Author's Notes: Alright, back to our usual snippets of chaos. XD For context, this clip happens during the timeline of One Piece, so Ace is a proper Whitebeard commander and Nesi is undergoing... well, you'll see. ;-D This chapter is a gift to Just_A_W0lf_who_Loves_T0_Read and Phljulianna. Say hi, everybody!

~ ... Gimme Grandkids! ... ~

Finding the pirate tavern, The Fine Barrel, of Canary Fief was easier than Ace thought. He guessed there was no way anyone could miss it since the mayor of the sister cities at the coast and further inland owned the place, but it also made for an easy target with the dude wearing an actual canary costume. Was it necessary? Probably not, but Ace made quick work of getting the information that Whitebeard needed for some heist he was planning. Much like the ghost ships, Whitebeard took an interest in an explosive harpoon facility. Ace almost had to plead with the intimidating emperor to understand how he came across seeing the fabled weapon, but Whitebeard typically went quiet before frowning and folding his arms. Though the action was childish, the old man only did that when it came to a certain group of people.

The goddamn privateers!

Ace was so caught up in Nesi's training then dismissal that he never asked either of them how they knew each other. The most he knew was that they didn't particularly care for each other, but their relationship wasn't completely tumultuous. It was more playful on Nesi's part and "grumpy father" on Whitebeard's part. Honestly..., Ace was convinced that Whitebeard sort of liked Nesi in his own way. He chased her around to give her a beating like any other of his "sons", and Nesi did run away or dodge him out of innocent fun, but her professionalism usually made him angry or put him in this mood where he wanted nothing more than to scrap with the girl. Usually, it had something to do with what Ace was doing now. Whitebeard sent out someone to take something, and the privateers stopped him somehow. Nesi was the main one who explained why Whitebeard couldn't have that particular something. Since her dismissal, the privateers haven't stopped him. It seemed like they disappeared when Nesi left. With her potentially returning to the force now, they seemed to be coming back with greater force. Pirate crews were getting decimated left and right. Even the marines were acting weird!

On his way to the sister town inland, Ace heard some familiar voices approaching him. At least, they sounded familiar. Hiding in the bushes, Ace waited until the travelers came into view. Well, speak of the devils...

"I don't see why we have to help any of these ingrates! They act like we're those filthy nobles!" Pierre complained, folding his arms and huffing loudly.

"Things are sensitive, Pierre. Commerce has largely been done with pirates for some years. I can't imagine any other result if we propose to take such an economic boom away. Our main focus is to look at the coast town and evaluate what's needed. A better irrigation system is definitely on the list, but there's also a need for a farm and market. You can't live off ale and rosemary and think you'll be okay," Nesi reasoned. "This path is also home to bandits. Two separate places for income and no policing strategies will wear these sisters down. There's nothing protecting them!"

"Sure, there is," Pierre said, smiling smugly. That smile erased in favor of shouting, "They're precious pirates!"

"Permission to butt in," Ace said, coming out of the forest with a smirk. "Last time I checked, you're still a pirate, too. People can't be that mad at you."

"Ace!" Pierre greeted, brow raised and a smirk on his face as a greeting. "Why are you hiding in the bushes? Takin' a piss?"

"That's what you would do," Ace replied, taking out his cannister to drink some water.

"Not in my clothes, I wouldn't," Pierre responded, putting a hand in his pocket.

"Ew!" Nesi cringed before chuckling. "Hi, captain! Been a while. Grandpa Beardie sent you out here?"

"I'm guessing Pieter sent you this way," Ace scoffed, rolling his eyes at the mention of the man.

"Actually, no, Pierre made rank!" Nesi cheered, lifting Pierre's fist to raise it above her head. "He wants to pick out the location of his harbor. You're in front of a buccaneer now!"

"No way! You're helpin' 'im?" Ace questioned, smiling proudly at LeGrand.

"She would know how to choose prime real estate the best. I want a spot between mainland and the coast. Somewhere the military can touch base with civilians and get their hands dirty for a good cause. Not quite like the Mariners' Bay but just as rugged. Cobalt's taking bounty hunting a little more seriously these days. You should look out for him to keep in touch. He asks about you when he bumps into us," Pierre informed.

"Really?" Ace asked with a big smile. "How's he doin'?"

"Pretty good, actually. He likes the work," Pierre replied. "Did you change your mind about buccaneering?"

"Wait..." Nesi said, shaking her head before snapping it to Ace. "You wanted to be a buccaneer? When?"

