Chapter 11

Confrontations

Shakky kept cleaning the bar's surface with her rag in an unnecessary attempt to make the wood shine. Meanwhile, she was throwing angry glances at the young pair sitting across the room, oblivious to anything going on around them, including her anger. The boy was sitting cross-legged facing the girl, who was bundled in a blanket, and telling her about his adventures on the many islands of the Grand Line, causing her to sometimes gasp in awe and others to laugh. A few days ago, the barwoman would have rejoiced in such a development, but the memory of a certain leather bag kept her mood sour and forced her hand to rub harder.

"No matter how hard you rub, the wood is already as shiny as it can be."

It was the girl who talked and so Shakky raised her head and fixed her with an intense gaze. As expected, that didn't seem to affect the little witch who, instead, returned the look with one of her own. After a few moments the older woman broke eye contact and reached under her bar, her hand feeling around for something.

"I see you feel better already, so here you go."

She threw the pouch she held towards the girl who caught it with great ease, her eyes widening with fear upon noticing what it was. A fear that didn't go unnoticed by the pirate, who inched closer to have a better look.

"What's this?"

"Nothing."

She tried to hide the item in between her blanket's folds but the boy was quicker, taking hold of it with such speed that he left the girl stunned. Wasting no time, Ace opened the bag and looked inside, frowned and then toppled it, causing its shiny content to spill on top of his palm and around him. Some of the stones found their way to the floor to be forgotten. The pirate took his time to study the gems he was holding; his brow furrowed in concentration, giving away his attempt to figure out what was going on. Suddenly, his expression hardened and he clenched his fist, not minding the edges of the stones cutting through his flesh even though his eyes were glued to the blood in between his fingers.

"Please tell me this is not what I think it is."

When his question was met with silence, he turned to look at the girl by his side.

"Calypso, I beg you. Tell me you weren't stupid enough to stay out in the rain for a bunch of stones."

Her only reaction was to look away, ashamed. His was to throw the gems away with a curse.

"Damn it, woman! You could have died and for what? Some shiny pebbles!"

"I..."

"You what? Didn't you know that sitting out in a storm is not the best course of action?"

"No, I knew that. It's just..."

She didn't finish answering him and turned to glare at the barwoman.

"You had to do this, didn't you?"

This time the other woman didn't try to hide her frustration.

"You disappear for a whole day and then I am woken up, in the middle of the night, by a distressed pirate and a deranged raven only to find out youcollapsed the moment you walked through that door and, on top of that, after we manage to get you warm enough for the shivering to stop, I stumble upon a bag of gems that you almost threw your life away to steal. So yes. I had to do it."

Calypso pushed her lips together and glared more intensely at the woman.

"If this whole act is so I can 'reflect' on my actions and admit my fault know that it's not working."

The sudden tag on her wrist made her look at Ace.

"What the hell do you mean it's not working? Are you entirely out of your mind? Do you honestly find it that normal to throw your life away for nothing? Calypso, I swear to you, if you-"

The witch, with a swift movement, freed herself from the pirate's hold and jumped to her feet.

"You two know nothing and yet you keep ganging up on me. It's my life and my choice what I do with it, and if I want to throw it away, I will. Now excuse me."

Her words left them both in shock for a while and so none of them could react when she ran outside with her raven in tow.

When Ace regained control of himself he immediately went after her, his Haki activated so he could hunt her down more easily. It didn't take him long to locate her and once she was in his line of sight, he called out for her. She turned around at the sound of her name but she started running again when she saw that it was him who called her. He followed her, running as hard as he could and soon he was close enough to grab her and spin her around, trapping her between a wall and himself. She made an attempt to escape, but his hands found their way onto her arms, pinning them to the wall. Realizing there was no way out, Calypso raised her eyes to glare at him.

"Let me go."

"No."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I need to talk to you."

"What if I don't want to talk to you?"

"It doesn't matter. You can just listen. After I'm done, you can decide if you want to talk or do something else."

"Like what?"

"Like running. You seem to like doing so lately."

She kept glaring at him, silent.

"Oh, don't give me this look. You know I'm right. You've been running from everything since the day I met you. You're running away from your problems, from the people who try to help you...You're running away from me."

"I don't like where this conversation is going. Let me go."

"I am not done talking yet."

"Oi, the lass asked ya t' let her go. Be a gentleman and oblige."

Both the pirate and witch looked to the left to see a bunch of men sitting outside a hovel-like building. One of them, probably the leader, was standing up and was slowly making his way to where they were standing. He was quite old and was wearing a filthy bandanna on his head. He also had a big scar on his right cheek that was reaching the top of his nose and was going all around his eye, giving him a dangerous aura. He was also only wearing baggy trousers and a pair of old leather boots. The rest of the gang was dressed in a similar fashion and they were all armed with daggers, swords and guns. There was something very familiar about them and that made Calypso worry.

"Who the hell are you?"

The man laughed at Ace's question, something that angered the pirate, and then looked at him strangely. It was then that Calypso remembered where she saw the man before and she instantly placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, successfully getting his attention.

"Please don't do anything reckless. These are the men that were looking strangely at you at the bar, remember?"

For a moment, Ace's brown eyes were filled with confusion that soon gave way to realization.

"You mean back then when I went looking for you?"

She nodded.

Ace looked once more back at the men and then turned to the girl who was now hiding behind him, her body so close to his that he could feel her heartbeat rising.

"You know I could easily use-"

Her answer was a threatening hiss.

"Don't even think about it."

"What else can I do? They are too many and they have weapons. I am unarmed, and I also have you to worry about."

