cold. As it was closing in on dinner, she was relaxing in the crow's nest of the middle mast, the one not being occupied until night, which Haruta had informed her of. She liked to hide here. But, as she had been there for a small bit, she heard yelling from below, looking down to see everyone out on deck running, getting their weapons out. She gave a small frown as she moved to move down from the crow's nest. And when she was halfway down, she noticed a couple ships a bit away.

They were under attack.

She moved down the crow's nest, seeing Marco yelling out commands to where people should go, her looking to the other side of the ship, seeing another ship there. She hadn't seen the ship's flag before, which looked to be a rookie one's as they didn't seem to have much of a plan, but they had a somewhat large number. Could be fun.

She jumped down the rest of the way, which wasn't too high, and when she landed, she lost her footing for a bit as one of the ship's cannon balls hit the ship, but didn't seem to injure anyone as it hit the side of the ship, not low enough to make them take in water. As she got her footing back, she headed over to the railing, close to the ship that had shot their cannons at them.

Ace watched the enemy shiin front of her, the ones on it trying to ready their canons again, but she wouldn't let them. She moved to stand on the railing, getting a better view of the ship and cannons, readying to throw an attack, when she heard someone yell "Watch out!" behind her, and when she turned to look, the other ship was headed straight for them, going to crash. Before she could even comprehend her own thought, the enemy ship crashed into the Moby, shocking and rocking the ship, making many fall to their knees or lose ballance.

But Ace, who was on the railing, fell into the icy water below.

Ace felt everything happen fast, barely seeing and understanding she was falling, seeing a few shocked looks from the ones on the deck, before she felt ice cold and everything was dark, unable to move. She wanted to scream, but couldn't even do that. She felt so weak, so cold, so alone in the dark. She could barely see something resembling light from the surface, which was growing darker and darker. Was this how she would die? She felt numb, ice cold and numb, all alone. She felt her eyes growing heavy, trying to keep them open, but unable too. It was all so dark and cold, and she felt so weak.

As she felt herself start to lose consciousness, she felt someone grab around her waist, before she felt cold rushing against her. As the barely visible got a bit more visible, everything went dark.

Ace felt herself coughing, her body hurting and feeling weak. She felt someone help her move to her stomach, Ace lifting herself on her hands, coughing. "You okay?" She managed to open her eyes a bit, still coughing, seeing Namur close to her, most likely the one to fish her out. No one could go into that ice water and swim, not a human at least. She managed to nod, trying to stop her coughing, feeling water being couched up as it hurt. After a few more coughs, she managed to speak. "Y-yeah." That had the fishman nod.

"Don't do that again, yoi." She turned her head a bit, seeing Marco a few feet away. "Don't stand on the railing. You can, and will, fall out." Ace gave one more hard cough, before she managed a few breaths, getting air into her burning lungs. "I was fine. Just the rocking that startled me." She had done this many times before. Marco shook his head. "Still, no. Are you okay? Do you need to go to the infirmary, yoi?" Ace gave a nod, before she managed to stand up. "I'm fine. I just need new clothes; my powers will warm me up." New clothes really sounded like the most amazing thing in the world right now. Marco gave a nod. "Good, yoi. And I never want to see you on the railing again." She shook her head a bit, starting to walk towards her bedroom. "Yeah yeah." She heard a sigh behind her, but no one spoke.

When Ace got to her bedroom, she put on some new clothes, using a towel to dry herself, before giving a small puff of her powers through her body, warming her up a bit. It felt amazing to not feel cold or weak again. It wasn't her first time falling in ice water, but she still hated it all. It was a bit worse than normal water, but both still sucked. As she headed out to dinner now, using a bit of time to warm herself, she still felt…cold. Not ice cold as earlier, but not as warm as she usually did after putting on new clothes.

She shook her head. Probably nothing.

-x-

Ace gave a sigh, walking out of her room. She had felt… off the last two days, after the fall in the water. She felt… cold, which was not something she was used too.

