Author's Notes: This chapter is a gift to trishaewhite and Celine040719. Thank you for supporting this short story and its many clips. XD I, honestly, couldn't decide which clip to use this time, but we're going to go with Ace trying to buy Nesi a present. It's a pretty short clip, and this moment occurs before the Spades and the Tongueless Siren fleet (Moga and Schooner) become allies.

~ ... Gifts for a Girl... ~

While Ace and his boys were docked at a new town, Nesi decided to try to finally create a space for herself. She couldn't take Ace's natural odor anymore, and the laundry room was becoming more established. Her need of space suddenly became mandatory. Plus, she wanted something more to her tastes. She supposed she could buy some paint once a proper room was chosen. The Bloody Doubloon wasn't a large vessel since it could only house ten people, but Nesi and Discount worked together to expand room on the ship since he was the largest man out of the Spades crew and needed that elbow room. He and Corale stayed behind this time to work on rearranging the crew's cabin. It took some serious planning and a bit of demolition, which was Discount's favorite part, but a wall was knocked down to expand the crew's cabin. The awkward shape to the new space made Nesi rethink her plans for possible storage and wound up adding some bunk bed space for all of the boys plus a guest! The window to the crew's cabin could actually be widened, and the window garden could extend, too. Dismantling the bunk beds to start on the expansion, Nesi drew up plans for the new bunk sizes. She did run into a small problem with unused space, but the crew's cabin actually was a room away from the laundry room. It became a closet for the boys' clothes and eliminated the need for trunks and luggage bags.

Checking the captain's cabin, Nesi resized Ace's bunk bed and started drawing up dimensions of the room to rethink his space. The Bloody Doubloon was just an all-around awkwardly spaced and built ship, but it gave Ace's crew character. Funny enough, there was a small closet behind the shotgun wall of the main cabin that Nesi didn't notice before. She hummed, open the closet door, and yelped when a rat jumped out. Baragon quickly caught it, killed it, and tossed it overboard. He was hacking from the taste of it. Apparently, he didn't like rats. Seeing mostly old wood and old items, Nesi hummed before marking the wall where she wanted Discount to demolish.

"Alright, Discount, you're up!" Nesi cheered, moving out of the way for the boys to tear into the wall.

She was surprised by Corale's excitement for kicking things in, but she let the boys do their thing and noticed that some of the items were actually preserved. The rat chewed through anything that resembled paper, but there were metal objects that could potentially be refurnished for use or collection. She got to work sifting through the old stuff and let Corale prepare a trash-burning station. Wood that was too old or rotten to use was burned outside, but newer woods were kept for firewood and Discount went to work on bundling those. Around lunchtime, the boys startling trickling in but not many of them.

"Is the captain on his way, too?" Corale asked.

"Nah, we actually found something of interest. He just wanted us to check on you," Deuce replied, unbothered by the loud explosion in the distance. "How's it goin'?"

"We're demoing the sleeper cabins," Corale replied, equally unbothered by the noise and screaming. "We might be done by dinnertime, actually."

"Need another set of hands? Might go by faster," Deuce offered, taking a bite out of an apple.

"Check with Nesi in the kitchen. We knocked out a wall for a mess hall," Corale informed, taking a swig of water from his canteen. "We've been tearing up the joint!"

"Pretty sure tearing down walls doesn't count as cleaning the ship," Deuce said with a slight squeak in his voice.

"She what!?" Cuatro and Triska questioned, eyes widened from dread. Ace was going to tear them a new one if the ship was destroyed!

"It'll be fine. She's just extending certain rooms," Corale reassured, waving a hand nonchalantly. "Dude, we need the space. Plus, I think you might be able to make us some money with this stuff Nesi found. Check this out."

Ace was finishing up his work on some marines, who decided to challenge him, and walked back into town as the government's toy poodles hustled to save their beloved ships. With things ablaze behind him, he merely smirked and watched his boys loot the other pirate crew terrorizing the small town and some of the soldiers that were smart enough to stay on land while the rest were swimming back to shore with their tails between their legs. Once they were done, Ace caught the scent of food and wandered back to his own ship with dinner either made or being started. He was actually surprised that Discount wanted to stay behind with the floor scrubber this time. It seemed some of the boys were taking to her quite well. Deuce could always get a berrie out of her from some con, Cuatro could pick up a girl successfully, Triska was becoming eager to learn a new skill, and Corale almost always stayed behind to monitor Baragon or help clean the ship.

"Berries for Antiques! Whaddawe got? Whaddawe got? Can I have 5 berrie for this shorthand telescope? Great gift for the kids. Want your boy in the sciences, kids going camping, sailing 'round the coast? Can't go wrong with a stylish, shorthand telescope! I see 5 berrie, 5 berrie, 5 berrie! How 'bout 10 berrie? Is that a 10? Okay, 10!"

"What the hell am I seeing right now?" Ace questioned, watching Deuce auction off some stuff.

What'd he say? The man could somehow get a berrie out of some con he quickly thought up as long as it involved Nesi... who was holding up the antique telescope in a cushioned box. In all fairness, it was a nice-looking article. Where'd they even get that, though? Who the hell bought the floor scrubber a wig? When'd she get a wig? Nah, scratch that! When did she get that dress? What's with the makeup? There're too many men out here!

"Does the girl come with it?" one guy asked, making the crowd chuckle a bit. Nesi played along and shook her head as she chuckled silently with them.

Deuce replied, "Sorry, boys, the lady is only interested in fine dining, romantic sailing trips, and gentlemen who... like antiques! I see a 15 there! Can I get a 20 if the lady giftwraps your antique?"

