Ace had bruises and cuts all over his body. If they weren't striking him, they'd whip him, trying to get him to give up Luffy's location. Of course, true to his nature, Ace remained silent. After they left Rina used her field medic skills to try to heal him just enough that the pain was eased, but not enough that the guards would grow suspicious.
She had seen a lot. She'd been born to a homeless mother nearly two centuries ago, in that time she'd gone from being homeless, to having a makeshift home with another civilian from her birth district along with her mother and twin brother. To moving into a mansion in the Seireitei while her mother attended the academy. Then her mother had earned enough with a little help from the family that her honorary Aunt had married into for them to buy their own house.
Even still, her mother took in four other boys who were in desperate need of a safe place to call home, boys that Rina grew to call her adoptive brothers. Toru, Hiroshi, Daichi, and Kenta were as dear to her as her twin Yoshiya. Then the war had happened. Her mother hadn't directly participated, instead she had been ordered by her Captain to defend the Rukongai citizens against stragglers who deviated away from the main battle.
Rina and Yoshiya had assisted with this task as had the boys, and that had been when she first met her biological father. He attempted a relationship with her mother, which Rina had grown to feel was more for their sake, rather than him actually wishing to be with their mother. He had only stuck around for a short time but it was long enough for her little sister to be born.
Now her mom was a single mom of seven, and that carried a heavy stigma back home, but one her mother took with strength and grace that she couldn't help but admire. "Life is like a deck of cards. You just have to playing the hand you've got until you get one that you can make work for you," she'd tell Rina.
The silvery haired girl moved her hands away from Ace's body, and he gave her a grateful glance. The guards had moved away from his cell, and now came his favourite part of the day, talking with her.
"Oh yeah, the debate was still on about what to name the Lynx when I left," Rina hinted.
"We called him Kotatsu," Ace informed her. He'd expected her to smile, or something—really anything compared to the cold furious gaze she was giving him right now.
"What? It's Japanese right? Well, you're Japanese, and I wanted to honour you somehow. After all you're the one who healed him," Ace defended his decision.
"Yeah, It's a Japanese word alright," Rina agreed, her eye twitching a little as she pointed to a nearby table and stated, "kotatsu."
His face visibly flushed before he snickered at the realization of what he'd done and why it irritated her so greatly. The Lynx had been a majestic, loyal, fierce member of the crew—and he'd unintentionally named the massive feline 'table'.
He muttered something under his breath in Portugese, which she not only understood but replied to with, "if you'd bothered listening to the words coming from my mouth instead of getting lost in my eyes you would've known that."
This of course caused him to blush intensely as he accused her, "hey. I'm the one chained up here—you wanna try being nicer?"
"Oh pardon me, Mr. 'I-think-table-in-a-different-language-is-a-great-name-for-a-strong-cat'," she scoffed before laughing a little. Ace quietly chuckled at her mockery. He stopped laughing momentarily before telling her, "you know in this world—there's something called a Vivre card. It's basically a piece of paper but it's made with someone's nail clippings. Anyway, it's a means of someone always being able to find their way back to you. I keep thinking, once I'm dead, who's gonna be left to safe guard Luffy?"
He shook his head a little before elaborating, "I know his crew would stand by him. Protect him as much as they can but he's a handful—and he never backs down once he starts."
Rina nodded a little before offering, "I will. There's a way I can bind his life force to mine—so I'd be able to know when he's in danger. I just have to meet him once, I can do it without him ever knowing—and I can do small things that won't directly interfere with the outcome, but tip the scales to his advantage. It's not outright breaking the rules I'm governed by, but rather—bending them ever so slightly."
"You'd do that? You'd check in on him? He's just one human though," Ace pointed out.
She nodded in agreement as she confirmed, "he is. But he's your little brother. The way my government sees it we owe you a favour for what you did for me the last time I was in this world, so—say the word and I'll make it happen. Besides, if the shoe was on the other foot—if I was weakened, or injured and some punk kidnapped Sora, you heard of it—tell me you wouldn't change course and track the vermin down yourself."
He nodded his head a little and acknowledged, "you're right. Even if we weren't friends—I'd still be going after anyone who dared to threaten a kid. The fact she's your little sister would just be stronger motivation to get to her quickly."
"I know it," she answered. This wasn't right. He was there for her when she had nobody else. He accepted his crew regardless of appearance or race, he treated everyone of them the same. He kept her secret, he never spoke of her in the two years since she left. He was loyal to his brother, he'd risk an all out war to rescue captive children, and to free others who were enslaved by tyrants. He was a good man. A pirate, yes, but a good man none the less. He didn't deserve this. This was happening to him because of an accident of birth. He had no control over his genetics, he didn't choose who his parents were. Fate made that decision for him, fate could be so cruel, and she wished she could turn fate into ice vapor. She wanted to, but she knew she risked court marshall and execution if she did, and where would that lead them? He'd raise hell on earth trying to find a way to save her. She knew him well enough to know that much.
"Quit torturing yourself," his voice called to her, breaking through her thoughts. She looked to him, slightly startled. He gave her a trademark smile before admitting, "I may not read books too much—but that doesn't mean I can't read you."
She gave a small giggle at the comparison and nodded her head in acknowledgement as she vowed, "I'll try. But seeing you in this state, not being able to do anything about it—it's a unique torture on its own."
"You can leave if you want," he offered.
"No," she declined as she sat on the stone floor of the cell, looking right at him as she clarified, "there were times I told you to stay away, you didn't listen. You let me lean on you when I thought I had no one I could trust. I won't abandon you. Not now."