When she got to the galley, breakfast being now, she sat down and started to eat, not really feeling too hungry, not really feeling too well. She didn't feel 'bad', just not her usual self. She also felt like she had something in her throat, but couldn't get the feeling away. It would probably and hopefully go away soon.

After a bit, she looked to her side when someone- Marco- spoke. "Do you feel okay, yoi? You usually eat more." Ace looked up at Marco, giving a small shrug. "I...feel a bit off. But, I don't know." The first commander gave a small frown, moving a hand to her forehead before she could react. "You feel fine, no fever, yoi. Maybe it's just early." She gave a nod. That most likely explained it. Although, she didn't usually feel like this when she was tired, and she did feel cold.

But, Marco said she felt fine. It was probably all in her head.

She ate a bit more, before she didn't feel hungry at all. She didn't feel full, but not hungry or wanting food. She was probably tired, she hadn't slept too well the last two days, having a small coughs during the night that woke her. Maybe she reacted to the cold air, or the change of the cold to the warm air as they had gotten away from the winter weather. She had never reacted before, but maybe she just suddenly reacted.

She was sure she would be fine during the day, even though she felt the coughing getting worse. She didn't peculiarly help with the fixing of the ship after the attack, but she wanted to try and help.

-x-

Marco looked at Ace, who coughed into her hand. That didn't sound good. "You sure you're fine, yoi?" The woman nodded. "Yeah. Just something in my throat." He gave a nod. She did look fine, maybe somewhat pale, but nothing else. But, if she was still waking up from being tired, that was normal. It was still a small concern, especially as she had said she felt a bit off this morning.

But, she didn't have a fever, she had felt normal to the touch half and hour prior.

As time went by, he noticed Ace sometimes clearing her throat, looking to try and be silent about it. He would see how the day passed, and if it didn't stop by dinner, he would ask her to go see Bay, just in case. It might also be to get out of helping to repair the ship. He was sure it would stop by then, it was many hours away, the clock barely past 7 now as breakfast had finished a bit ago. As they were still trying to repair the damage to the ship, Marco overlooking everything, he heard Ace coughing to his left, sounding to be really hard and hacking, and when he was on his way to turn, to see if she was okay, it stopped, and when he saw Ace, he felt his body freeze.

"Marco, I don't feel too good," Said Ace, sounding half-mumbled, hand a bit away from her mouth, covered in blood, a bit even dripping down her cheek from her mouth.

Before he could react, Ace's eyes closed, her body going limp. He barely managed to catch her before she hit the deck, and when he did, he looked up at many shocked expressions, filled with worry. "Get Bay ready, yoi!" He yelled out, seeing Jensen taking off and running towards the infirmary. As he was sure someone was on their way to notify the doctor, he looked down at Ace. She had a lot of blood in her mouth, breathing shallow and raspy, a pained expression on her face.

He moved his hand to her forehead and neck, not feeling any signs of a fever or anything. She felt normal. "Marco?" He looked up at Thatch, and shook his head. "I don't know, yoi." He said as he lifted Ace in his arms, heading towards the infirmary. Seeing as she was coughing up blood, but had no fever or anything, not even looking sick, his first thought was poisoning, but only Bay could tell.

The doctor met them halfway, asking what had happened, Marco telling that Ace had suddenly coughed up blood, before collapsing. The doctor looked worried at that, and moved with them to the infirmary, ordering him to place her in a bed she had readied, before throwing him out of the infirmary, saying she needed to concentrate. He gave a sigh, hoping Ace would be fine, before going to update everyone, especially Pops.

What could have happened to make the woman this bad so fast?

When he told Pops what had happened, the man looked really worried, not sure what it was either, getting a frown as he was finished. "Did Bay say anything?" He shook his head. "No, yoi. But, nothing special has happened, and coughing up blood is normal with a lot of different poisons." That had the man frown more, seeming to think of that now too. After thinking for a few seconds, Pops told to gather everyone in the meeting room. When everyone was there, the fact Ace had coughed up blood and collapsed having spread, everyone knew why and was worried.