After all of the antiques were sold, berrie collected, and wig and dress returned to their boutiques, the Spades returned to the Bloody Doubloon for dinner. Ace was pleasantly surprised by the amount of space Nesi was able to gain through her demolition efforts. He didn't ask for any of it and was sure he merely ordered for her to clean the ship, but he's come to learn that the floor scrubber never just cleans the ship. When the boys were fascinated by the space that was in the cabin, Ace inspected things there and went into his cabin to see how open it all was. He learned from Deuce that the antiques had come from behind the wall in his cabin. Antiques that were of higher value and more decorative were kept as either treasure or decoration. He had hanging lights in his cabin now, and the desk was moved over and back to make space for his bedding. Plans to rearrange things were etched into the floorboards or on the walls. He noticed that two beds weren't part of the planning, so he looked at the markings surrounding his hammock again. He could see that the bed was going to be extended and widened, but...

Was Nesi trying to sleep with him? In the same bed? It looked big enough for two people, or at least one and a half people. He was sure he didn't give her enough time to have a baby on board. As cute as Nesi would be as a mother, he did give her permission to sleep that close to him. She was bunking elsewhere. Probably with the crew in their cabin since it's got the extra space now, but that didn't make sense either. She made a canopy chair on the deck so she could sleep in peace, and she sometimes slept in the laundry room. While the boys were distracted, Ace started investigating. He saw the laundry room was connected to the crew's cabin, the treasury room was in the back, the mess hall and kitchen were now connected, the shower room was on the level below and was probably the biggest room in the whole ship with the added tub Nesi had to make. He still didn't understand why she was uncomfortable with showering with the boys. She's seen almost everyone in the nude now. She isn't even bothered by naked men anymore. The boys respect her.

Okay, so Ace pretty much indirectly made her build a portable bench that one time. It wasn't his fault! He didn't know! In the shower room, there was a long bench she made for the boys to sit down as they steamed up or bathed. Nesi had her tub situated away from them for space and connected to Baragon's pool to watch him or keep him company as he played. Ace... didn't like that she was so far away, okay! So, he grabbed a chair and sat in front of her. He didn't pay attention to his thighs parting wide enough to see... well, him, but Nesi was clever. Cleverer than he gives her credit for. Using her foot, which was hidden under the lid of the tub, she quickly lifted a wall that covered him up to where she couldn't see anything at all. Confused by the small bit of plank making a noise, he looked down to see the bit of wood and a smirk on her face. Her ghost haki had activated a bit, though. That only happened when she felt threatened or grossly insulted. He didn't say anything to her just yet, so he deduced that she felt threatened. She still couldn't control her haki, so her innermost negative emotions materialized into power. Positive emotions made plants grow if she was near them or Baragon sing. They must've argued for an hour over her getting out of the tub every once in a while. It wasn't that he wanted to see her naked. He didn't want her to feel threatened, so she made a portable bench in consideration of "his whining".

Regardless, he couldn't find - oh! Wait what?

"Floor scrubber!" Ace called, earning a hum in response.

Nesi walked up to him to see what was wrong but didn't find anything to be unusual other than her underwear drying on a small clothesline. She then asked, "Aye, captain?"

"What's all this?" Ace questioned.

"I haven't decided yet, but I was hoping to make this into a ladies' room," Nesi explained. "If not, this could also be an equipment room. I'll figure it out after renovations are complete."

"Writing all over the damn walls is not cleaning the ship, scrubbing bubble," Ace growled, furrowing his brow through a wicked smile. He was fully displeased with this.

"I'm aware. The chalk is washable. It'll be gone in less than twenty minutes," Nesi replied, unmoved by the captain's anger. She seemed tired. "We have enough money to buy lumber. Would you mind staying docked here for another day while the bunks are being redone? Or did you run into petty folk again?"

"Why must you do everything but clean the ship, Llandala?" Ace questioned.

"Actually, it's my gift to you. It's been a year since you left home to become a pirate. Happy anniversary, captain," Nesi congratulated, smiling warmly.

That earned his silence and made him turn to her. She nodded sweetly at him before taking her stuff down and sighing. Guess she couldn't use this space for a room. Ace didn't approve. While Nesi and the boys were sleeping, Ace played Nesi's words in his head over and over again. How'd she know it's been that long since he left home? Who told her? As the memories came over him, he went from frowning to smiling. It's really been a year! Well, actually, it's going on two years. Nesi was a bit off timewise. His anniversary would've been two to three months ago. He could even remember the day he met each member of his crew. He didn't have to use the fact that he was Gol D. Roger's son to get them; in fact, they didn't even care if he was or not. They went with him because of his character, potential, and leadership. Nesi was the only one who was different. He took her in. She didn't ask to join him as a Spade.

Why did he want her to join, though? Was it because of her haki activating in those final moments? Her persistence? Her kindness around the unfortunate? Or...? Because she had nowhere else to go? The marines would've been on her tail just because she did what she did to some of them. She would've never been safe. She was more a pirate than he thought. Sitting up in his bed, he thought about things again and decided to leave the ship for a moment. By morning, Nesi was surprised by new plants and pots, ladies' magazines, and a sign that said "Ladies Only" all sitting in the room she was claiming before. When she spotted Ace down the hall, she blushed, ran at him with full speed, and tackled him to the floor with a big hug.

"I can keep the space, captain? You really mean it?" Nesi asked, straddling the young man.

Ace scrambled to get up when he felt their sensitive areas touching and blushed minutely at the contact. He wasn't ready for that response! Nesi didn't seem to care and hugged him again. She laughed and made the plants grow fuller. When Baragon started singing, Ace remained silent and just turned his head. He marked the day as one he never wanted to forget...