An Eternal Bond

Separated

"And... there!" I finally finished braiding the last of Ace's hair in his sleep, and he just so happened to wake up at that moment.

"H-Huh?" He felt the small bumps in his hair and glanced at me as if I had just gotten away with murder. "Y/N, what's this?"

"They're braids!" I patted his head. "They look cute."

His face flushed red and he looked away. "Pirates... aren't... supposed to look cute." I giggled and wrapped my arms around him. "You told me to go to sleep, and you'd navigate the boat. But what do you know, I feel strong, muscly arms wrap around me in my sleep and our strong intimidating pirate fell asleep."

Ace gently pushed me, not enough for me to let go though. "I'm hungry."

I silently stared for a moment. "I swear—" I stretched my hand and reached into the water, pulling out a fish. "There."

"We can't go to a restaurant...?"

"The next island is miles away, and I think you'd die of hunger before that."

Ace begrudgingly heated up the fish and began eating it... along with the bones. "Ace, you'll choke!" I took the fish from him and picked out the bones, giving him pieces of fish while I did so.

"What're you, my mom?"

I looked up at him. "Trust me, my mom never did this. I almost died from choking on a fish bone."

Ace's mouth straightened, the air suddenly feeling awkward. "Well then."

"Speaking of fish bone, apparently you and Luffy would eat the whole fish, bones and all."

"H-How did you know that?!" Ace questioned. "You weren't there when we did that!" I looked up at him, somewhat reminding him that I can see through the eyes of the person I got a power from.

"Oh... never mind."

I shook my head with a smile. "Well, Luffy has a cook on his crew now, so he won't be doing that too often anymore."

Ace leaned back on the mass. "Do you think he'd be as good as Thatch?" I stopped, holding the fish in my hand. "...Not sure. I only ever tasted Thatch's cooking."

I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and I looked at Ace. "I'm fine, don't worry." I moved away. "Remember when Oyaji talked about Oden-sama? They're probably together now!"

Ace chuckled. "You're cute when you're trying to be optimistic."

"I-I'm not trying! I am!" I pouted. "Fine, the fish can go to the Sea Kings."

"NO!!"

•••

After a good amount of begging, I finally agreed to stop by the next island to get some drinks.

Ace seated himself at a bar, and allowed me to do a bit of shopping.

There were a lot of clothes in the store I visited, but I doubt Ace would approve of any. Or the rest of the crew. I didn't quite like them either. Something about a bra strap, and pants that looks like they could slip down at any moment didn't quite work with me.

I bet Nami could rock it, though. But I think Sanji would've gone ballistic, from how he seemed to react from seeing her and Princess Vivi in dancer's outfits.

Wait, they know my name, right?

"Excuse me?" Interrupted from my thoughts, I turned to face the person that had grabbed my shoulder.

"Miss, you seem to be lost in thought, are you alright?"

"Oh no, I'm fine. Thanks for the concern, though!" The person nodded and walked away.

I walked back to the bar and saw Ace with his head rested on the table. "Oh dear..." I walked up to him and patted his shoulder. "Ace?"

His head slowly raised, much to the bartender's amazement. "Wow, you did that quick! He's been sleeping there for a while, we thought he died!"

"Sorry for the trouble." I said, pulling Ace by the arm. "Oh, and here!" I threw a sac of berries on the counter and walked out of the restaurant.

"I told you that you looked dead when you slept." I told Ace. "Did you get the drinks you wanted?"

He nodded and sat down next to me. "You didn't get any clothes?"

"No, I didn't really like any of the things there. And you probably wouldn't either."

"What was it?"

"You know, bra strap, pants that look like they could fall any second, really short shorts."

"You're right, I don't like that. You'll get sick."

"You're the one that's shirtless all the time."

I laughed and leaned my head on his shoulder. "The only reason you don't like it is because you don't like other people looking. And you're a flustered little fire ball." I looked at the sky and lied in the sand. "So, anything on Teach?"

"Yeah... but, I don't want you to come."

I tilted my head. "Is something wrong?" He nodded. "One, it's really close to a Navy Base, two, it's really far from other people, and three, it's one of Blackbeard's base of operation."

Ace looked down. "You promised that on my word, you'd—" "Okay, I'll go back."

He looked at me with a surprised expression on his face and I gave him a bittersweet smile. "I promised I'd leave when you told me to. It was sealed with a kiss." I got really close to his face. "You know how I told you that you could make your Devil Fruit Power go off on me if you try hard enough? Do that when you're in trouble."

"Don't tell me you'll come rushing to the scene."

"No promises." I smiled and stood up. "Anyways, Oyaji's ship is quite a while away, so I guess this is where we part ways."

Ace gave a solemn nod and a kiss on the cheek. "Be safe on your way back."

"And you be safe on your way to Blackbeard." I stepped back and pushed off the ground, flying off.

Please Ace, be careful.