Pops asked if they had seen any weird behaviour, if anyone had seemed to be too close or have done anything to Ace or close to the woman. None had, and when they heard, or came to the conclusion themselves, that it could be poison, they were worried and tried to think of something, anything. None of them knew who or what could have done this, and wasn't sure if it was a plan since Deuce was now gone, meaning Ace was more open and alone. They didn't want to jump to conclusion, and tried to think of other things, but they needed to wait and see what Bay found out. If it was poison, the doctor would know.

It took almost two hours, but Bay soon came through the door.

Bay gave a sigh, looking at them around the table. "Portgas has pneumonia, a really bad case of it too." Marco blinked. "Pneumonia? How, yoi?" Bay shook her head. "From when she fell into the water two days ago. A bit of the water stayed in her lungs, keeping her powers from working there, and caused this. Had we caught it earlier, she wouldn't have been this bad." He saw Pops give a frown. "Is it really bad?" Bay nodded.

"Yes, it is. Her lungs are badly damaged, and I'm not too sure how badly, but it's bad. Her entire body is struggling."

He frowned. "It is, yoi? She didn't have a fever this morning." Bay gave him a frown. "What do you mean 'didn't have a fever' this morning?" Marco had a feeling he was missing something. "She said she felt a bit off during breakfast, and when I felt her forehead, it felt normal." Bay gave a breath, "You mean, normal temperature?" She sounded annoyed. "Yes, yoi." He really felt like he was missing something.

Bay looked to be suppressing biting his head off, taking a deep breath, before looking at Jozu, speaking in a mad-calm manner. "Commander Jozu, is your body temperature normal?" The man frowned, before shaking his head. "No. You know I lay 15 below." Bay gave a nod, before looking at him. "Now, Commander Marco, do you know why that is?" He nodded. "Yes, yoi. It because of his devil fruit." He knew Jozu was cold because of his diamond power. Diamonds where cold. Bay gave a nod. "Now. What kind of devil fruit does Portgas have?" Marco was about to answer, when it dawned on him.

Ace was made of fire. She was probably supposed to be way above normal temperature.

"She's supposed to be warm, yoi." Bay nodded, "Yes. She is supposed to lay around 140 fahrenheit." Marco moved a hand to his face, feeling bad for not realizing it. "Her being cold is her way of a fever." Bay nodded. "Yes. And for her to feel normal- which I also found out she is at now, even a bit under actually- is a really bad fever." He had outright said Ace was fine, when she was everything but fine. He would apologize his best when she was better.

Bay gave a breath, seeming to try and calm down, looking angry- which was understandable, he had ignored a really bad sign of sickness in someone- before she spoke. "Hopefully, the treatment I'm giving will work, which are antibiotics intravenously, and straight to her lungs through a mask, since her breathing is bad too, along with a handful other medications. This will hopefully go by fine and she will recover good."

Everyone gave a nod, Bay giving another sigh. "She will be out for a bit, and I will keep her out with some drugs to be sure she relaxes. I have never seen a case this bad before." That was saying something, he knew the doctor had seen a lot. He looked at the doctor. "Is there a chance it won't heal well, yoi?" He hoped not, but needed to know. The woman gave a sigh, before nodding. "I hope her powers will help her, but seeing how bad of a case this is, there is a chance she might get issues with her lungs, but it is too early to tell." If that happened, if she got any kind of lasting damage, he would never forgive himself for telling Ace she felt fine earlier. Bay gave a click with her tongue, before she left.

As she left, he gave a sigh, feeling guilty, moving a hand to his face. He heard Pops speak up after a few seconds. "Everyone back to your duties, and if anyone asks, tell what we know what is wrong with Ace, but no visits for her and try to keep everyone calm." He heard some giving words of agreement, before he heard everyone moving out of the room.