"Believe me, I can take care of myself."

He chuckled.

"Oh really. Does that mean we're going to engage them?"

She shook her head.

"No. Too much at risk. It's better if we ran."

"What're ya two whisperin' 'bout over there?"

"None of your business old man."

He laughed again.

"And there's where ya're wrong lad. It is my business. See, I remember ya two from back then at the bar. Suspicious fellows the both o' ya. I couldn't figure out why back then but now that I see ya again...Ya're a pirate lad, I can tell."

This caused Calypso to flinch and move slightly closer to Ace.

"As for the lass behind ya, she's prob'ly yar mistress or somethin'. A pretty one, she'll fetch a good price if we sell 'er."

Ace's fists clenched at the man's words. It was one thing for lowlifes like them to hunt him down because he was a pirate, and another for them to threaten to sell Calypso to slavery. Just the idea of such a thing happening was enough to anger him, but the way the girl was now clinging to his shirt was making him see red.

"Over my dead body."

The old man shook his head.

"Nah lad, that won't do. I may not know yar name yet, but ya're a pirate and possibly have a bounty on yar head that I plan t' collect."

If it wasn't for Calypso holding him back and whispering calming words at him, Ace would have probably already used his flames to burn the man and his companions to ashes. Instead, he turned around, threw the girl over his shoulder, and ran. At first, the witch protested, kicking him and hitting him, but when she saw the thugs running after them, she held tighter and urged him to run faster. He happily did so, although he was not sure he could outrun them all forever considering he was carrying another person while they only had their weapons. Thankfully, Ebony and a few more birds decided to descend upon the men hunting them and gave Ace enough time to disappear from their sight and hide behind one of the trademark trees of Sabaody.

Only when Ebony flied to sit on a branch over them and the voices of the outlaws were completely gone did Ace dare to take a breath and put Calypso down on her feet. The girl's hands were trembling slightly and her heterochromatic eyes kept looking around, searching for any kind of danger. Seeing her in such a condition, the pirate carefully brought one hand down to hold hers. The action caused those exotic eyes to look up at him, confusion and wariness evident in them. Ace felt drawn to them. He felt as if these two orbs had put a spell on him that was forbidding him from looking elsewhere. Slowly he raised his free hand to the girl's cheek, brushing with his fingers the soft flesh and softly bringing his thumb over her full, red lips.

"Forgive me, Cal, but I can't hold back any longer."

Not giving her a chance to respond, he placed his own lips on top of hers. Softly at first, but harder later, more hungrily. He stopped, though, when he noticed that Calypso was not reacting and took a small step back so he could better look at her face, his hand never leaving hers. The expression he saw on her face was one of shock, then confusion, then anger. Then a hand came to meet his cheek with enough strength to make him see stars.

"Why did you kiss me?"

He just smiled at her. A big, honest smile.

"Because I love you."

Whatever reaction he was expecting, tears were not it, yet there they were, forming on the corner of her eyes and running down her face.

"Why must you make me suffer this way?"

The pirate was taken aback.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to. Please, tell me what I did wrong and I will try to make it right."

She shook her head.

"You don't get it. It's already too late to make it right. You did it. You told me how you felt. I...I can't pretend I don't know anymore."

He blinked.

"You...knew?"

She choked out a laugh.

"How could I not? Not even once did you try to hide it. Your actions were speaking the words I hoped you never would, but it's too late now. Now you did, and I must play my part and answer you. Honestly."

She lowered her head for a moment and used the hand she slapped him with to brush her tears away. Then she looked up straight into his warm chocolate-brown eyes with an eerily bright look on hers.

"Ace, I love you too. I did since way before you woke up in my room and even way before you met Whitebeard."

"What-"

He didn't even manage to finish one word before a finger was placed in front of his lips.

"Hush. Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to. Use your lips in another way instead."

He was ready to object, but the sight of her standing there with her eyes still a little red from the tears, a blush on her face and her lips slightly parted were enough to sway him. He gave a last sigh.

"One day I'll get my answers from you."

She smiled mysteriously.

"One day, I may give them."

And he kissed her again. This time, prompted by her reaction and the gasp she allowed to escape, he skipped right to the hungry part, carefully tagging at her hair so she would drop her head back, giving him more room to deepen the kiss. She complied and he used the chance to slip his tongue inside her mouth. She allowed her own to shyly come meet his in a secret dance. When they ran out of breath, they broke the kiss and stood there, panting softly and staring at each other. It took some time for Ace to realize that he still had a hold on her hair and let it go in exchange for a hold on her slim waist. She seemed pleased with the change.

"So...What now?"

He couldn't help but ask. He needed to make sure this was going somewhere they both wanted.

"Now, Mister Portgas, we're going back. Shakky will be quite worried."

He sighed.

"I didn't mean that."

She giggled.

"I know. Yet I am not the one to tell you how to proceed from here. What will happen from now on highly depends on what you want."

"But what about what you want?"

"I already have what I want. At least for now."

Her hand squeezed his own and he smiled.

"Let's go, then, Cal. Shakky will be happy to know about us."

"If I know her well enough she'll probably throw a party."

They started towards the bar when suddenly Calypso stopped.

"Do we tell her about those men?"

Ace looked thoughtful.

"Maybe we should. It's better if she knows in case something happens."

She nodded and turned around, whistling once. The sound was followed by the flapping of wings over them.

"I should have known you were peeping..."

Ebony cawed in return in a teasing way and flew ahead to scout the way, leaving the pair behind to enjoy each other's company.