An Eternal Bond

The Blackbeard Search

"WHEN YOU SAID WE'D BE GETTING FOOD, I DIDN'T THINK YOU MEANT THIS!!" I yelled, my arms wrung around Ace's neck.

"Oh come on, you know I never pay for my food!" I sighed and rested my chin on Ace's shoulder. "Whatever, as long as I don't have to do any running..."

As we passed the dock, Ace suddenly stopped in his tracks, nearly making me fall off. "What?"

"You didn't hear that?"

"No...?"

He pointed to the dock. "Someone over there mentioned a 'Blackbeard'. Maybe it's the one we're looking for?" I hopped off his back and he approached some of the people lingering on the docks.

Before I followed, I saw a bulletin board with different flyers and such pinned on it. I walked over and traced my finger over the lines written. There was a flyer for a doctor, and I read the fine print under the title. "Dr... Black Beard. Ah, that's who they were talking about."

I looked over at the dock, searching for Ace, but I couldn't find him. "Hm...? Ace!" I walked over to the dock, calling out his name. "Excuse me?" I tapped someone's shoulder. "Do you know someone with black hair, freckles, open shirt, maybe really attractive?"

The person chuckled. "Is he your boyfriend? Well, he went to visit Dr. Black Beard."

Crap.

"Alright, thank you!" I sped towards the address that was written on the flyer, searching for the reckless Fire Fist. "Ace!" I stopped and looked around. Before I was able to find him, I heard protesting yells from nearby.

"Oh no..." I ran over and saw them lifting Ace, on the brink of throwing him into the river. "No..!" I swam through the crowd and jumped into the water.

"Ace, seriously, I need you to stay awake." I muttered, holding him with one of my arms. "Ace, did you seriously- Ugh!" Trying to keep his head above the water, I stretched my arm and grabbed a rock near the shore."

I pulled myself towards the shore, Ace still tucked under my arm. "Ace, are you still there?" I whispered, putting my hand on his chest. "Ace...!"

"Excuse me?" I looked up and met eyes with a girl, blue eyes and long blonde hair. "Are you alright? You're soaked."

"O-Oh, um... yeah." I put a protective hand on Ace.

"Is he alright?" The girl asked me. I shook my head. "He... was thrown into a river and..."

"That explains why you're soaking wet." She furrowed her brow. "Do you want to come back to my house? I have towels and such to help you dry off."

While I still had a few suspicions, I nodded. "Alright.. thank you." She looked down at Ace. "How are we going to bring him back... alright, that works."

I swung him over my shoulder. "Alright, let's go." She chuckled and led us to her house.

"So.. does he not know how to swim?"

"...You could say that." I stared at the house in the distance. It was near a farm, and I could smell cow droppings. "Hey, are you a milk maiden?"

She nodded. "I'm Moda. Nice to meet you." I smiled. "I'm.. Y/N... Nice to meet you." I'm not sure if it was a good idea to tell her my name, but she doesn't seem like the type to turn me in if she knew me.

"Here, he can lie down here." I set Ace down on the bed. "Thanks for helping us." I said as I stroked Ace's hair.

"It's no problem. Is he alright?"

I heated up my hand a little and put my hand on Ace's forehead. "He's alright. Thanks for worrying." I leaned back a little. "You seem very sweet."

She blushed a little. "I just saw that you needed help..." I smiled at her, not noticing Ace's eyes slowly opening.

"H-Huh?" I looked down at Ace. "You're awake!" You exclaimed, wrapping my arms around him. He put his hand on mine and looked at Moda. "Uh..."

"Oh, right! Moda, this is my boyfriend, Ace. Ace, this is Moda."

The two stared at each other for a minute before smiling. "Nice to meet you!" Moda grinned. "Nice to meet you as well!"

I looked away for a moment and shut my eyes. Luffy should be 17 now, so he could be out at sea already.

Once I began looking through his eyes, I saw a boy with light green hair and a sword. No... not a sword... three of them.

There was also a girl with orange hair up to her shoulders.

Then there was a guy with blonde hair and swirly eyebrows. He was also... smoking?

Then there was one with a long nose and a bandana around his head.

"Y/N." I was snapped out of it and looked back at the two. "Yeah?"

"We have a letter to deliver." Ace handed me the envelope and I looked at the address. "In... a navy base?"

"Yeah. It won't inconvenience you, will it?" Moda asked. I shook my head. "Not at all. Come on, Ace."

As we left, I waved to Moda. "Thanks for everything!"

I looked forward and held Ace's arm. "So, a navy base. Can you be the one that sneaks in?" He sighed and nodded. "Fine... but why?"

"I have a feeling that you're planning on beating up some marine and taking his clothes but..." I looked at the ripples in the water. "I don't want to wear one."

He put his arm around me. "Well, if you don't want to wear one, don't. Just wait here and yell for help when you need me."

"Or I could make your Devil Fruit power act up."

He looked at me. "You can do that?" I nodded. "You can do the same to me... which is why I don't just want to copy just anyone's Devil Fruit power."

"I see." He saw the navy base in the distance. "There it is. Remember, if you need help-"

"I know, I know."

I sat at the docked boat, tracing my finger on my name engraved on my sword's handle. I quietly hummed, trying to relieve my boredom, when a small flame formed at my fingertip. "Huh?"

Shutting my eyes, I tried to see what was up, only to be met with... "Not even 15 minutes and he already blew his cover ." I muttered.

When I looked through his eyes, I saw him clobbering marines. I don't know what made him feel obligated to do so, but I honestly didn't feel like running in to reach someone that could handle it himself.

I hummed a little as I followed the passing clouds with my eyes. When I'm alone, I feel like my sense heighten... sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it's not.

"And... there's the smoke." I stood up and floated a bit higher, looking out at sea. A navy ship was set on fire, but it wasn't Ace. He was still here at the navy base.

Or not.

I already saw someone speeding towards the ship. You could tell that it was Ace just from looking at them.

I lowered down and landed back on the boat. I didn't even need to see what Ace was doing. I know that he stole something from that ship, the marines now know who he is, and he probably is running from bullets at the moment.

As I waited, I dipped my finger in the water, circling it as if it were tea.

"And he'll come barging through the doors in three, two, one."

Right on queue, Ace came barging through the door and hopped on the boat. "Come on, let's go!" I sat up straight and the wind began blowing in my face with the boat speeding on the water.

"So, what'd you get from the ship?" I asked. "Some intel on Blackbeard's location."

"Great!"

I leaned back. "But... I know you. Where are we actually going?"

"...Alabasta."