As everyone was gone, he felt Pops moving a hand to his back. "Don't blame yourself, son." Marco shook his head. "She told me she felt off, and I told her she was fine, yoi. I should have realised she shouldn't have a normal temperature." he heard Pops give a sigh. "What's done is done, son. Right now, let's wait and hope for the best. Ace is a tough woman." He gave a nod, that was true, but he still felt guilty. Pops gave him a pat on the back. "I am sure she will be fine, and you can apologize to her when she wakes up." He would do that, and gave a nod, taking a breath and standing up. He would hope Pops was right. "I'll go and make sure the others do what they're supposed to do, yoi." Pops gave a small sigh. "Don't blame yourself too much, I am sure Ace won't." How would he know that.

He gave a nod nonetheless, heading out and being sure the repairs went by fine, answering the few ones who asked him about Ace, telling she had pneumonia and would hopefully be fine soon.

He really hoped she would be completely fine.

-x-

Whitebeard looked around the infirmary when he walked in, wanting to know how Ace was. He had waited until it was closer to the evening to come here, wanting to give Ace and Bay peace.

When he walked into the infirmary, he saw Bay next to a bed that was behind some curtains, feeling it was the bed Ace was in. No one was in the infirmary now, no one getting a bad enough injury to stay in the infirmary, thankfully, aside from Ace. As the doctor saw him, she clicked her tongue. "I'm guessing you're here to see how Portgas is?" He gave a nod. "Yes, if it is a good time." The woman gave a nod. "Now is not a bad time, she is still asleep though, and will be for some time. I'm just going to change some things, and then I can give an update." He gave a nod, seeing the woman holding an empty IV bag, and moving to the supply room.

As she did that, he moved to a chair next to Ace's bed, the woman lying asleep with a mask over her face, a fog inside it when the woman exhaled, a machine connected to the tube to the mask, most likely being a sort of medication mixed with the oxygen. She had an IV in her hand, which had two tubes to it, one connected to a bag, and one not, most likely the one Bay was currently changing. The woman still looked pale, breath sounding hoarse and half-shallow.

He moved a hand to give the woman a small stroke on the head, glad she was getting help now, and hoped everything would be fine. He knew the woman was tough.

After a couple minutes, Bay came back again, a bag full of something in her hand, moving to hook it up to the IV in Ace's hand, before moving to look at him. "She is doing okay. It is still early to say how she will be, but she is responding good to the treatment up until now. I will know more in a day or two." He gave a nod, that was something good, that Ace seemed to get better. She hadn't been in the infirmary for a day, and it would take time for her body to start help fix this. He knew pneumonia was bad, and this was a worse case than normal.

The doctor checked the woman a bit, before she moved to fix things around the infirmary. She liked to have it up to her standards, which were high, and that was good. The infirmary had gotten much better after she joined the family and became the head doctor. As the doctor went to do her things in the infirmary, he decided to stay for a bit, even though the woman was asleep, and would be for a bit.

After half an hour, Whitebeard looked to the bed when he heard a small groan, seeing Ace's face constricting in pain, clenching her hands. He gave a frown. "Bay, I think Ace is waking up." The woman frowned, walking over quickly.

"What? She should be asleep for at least 6 more hours."

He looked back at Ace, who clearly was waking up, eyes opening and giving whimpers and groans. She really was waking up. Bay moved hurriedly to Ace's side. "I can't give her more sleeping drugs intravenously. But, she shouldn't be awake yet as it might be too much strain on her lungs." He nodded, on his way to ask what they could do, when Ace moved a hand to her face, seeming to try and take the mask off, breath hitching and speeding up.

Ace was starting to panic. That could, and most likely would, make this worse.

Bay moved to take Ace's hand away from the mask, which had the woman seeming to panic more, eyes looking around, but not seeming to see where she was. She was on different drugs, so it was no surprise she was confused. "N-no. Please don't," Mumbled the kid, trying to fight against Bay, before giving a few hacking coughs, which had blood splatter on the inside of the mask and tricking a bit down her cheeks. "I need to give her some sleeping gas. But, it won't work if she's panicking." He gave a nod, moving a finger to her hand, keeping it from removing the mask and giving Bay both hands to work with, looking down at the kid.

