Hi guys, here is the next chapter!
I know this is a bit late, but here it is
Hope you enjoy
Read and relax
Ace walked off the boat with Haruta, the two going to have a small girls day together. They had docked earlier today and they had just finished dinner a bit ago and they would head onto the island now. Many had already headed off the boat and she and Haruta wanted to wait until after dinner to not waste money on eating on the island as they could just eat on the boat.
As they walked off the boat they looked around for where to head and have fun, going to see what kind of shops there were and bars and such, going to shop a bit first, then head to a bar or tavern or something to drink later. They then had fun and shopped and just spoke and enjoyed each other's company. But as they were heading out a store with some new bags, they met a group of 4 men, and one who seemed to be their leader started to harass them, saying how females didn't belong on a boat or in power, as they were just weak and moody and caused issues for everyone, and kept saying derogatory things.
Ace didn't like it and tried to keep her head down and not have eye contact and just seem small. But Haruta kept her head up and just didn't pay him any mind as she looked at her and asked if they should head to the boat with their bags so they could have fun without carrying anything. Ace nodded and they went to the boat and she heard the men gloat at them as they left and headed to the boat to put their things away.
As they had and met up again, Ace looked at Haruta. "How do you deal with it? You didn't react to those guys." Haruta hummed and looked at her. "A wise person once told me years ago, that if someone mocks you for being a female, it is because they are weaker than you. They want to try and intimidate you as they are scared to seem weak in front of their buddies, or just to feel empowered. I didn't believe those words for a while, until I saw it was true." Ace blinked. "Wait… it was true?" Haruta nodded. "Yes. So, each time someone mocks me for being a woman, I legit say 'fight me'. Usually they cower, but some still try to act strong and degrading, and to this day, I have not once lost against someone like that. But mostly I just ignore it unless they really piss me off." Ace blinked, that was pretty amazing.
Haruta gave a smile to her. "I didn't believe those words at the start, but I saw them to be true and that was a huge confidence boost." Ace nodded, she got that. Haruta then hummed. "Other than that, I only listen to those who know me. I don't listen to strangers who think they know everything about me. That's why I don't react, as they want a reaction and I don't want to give that satisfaction to them. And if I have a moment of doubt in myself, I ask those who know me what the truth is." Haruta smiled at her. "You are a lot stronger than you think. And you are an awesome person. Never doubt that." Ace nodded, she would try.
They then went back on the island and had fun, before evening came, and as they were heading back to the boat after having fun, they ran into the group again and once again, the one who seemed to be the group leader started to mock them. Haruta took it as calmly as the first time, but after a few seconds, she looked at her and gave a small smirk. "Want to try what I said out?" Ace blinked, and thought it over, and as she did, she looked at Haruta, who was looking at her as well. This seemed to anger the group leader as he gave a small growl. "Are you listening to me?!" Ace looked at him and there was something in his eyes that made her feel he was really insecure.
Ace gave a small hum. "I'm sorry, what did you say again?" The guy blinked, seeming shocked at that sentence, before he started the tirade again and to be honest, Ace didn't hear a thing as she tried to remember the lyrics to a random song she had heard earlier being hummed by a man at a bar. When the man paused and had a grin as he probably waited for her reaction, when Ace gave a small shrug. "Okay. Want to fight?" The man blinked. "W-what?" Ace nodded. "I mean, if you're so mad at me, why don't we just fight?" The man blinked. "I- I don't have time for this!" Then the group left.
Ace blinked, before she looked at Haruta. "It… worked." Haruta nodded. "Yup! It always does! Or, a few actually say yes to fight, and I still have not lost once." That was very interesting. She would remember this. This was amazing. It really worked. They then headed to the boat, and Ace ran to Deuce and told what had happened as they moved onto the island, which had Deuce look mad, before Ace told what Haruta had said, before she told how they had met them again, and she had tried out what Haruta had said and how it had worked.