"Oh, I thought he told you," Pierre replied. "The World Government sent him a note about becoming a warlord. It wasn't a candidacy position, but it was information on the title. He was comparing notes between them and us."

"That's a great opportunity for you, captain! Even if you don't do it, you can learn something about them," Nesi encouraged.

"I turned it down a while ago," Ace said, locking eyes with Nesi as he drank his water. "Can't learn from a group of people who don't even interact with each other. I don't even think they trust each other either."

"Aw, you couldn't meet anyone?" Nesi questioned, pouting with disappointment.

"Doesn't matter. Buccaneering made more sense to me," Ace informed, putting his water away in his bag. "Haven't decided on that yet."

"Why didn't you tell me that? I could've - !" Nesi started.

"There was no need. Pierre was actually living out his life as a buccaneer. Easier to learn from him since I can physically see how it works. He gets along with all of you, so it's easier to engage with whoever's at base. Plus, I studied with you when you were a Spade. I had the information I needed to make the decision of which was better. Buccaneer was more promising and it's as far away from being a government dog as I'd like," Ace replied, smiling warmly at Nesi. "I can still be a pirate and keep an eye on you on battlefronts, if needed. There's a perk."

"Guess everybody's keeping secrets these days," Pierre said, slamming his hand on Nesi's head. "This one's being reinstated into the privateers. After the wars, one of the nobles came up to her personally to evaluate her records. She has you to thank. You rallied the right people together to help her."

"He always does!" Nesi said with a laugh.

"Uuugghhh! I hate having a crush on this girl!" Ace whined, slamming his head on the table.

"You're still hiding it?" Pierre shouted more than questioned.

They were out on the beach at an outdoor restaurant while Nesi was on her personal vessel. She wanted to relax comfortably while the men caught up with each other. She and Ace typically bumped into each other often, so she was okay with waiting to talk to him.

"I don't know what else to do!" Ace groaned, pulling his hat over his whole head.

"How's about 'fessing up and getting it over with?" Pierre suggested.

"I can't!" Ace screamed into the table, muffling his anguish.

"Why? Tell me why," Pierre demanded with a squeak in his voice.

"I don't know," Ace whined, flopping on his side and slamming his fist on the table multiple times in rapid succession. "I never had a problem telling anyone off, but I can't tell this one girl that I think she's beautiful. Make it make sense, Pierre! How do you go from being blunt as all hell to shuttin' up so quick?"

"A good woman will do that," Pierre replied, shrugging his shoulders and nodding in a matter-of-fact way. "But you were married by the code for like... what, a while? Couldn't you have said it then?"

"She looked pissed off when it happened and panicked. That made me panic, so I just joined her in being confused out of reflex. I didn't want to be married either, but I liked her enough to give it a try. When she reasoned with herself about it, she was... a great wife. It was just..."

"Just?" Pierre probed, brow raised, and head lowered to hear the guy speak.

"She wouldn't... well..., do anything. She played her part when she had to, but then... she just went back to normal," Ace said, resting his head on his folded arms. "Before we met that Sedzig lady, I managed to get a kiss out of her, but... she just clammed up and got so stiff. I tried to cover it up, but I couldn't get her face out of my head. What was it? What... made her do that? Does she really not like me at all? I thought... she trusted me more."

"You'd know if you'd talk to her," Pierre sang, sipping his glass of scotch. He sighed when Ace slammed his head on the table again and roared into the table's surface. "Was that the only time you got close to her?"

"No," Ace replied. "I kissed her while she was cruising back home, but... she flinched and backed away like she was waiting for me to attack. I didn't think she was scared of me. I said I was sorry and tried to sleep it off, but I couldn't. I didn't know what she was waiting on me to do. We did spend time together for my birthday, which was what I wanted in part - "

"In part?" Pierre questioned, leaning over to get clarity on that.

"By the stupid code, we were divorced when I became a Whitebeard, but I..."

"You?" Pierre probed.

"Don't laugh, alright?" Ace warned, lifting himself up to say his next words. "Whitebeard... tried to remarry us."

"Pfft!" Pierre spat, trying to hold in his guffaws. This just made Ace angry and glare at him. Pierre recollected himself to the best of his abilities and said, "Of course, he did. I take it that went to hell since you're still hiding things."

"It's worse..." Ace grumbled.

"Can't be that bad. It didn't scare you out of liking - "

"He wants grandkids from us."