"It's fine, Ace. You're safe, on the Moby. You're sick from falling in the water. You need to relax." It didn't seem to work and Ace tried to fight against him, coughing a bit more. Bay moved and got a syringe, putting the content into the machine the tube to the mask came from, seeing the oxygen in the mask fogging a bit. But, he knew it wouldn't work if Ace didn't breathe in completely.

He moved a finger to carefully stroke her head. "Relax, Ace. You're safe and will be okay. You're on the Moby, in the infirmary." The woman gave another cough, not calming down, but he saw her looking at him and her eyes half-focusing.

"Relax, daughter. Everything will be fine, I promise. Just breathe, take a few deep breaths, it will help."

After another bloody cough, Ace took a deep breath, him feeling Ace grasping his finger, most likely in small fear, before taking another breath, and another. Then her eyes slowly closed, and her breathing completely calmed down, hand releasing the grasp on his finger.

Bay gave a sigh as she was asleep again. "I will remember to use different sleeping drugs next time. Thank you for the help, Pops." He shook his head. "It's nothing. Will she be fine?" The doctor looked at Ace, listening to her breathing, before she gave a nod. "It didn't seem to do much more damage. It looks worse than what it is. I will clean the blood away in a bit, when I'm sure she's completely asleep." He nodded, glad she didn't hurt herself.

He stayed in the infirmary a bit more, having a hand close to Ace as finger stroked her head, hoping it brought some comfort, even though she was asleep. After half an hour, Bay cleaned the blood off of Ace's face, changing the mask quickly, Ace staying asleep through it and after it, which was good.

When it was starting to become late, he decided to leave. And when he stood up, Bay clicked her tongue. "It is still early, but it looks good, better than what I would have thought at first. Tell Commander Marco she will be fine, and to remember devil fruits usually have an effect on one's body." He gave a nod. "I will." The doctor gave a nod, before going back to her things. When he was on his way to his room, thinking of heading to relax and tun in for the night, he met a few who wondered how Ace was, and he told what Bay had said, that it looked good. When he saw Marco, and told what the doctor had said, the man gave a small chuckle, seeming glad Ace would be fine. He was still sure the first commander would do his best to apologize.

He was sure everything would turn out fine.

-x-

Haruta gave a breath, seeing Ace who still laid asleep in the bed in the infirmary. She hoped the other would soon wake up become better. Bay had said she would be better soon, but it had still only been a day.

She wanted to see how Ace was and see if the woman was awake- which she wasn't- but hope she might wake up. Bay had said she had been a bit awake during the night, but only short periods. She had been trying to be closer to the woman the last days before this, and she felt she had managed. Ace looked to be enjoying being around her, and she knew how it was to be the youngest on the ship, often being babied or kept back. Ace was strong, and the others had realised it, but they still, at times, somewhat babied the woman, letting her off. Haruta had also told her some hiding places, which she was sure Ace liked and was one of the reasons they had become sort of friends.

As she was sitting and relaxing beside the bed, she looked at Ace when she heard the breathing changing a bit, seeing Ace's face a bit constricted in pain.

Haruta blinked, before looking towards Bay. "I think she's waking up." The doctor nodded. "I will prepare some medication then, she needs to be awake for them." The commander nodded, looking back at Ace, who gave a few groans and other small sounds, eyes half-opening at times. She tried to keep her smile, even though she felt worried when Ace looked to be in pain. As she was about to see if she could do anything, a voice from the door had her turn, seeing Vincent- someone from Marco's division- there. "Commander Haruta, Marco asked if you could help with a few things." Why did the other commander need her now of all times? She gave a nod, moving to stand up, hoping it would go fast so she could go back here.