Deuce blinked. "It did?" Ace nodded. "Yes! He stammered and left!" Deuce blinked. "Huh, that is really cool! Coward." Ace nodded. "Yeah! It was so amazing!" Deuce nodded as he agreed, before he gave a small sigh, which had her blink. "What?" Deuce gave a breath. "Curiel came by a few hours ago." Ace blinked, before she gave a sad look. "No! Don't tell me you're leaving again!" Deuce sighed. "I'm sorry. It is a small emergency thing. I'm leaving at 8am." Ace blinked. "What? So fast?" Deuce nodded. "Yeah. I'll be back in about 3 weeks." Ace gave a small huff. "There are like hundreds of people here! Why do they need you?!" Deuce shrugged. "Apparently, I am very good at my job. And they couldn't spare the others." Ace sighed. "I know you're an amazing navigator, but why you?!" Deuce hummed. "I am apparently really good, and as he said, the others couldn't be spared, and apparently not that many are better than me." Ace gave a pout, she wasn't happy.
Deuce moved his hand to hers as he gave a smile. "I will be back before you know it." Ace gave a look to Decue. "It's 3 weeks." Deuce nodded. "Yeah. But it will go fine." Ace gave a grumble, making Deuce chuckle. "You'll be fine." Ace gave a look at Deuce, before she sighed. "Fine. But don't you dare come back if you die. I will kill you if you do." Deuce chuckled. "I won't. Wanna sleep here?" Ace blinked. "Do you think I'm going to leave when you're leaving in under 12 hours?" Deuce chucked. "Should have known." Ace nodded. "Yeah."
They then spoke for a while, before they fell asleep, and when morning came, she gave a goodbye hug to Deuce before he left. Why did Deuce have to be a good navigator? Hopefully, nothing large would happen while he was gone.
The next week did go by fine and nothing big happened. But they wouldn't dock for a bit now, just sail as they were heading to one of Whitebeard's controlled islands that was a bit away. And, nothing too bad could happen while they sailed, aside from enemy crew, marines, and storms.
-x-
Whitebeard sat out in his chair, everyone just relaxing as it was a good day. It was a bit past dinner now and the weather was good and not too warm. As they were just enjoying the day, he looked over to the railing when he heard a gasp and saw Ace sitting on her knees with her hands over her mouth and eyes wide with fear and her entire shape shaking. He was confused as to what caused that reaction, when he saw a bit in front of her, laid a newspaper. She must have read something or seen something in it, but what?
Thatch moved first over to her, him being close, and moved a hand to her back, which had her entire frame flinch as she looked at him terrified, and Thatch looked worried as he spoke. "Are you okay?" Ace was now breathing hard and she swallowed before she just looked at the newspaper, not seeming able to speak at all, seeming to start and hyperventilate. Izou then moved and took the newspaper and looked at the page it was on, to see what had Ace react. Izou did seem confused as he checked the newspaper, before he blinked and looked shocked as he took a wanted poster out and looked at it.
Izou then looked at Thatch. "Why don't you two head to Ace's room and relax?" Thatch looked confused, but a glare from Izou made him nod and carefully help Ace up before they headed away. Ace did shake as she walked and seemed terrified. When they were gone, they all looked at Izou, who gave a breath as he showed the wanted poster. "This looks like that guy, Joe. Who Deuce said looked like Ace's abuser. But Joe was missing a scar on his cheek." Izou then pointed at the man's cheek, where a scar was.
And it had him blink. Could this be him? Whitebeard then asked to see the newspaper and poster, which he was handed before he first looked at the wanted poster and saw the guy's name was Dolus, before he looked in the newspaper, as at times, there was a small input about the poster. And there was. It said how this guy, Dolus, had gathered a small crew of 4, who were all labeled as horrendous people who abused others. This had to be him. It said how they claimed to be pirates and when they found a target, they didn't just loot or raid, they killed and abused others, even innocent ones. It made him mad, and felt bad for Ace. Just seeing his image made her like this.
He gave a nod to himself, before he looked at his children that were out. "If any of you ever spot this guy, I want you to get him and put him in front of me." Everyone nodded as they agreed as they got who this was. He also said to not tell this to Ace, and that they wouldn't hunt him out, not that they could either as the newspaper didn't have a location, but if spotted, he would deal with him. He both hoped and didn't hope that they ran into him. He hoped they would so the captain could make him pay, but didn't want to because of Ace. He didn't want to expose Ace to him, make her see him again. He really hoped Ace was okay.
