An Eternal Bond

His Hat

"Y/N...?" My eyes flickered open and I looked around, seeing Ace in the doorway of the hideout. "Oh, hey Ace."

He sat next to me. "Luffy's still sleeping. Dogura said he was crying all night." I looked at the floor. "I guess it's understandable."

I held my knees at my chest and rested my chin on my knees. "I never thought Sabo would be the one to go through that." Ace sighed. "No one would've... Are you okay?"

"Mm..."

"Is that a yes or no?" I looked at Ace. "I don't know." I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Promise you won't end up... Never mind."

Ace gently slapped my shoulder. "I'm not going to die. Not before you two, anyways. I'll always protect you." I smiled. "Yeah... Yeah, you're right."

I got up. "Dogura said Sabo was shot at. Did they mention by who?" Ace shook his head. "Anyways, we should head back. Luffy might be up now."

Ace took my hand and walked back to the house with me.

Suddenly, he shoved me behind a tree, making me nearly fall over. "Ace? What are you-?" "Shush!"

He pointed to the house and I peeked around the tree, and what I saw made my very soul shake. "Marines? What are they doing here?" I whispered.

"I don't know, but don't move."

Ace walked up to the house. "Huh? What's going on?" The marine officer looked down at him. "Do you know a woman of this description?" He held up a wanted poster of me, and Ace gritted his teeth. So it was what he feared.

"...No. I've never seen her before." The marine eyes him suspiciously, but turned. "I see. Sorry to bother you."

The moment the marine officer disappeared from view, breathing seemed to get a lot easier. "Ace, where's Y/N?" Dadan asked. Ace went into the forest and saw me sitting behind a tree. "Y/N, he's gone."

I lifted my head and sighed in relief. "Thank goodness." He held out his hand and I grabbed it as he pulled me up. "Come on, Luffy's waiting inside."

Luffy poked his head out the bedroom door. "Oh, hey Y/N! Those marine guys were looking for you." I nodded. "Yeah, I know. Anyways, want to have breakfast now or have you already finished it?"

He shook his head. "Dadan said I should wait for you guys to get back." Me and Ace looked at each other. "You waited?"

"To eat food?"

"Because we weren't here yet?"

Luffy nodded. "Are you sure it wasn't because it wasn't cooked yet?" I waved my hand in front of Ace. "Oh come on, let him have his glory for a second! I'm going to eat, so if you want to continue bickering, you can do so."

After eating, I was helping clean up when I saw Ace and Luffy slip away. "Those brats, getting away from their chores." Dadan muttered.

"It's alright. I'll do their chores for them." Dadan stared at me. "I bet you're only wanted because you're so damn helpful that the marines aren't needed."

I cleaned the last few dishes and stared through the window. They won't mind if I check in on them, right? It's not like they'll know. I shut my eyes and looked through Luffy's.

"Remember this, Luffy! I'm not going to die!!"

I opened my eyes again and smiled. "I see."

Over the next few weeks, the two constantly caused mayhem in the city. I didn't go with them all the time, but when I did...

"LUFFY, YOU NEARLY HIT Y/N!!"

"I-It's really fine-!"

"NO, IT'S NOT!"