But, as she stood up and had taken a half-step, a hand moved to grab her sleeve, keeping her from moving, turning to see Ace looking at her with small fear in her eyes, breathing hard.

She moved to look back at Vincent. "Ask Marco if anyone can do it instead, I am sure someone can." Vincent gave a nod, before he left, her sitting back in her chair again, moving to hold onto Ace's hand that had been grasping her arm, not seeming to have much strength. "How are you?" Ace took a few shallow breaths. "H-hurts." She gave a nod. "Bay is getting something to help now." Ace gave a small nod, seeming to have issues taking breaths, making her worried. Before she could ask for Bay again, the doctor was beside the bed, a needle moving to the Iv in her hand, injecting something, doing a thing to the machine the mask was connected to, then looking at Ace. "The pain should subdue a bit in a few seconds." Ace gave a nod, seeming to try and breathe calmly.

Haruta kept holding Ace's hand, the woman not seeming to mind it, even seeming to like the notion. After half a minute, Ace seemed to breathe a bit calmer, but still seeming to have issues, Bay watching closely. After a bit more time, Bay gave a frown, moving a hand to Ace's chest, the frown growing. "Does it still hurt as bad?" Ace gave a small nod, making Bay move and grab another needle, preparing another dose of what she believed was pain relief, making her give a small frown. "Does she need more? It did seem to help a bit." She didn't know much about medicine and all of this. Bay gave a nod. "It also relaxes the muscles, the reasons it looked to help, a false pain relief. The pain should subdue." She gave a nod, somewhat understanding that.

As Bay injected that into the IV in Ace's arm, the door opened again, and this time, Marco was there, making Haruta believe she needed to leave. Before she could ask about it, Marco spoke. "Izou could take over, yoi. I wanted to see how Ace is, Vincent said she was awake." She gave a nod, understanding that and glad someone could do whatever it was.

"Ace just woke up, and getting some pain relief stuff now." Marco gave a nod, walking over to them. "Do you need any help, Bay?" The doctor gave a nod, moving a hand to Ace's chest again. "Could you go and get the nebulizer on the desk? It's prepared."

The first commander nodded, getting the thing, Ace seeming to breathe more calmly now, seeming more calm too. The doctor looked at Ace again. "Does it feel better now?" Ace gave a nod, which had her give a breath, glad it helped. When Marco was beside them again, he handed a thing to Bay, seeming like a small machine with a mask on, looking at Ace. "We did this once earlier, remember it?" Ace gave a small nod again. Bay nodded, turning a few things. "Remember, 3 deep breaths are enough, but try 5."

Ace gave a nod, and Bay pushed a button, making the machine make a sort of fog, and Ace removed Ace's mask, which had her wondering what she was doing, placing the mask from the machine on Ace's face, Ace doing her best to take deep breaths, but seemed to have issues. After doing 4, Ace stopped taking deep breaths, making Bay remove the machine thing, and placing the original mask back on. "There. It should take a minute for the effect, but it should help a lot."

Ace gave a nod, eyes closing as she concentrated on breathing, her hand giving a small squeeze, making Haruta give one back, Ace looking to be glad by that. This was probably a lot for Ace, and she was in pain and maybe scared of everything that was happening.

After a minute, her breathing seemed to go even easier, eyes opening again. When she did, Bay gave the woman a look, which she nodded too, and Bay clicked her tongue. "Commander Haruta and Marco, if you could help be get Portgas to a sitting position, it would make everything much easier for everyone." Both gave a nod, helping the woman sit up a bit on some pillows behind her. "Should she be sitting up?" She had to ask. Bay nodded. "It can help, and lying in bed is, as many say, boring, and she should be a bit up and talking, to use her lungs." That was true.

When Ace was up, she seemed more relaxed. Marco gave the woman in the bed a look. "Do you feel okay, yoi?" Ace gave a nod. "Y-yeah." She still sounded hoarse, but she looked better. Marco gave a nod. "That's good, yoi. You had everyone worried when you collapsed. But it takes more than this to make you keel over." That had Ace give a small laugh, which had her give a chuckle too. Ace was tough.