They didn't see Thatch for a while, before he came out when supper had passed and said Ace felt better now and wanted to be alone. The chef said how Ace had used a long time to get her breath back to normal and longer to talk. She had said that yes, it was him, the guy who had hurt her and she had even asked Thatch to stay a bit so she could calm down, which he had. He had chatted away about random things to keep her mind occupied, before she said she felt better and he could leave, also adding she might not come out more today, which the captain got. He felt really bad for Ace, this guy was a horrendous person.
-x-
Ace gave a gasp as she sat up and felt the images of her nightmare fade away as she saw she was in her room. She felt she was breathing really hard and moved a hand to her chest to try and calm down as she felt as if her heart would beat out of her chest. After a bit, she moved a hand to her mouth as a sob left her, now realizing she was crying as well. She didn't know how long she sat and sobbed, but she felt like she couldn't really breathe and tried to calm down, but didn't manage, before she did her best to take deep breaths to at least calm a bit down, before she headed out the door to get some fresh air. Maybe that would help.
Her room was a bit in the back and close to the railing, so she went to the railing and leaned on it as she tried to just breathe and get herself back under control. It was late and still dark out, meaning most were asleep and hopefully no one would come by. She didn't know how long she stood there, but almost jumped as a hand moved to her shoulder and she turned to see Marco there, who looked worried and Ace realized she was still crying, just not sobbing. Marco looked at her worriedly. "Are you okay, yoi?" Ace swallowed and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out of her.
Marco then moved a hand to her hand and she noticed she was really shaking. Marco then spoke as he held her hand. "Just breathe, yoi. Why don't we head to your room?" Ace nodded, that sounded good. They then headed back to her room and she went and sat down in her bed and Marco sat down beside her, moving a hand to her back as he spoke. "Are you okay, yoi?" Ace did her best to take a breath so she could speak, before she tried to speak and was glad she managed. "I- I just had a nightmare." Marco nodded. "Do you want to talk about it, yoi?" Ace didn't answer at once, not sure if she wanted to or not, before she carefully spoke. "He… came for me again." She managed to get out.
Marco nodded and seemed to get who she spoke off, before Marco spoke. "You are safe here, yoi. Unknown people aren't allowed on here, and we know what he looks like. He is never going to get close to you again. We will keep you safe, yoi." That actually made her feel a bit better, but still, what if. She then moved her hands to her cheeks and did her best to dry them as she was still crying and she didn't want to seem more weak. Marco's hand stoked her back a bit. "It's okay, yoi. Just let it out. It's not good to keep it inside." And that was it and she was sobbing again, her head in her hands. That nightmare really had her on edge.
Marco kept stroking her back and giving out comforting words, which helped. After a small while, she felt she had no more tears and just felt tired. Marco seemed to get this and gave a small hum. "You should lay down, yoi." Ace nodded, she should as she now felt dead tired for some reason and laid down, not caring that the other man was here. And something about it felt nice too, to not be alone. As she was lying down, she didn't know if she would manage to fall asleep, but as she was about to sit back up and maybe try and get tired by talking with Marco, Marco started to hum softly, which made her feel… calm. She didn't know why, but it did. And as it continued, her eyes closed still, she started to see memories of Luffy and Sabo when they were younger, and memories with Deuce. It was really nice. She felt herself falling asleep quickly, and hopefully this time it wouldn't be plagued by nightmares.
-x-
Marco gave a breath as he saw Ace had fallen asleep, which was good. She needed sleep. Hopefully this time, it won't be plagued by nightmares or bad memories. He had hummed a bit as it was a song by his phoenix, and it calmed the ones listening to it. Ace could use some calmness after this day and her nightmare. He watched Ace sleep for a minute, to be sure she was fine for now, before he stood up and moved closer to her and saw she still had tear marks on her face. So, Marco carefully moved his hand to wipe them a bit away carefully. She didn't wake, which was good. Marco then moved his hand and moved some of her hair out of her face, before he gave a small breath as he whispered "I think I'm falling for you, and I don't know how to tell you, yoi." Marco didn't know why he felt the need to say that right now, but it was if something compelled him to. He didn't know if he was falling in love, but he felt he might, and he wasn't sure how to deal with that.
With a last caress to Ace's head, Marco carefully left and closed the door, before he went back to his room for the night. But what Marco didn't see, was how when he carefully closed the door, green eyes opened in shock and confusion.
And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed
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