"Pfft! Hahahahaha!" Pierre was dying laughing now. He couldn't help it, though! Besides it being a creep fest, the blonde bucc found it endearing and sweet. Whitebeard was just looking out for his young "son". When Pierre finally calmed down, he asked, "Why's he want babies in his fleet of dangerous men?"

"On the cruise back to her home islands, Whitebeard followed us. Nesi and some kids she grew up with were playing around and she introduced them to him. One of the kids fell in love with the old man and now he wants grandkids!" Ace explained, grimacing at the entire exchange. "I'm not even at that stage yet!"

"Well, on the bright side, he likes Nesi enough to volunteer his help in raising her children. Free babysitter. That's gotta mean somethin'," Pierre remarked, shrugging his shoulders and smiling. "With you being so new to his fleet, he probably thinks helping you in the romantic department would build a bond with you. At least one a bit stronger than what's there now. I heard you didn't make your defeat easy. Corale explained to me that you loved your crew like family, so you had to have made winning you over difficult because of your ties to the Spades coupled with your bulldog personality. Before Nesi was dismissed, I could feel your powers clashing from miles away. Pieter said it was possible that you entered the first gear during that fight with her. We felt Nesi's form changing, so you both used everything you had before you were stopped. If that's the case, Whitebeard must have known about your quarreling, or at least figured out that Nesi meant something to you. Who told him you were married? Because it couldn't have been you."

"Ness," Ace replied, putting his head down on his arms again. He didn't want to remember that day, but it played in his mind like it happened five minutes ago. "She brought up the divorce by code stuff."

"Dare I ask how you felt when she said that?" When Ace grew quiet, Pierre continued, "Ace, you can't keep this up forever. You said Whitebeard tried to remarry you, but Nesi's not even acting awkward about it, so she either doesn't know that Whitebeard is trying to do that... or you stopped him."

"She's not happy with me," Ace said finally. "She's fine with me being her captain. She's fine with me as just regular friends, but... if I go outside of those lines, she'll just avoid me and clam up. Doesn't matter what I feel for her. If she doesn't feel the same, I can't do anything about it."

"You know, there's something that does interest me about what you said earlier. You said Whitebeard wanted the explosive harpoons. That's why you're here. Those harpoons are privateer property. Before that, he wanted the silver ships. That's also privateer property. In both cases, though, he sent you to investigate them. Who stopped him from taking the harpoons? Because Nesi's been off duty. She's only working towards being reinstated," Pierre asked, earning a gasp from Ace. Pierre paused to analyze Ace's body language before saying, "Sounds to me like your 'dad' was trying to figure out why you were fighting him back so hard and so much. He spared your crew's lives, saw a lot of potential in you, and tried to befriend you through other crewmates, but you were dead set on getting out of there. There had to be something else he was missing. Sure, you accepted being a crewmate, but it was a lackluster agreement, a weak trust."

"Baragon! Where are you going?"

Pierre and Ace turned to look at Nesi happily chasing her lizard friend with a basket in her arms. The blonde continued after a warm silence passed, "Someone wasn't with you when you challenged him to a fight. The rule of the privateer is to maintain a relationship with a pirate crew during apprenticeship. We either wear the Jolly Roger on our person or keep it close by to honor that rule. There was one Spade missing in action because she was on active duty on a silver ship. One that he stumbled on while you might've been aboard. When he sent you to attack the silver ship, the captain was reunited with the missing Spade. Llandala Nesi is Portgas D. Ace's weakness. Whitebeard hasn't killed her, captured her, done anything wrong to her. Instead, he chases and teases her from time to time. Shows that he knows she's your weakness and is choosing to let you stay in contact with her. And you're the idiot who won't even 'fess up that you like her!"

"I can figure that part out if she'd give me a sign or something! But, that doesn't change the fact that the dude wants grandkids! I can't breed under pressure!" Ace argued.

"What kind of sign are you looking for?" Pierre asked, genuinely curious.

"I... I don't know. Something obvious, I guess."

Pierre hummed with thought and suggested, "Obviously, there is something you don't like about the privateers. You hadn't disclosed on being a buccaneer yet despite your curiosity. How about you tell her about that?"

"I do like you, privateers," Ace said, not understanding the idea.

"You can't stand Pieter, Ace. Don't lie. Nesi made it very clear you didn't like her dream of being a privateer either. Tell her exactly, word for word, as cutthroat as you can, why you don't like privateering. You can be blunt about everything else but your feelings for her. So, attack her with that. That's what she's waiting on."