But, after a second, Ace moved a bit to the left, the hand letting go of hers as it moved underneath the mask, coughing into it. Bay gave a click with her tongue as Ace coughed, grabbing a paper towel, Haruta seeing a bit of red dripping for Ace's hand, which had her really worried.

After a second, the coughing let up, the hand moving away to show a bloody hand and chin, Bay giving her the paper towel to dry it away. Bay saw her, and Marco's, worried look, and clicked her tongue again. "This is normal. And will be like this for a day or so, before it gets better, but it does look good. If it gets worse, or more painful, it's bad." Both gave a nod, glad that it wasn't anything too bad, but she felt bad the woman had to go through this. When Ace had cleaned most of it away, she put the mask back on, Bay placing it right.

As it was placed, the door suddenly opened, Jason, a person from second division, standing there, looking to have a broken arm, looking nervous. Bay gave a loud sigh. "Let me guess. Accident while training?" The man nodded, making Bay shake her head. "I swear, I will tell Pops to not allow anyone to train without supervision." The doctor looked at Marco. "Can you stay here for a bit, while I handle another stupid accident? You know what to look after, and get me the second it even looks bad." Marco nodded. "I can, yoi." Bay nodded, before walking to Jason, muttering small curses and words under her breath, taking the man to a private room to fix the arm.

As they were gone, Ace spoke up. "Is- is she like that?" Haruta nodded. "Yeah. If the visit could have been avoided, she gets mad." Ace gave a nod, seeming a bit shocked about it. She guessed Ace hadn't seen this side of Bay before, usually only being like that when it was an unnecessary reason.

Marco gave a small chuckle, before looking at Ace. "Ace, I'm sorry for not realising you were sick, yoi. I shouldn't have said you felt fine, when you didn't." Ace shook her head a bit. "It's fine. I should have realised myself." Marco gave a small shake of his head. "Still, yoi. I should have realised before you collapsed on the deck." Ace gave a small chuckle. "Don't tell Deuce that. This has happened many times before. Maybe not with new-nye-nymonia…" Marco gave a chuckle. "Pneumonia, yoi." Ace gave a small nod. "I don't think I can say it…" Haruta thought, before she came up with an idea. "Think of it like 'nyoom', and then 'monia'. Nyoomonia." Ace blinked, before trying. "Nyoomonia. That was smart." Even Marco gave a chuckle, nodding. "It was, yoi. Simple. The 'p' at the start is weird and unfitting." That had them all laugh a bit. It was true.

As Ace laughed, he suddenly cut off as she coughed, sounding painful, moving to cough into her hand, a bit of blood coming up, making her worried again.

Marco just gave a small sigh, giving her a paper towel, her drying her hand and face when she stopped coughing. If Marco didn't react, who knew all of this better than her, she had a feeling it looked worse than what it was.

As Ace got her breath back, she asked if anything had happened the last days, Haruta starting to tell. Nothing much had happened, being worried for her. Aside from that, Thatch had faked two emergencies in the kitchen to get out of helping repair the ship, which had Marco mad, the man even giving a small complaint now. Ace gave a small chuckle at it, this time not coughing, which was good. They spoke for almost 10 minutes, Ace seeming to enjoy herself, coughing a few times. But, after the 10 minutes, she noticed Ace seeming tired, before she just fell asleep, making her blink. Marco shook his head. "It's normal, yoi. Her body is doing a lot to fix this." She nodded, glad the man was as calm, and it made sense.

Marco then changed the way she laid, before moving to do something on the oxygen machine, making her frown. Marco saw it and shook his head again. "One usually gets more oxygen when asleep, yoi. Especially when one needs help to breathe." She was glad Marco knew about this, making her feel better. Ace seemed to be okay in her sleep, and when Bay returned half an hour later, she seemed satisfied she was asleep and how things had gone while she was gone. Marco left then, and she stayed a bit longer, before she also left. Haruta came back the next day, and the day after, spending time with Ace, Ace being more and more awake each day, getting better as the coughing got less and less, the blood stopping after 3 days, and she seemed almost herself again, her energy back, which made her glad.

Ace seemed to enjoy her company, and she liked it herself, finding Ace someone she could bond with. Pops had also stopped by a couple days and joined in on their conversations, seeming glad Ace was better, and that they seemed to become good friends. She was glad about that herself. Thatch had also stopped by a few times, as well as a handful other commanders and other people, mostly from Ace's old crew.

She was glad she was connecting to Ace, and Ace was, slowly, opening more up, to all of them. A few more than others, the ones she seemed to speak the most to being Thatch, Marco, Izou, Rakuyo, Pops, and herself. It was going in the right direction, and she, as well as everyone, was glad about that.

Especially as she seemed better and recovering perfectly, even amazing Bay a bit. Things would turn out well.

-x-

After being in the infirmary for a bit over a week, Ace was soon going to get the clear from Bay, being better as her fruit helped her heal and fight off the pneumonia. Marco was glad Ace seemed to be better, only needing to be in the infirmary for the rest of today, to be sure she was fine. He was glad Ace was also getting more close to them, especially a few of them. This had thought them new things, that she would, and could, his not being well. And she was never to feel normal to the touch. He would never forget that.

As Bay was doing the last look at her lungs for now, the door opened to reveal Deuce, who gave an annoyed sigh and glare at Ace.

"I was literally gone for under 3 weeks, and you somehow manage to get the worst case of pneumonia they have ever seen! Just how do you manage that!" Ace gave a small chuckle, also giving a shrug. "It just happens. Turns out lungs and seawater don't mix." The man gave a sigh, walking over to them. "I don't get how we were able to sail alone with a crew of 4. You manage everything one is not supposed to do!" Ace gave a laugh. "And, after all, you still love me." Deuce sighed. "Sometimes I wonder why."

Ace laughed, which turned into coughing, a bit of a hacking one, but not sounding bad. But, it still had Deuce giving the woman a worried look. "I was told you were fine. You don't sound fine." Ace gave a nod. "I am. I am at least not coughing up blood and feeling like my lungs will come up." Bay clicked her tongue, looking at Deuce. "The small cough is normal. She will have it for at least a day, maybe two. If it lasts longer, I want her back." Deuce gave a nod. "Of course. I will make sure to keep an eye and ear out." Bay gave a nod, happy with that. "She will also stay here for today, at least until dinner." Deuce gave a nod, sitting down on the bed next to Ace. "I'm okay with being here. Some relaxation time sounds great." He said as he leaned back on the bed, relaxing.

Ace gave a small laugh, moving to lay back herself. "How did the mission go?" Deuce gave a small hum. "Fine, that's why we're here after only being away for 2 and a half weeks." Ace gave a nod. "Did you do anything fun?" The man gave a chuckle, before starting to tell what had happened. Marco decided to take his leave, knowing Ace would be better and out of the infirmary later today.

He was glad things had gone fine, and she did seem to get closer to the others. He was sure things would get better now and they would get to know the woman more and more, he found her interesting and she had a nice personality.

And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed

This chapter got way longer than I thought, and I tried to keep it short, and not rush it too bad, and hope it was okay. I know it was rushed, but I hope I got some of the bonding through

To the important thing. I've noticed this doesn't seem to be to people's interest, at least not the last 2-3 chapters. And if people aren't interested, I'm going to put this on pause (Hiatus) for now, until I either decide to continue, people want me to continue, or just end it. I would like to see if anyone is still interested, if not, this will be on hiatus for a bit as I don't see the point of writing if people aren't interested

Beta note: I was trying to help out dear author pronounce "pneumonia" and improvised, so that's how "nyoomonia" was born

If you have the time, I greatly appreciate feedback

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