An Eternal Bond

Stress

I woke up in a cold sweat with Marco's hand on my forehead. "Probably a stress fever." He said. I suddenly shot up in bed, making him and Vista, who was also in the room, recoil.

"Y-Y/N, are you okay?"

"Ace!" I grabbed Marco's arm. "He- The marines!"

My door slowly opened and Izo walked in, a newspaper clutched in his right hand by the edge. "I think I know what she's talking about..." The sun peeking through the door hit me right in the eyes, so I didn't quite see what the newspaper in his hand said.

The door shut and the newspaper was placed at the end of my bed, revealing the front page to me.

Fire Fist Ace Arrested

I gripped my bedsheets, staring at that headline as if it said my execution date. But in reality, it said much worse.

Marco picked up the newspaper and read it carefully, his index finger slowly making its way down the page. Then, it stopped. "Oh no." He looked at me over the paper, then he showed it to Izo and Vista, who did the same.

"W-What?"

Slowly folding the newspaper, Marco took a deep breath and . "Promise to me that you will stay on the ship."

"What do you mean?"

"Just promise me."

My lip quivered a little as I gave him a hesitant nod. "...Ace's execution date has been decided."

...No. He didn't just say that to me. It filtered through my ears incorrectly. Yeah, that's it. Ace will be fine. Yeah...

"Y/N, breath!" Izo gripped my shoulders, finally snapping me out of my phase of doubt. I took a few deep breaths, Marco, Izo, and Vista giving a sigh of relief.

I leaned on the wall, letting myself relax a little. Emphasis on a little. My heart was still beating heavily, and I was unconsciously still trying to reach Ace in some way.

Like Marco said before, I did have a stress caused fever. I've only ever had a fever once before, and it was quite a while ago. It didn't help that it brought back memories of Ace.

Although not even three days had gone by since Ace got arrested, I'd constantly check if I still had his Devil Fruit power.

I promised Marco that I'd stay on the ship, but even I was unsure if I could keep that promise.

We were docked at an island since Marco needed some new medical supplies, and we were running out of food ingredients. Haruta, Namur, and I hung out on the front deck. Well, I say hung out, but we were really just standing there.

"Y/N, you're pacing again." I looked over at Haruta. "W-What?"

"You're pacing."

I stopped and sighed, leaning on a wall and sinking down to the floor. This was genuinely killing me. "Namur, can you swim with me for second, please?"

He nodded and we got off the boat and onto the beach. With my feet touching the warm sand, I couldn't help but somewhat feel relaxed.

I quietly hummed, making a figure eight with my finger in the water.

"It's the same tune, huh?" Atmos noticed once he came onto shore with Namur. Namur nodded with a loud sigh. "She's still super stressed. She was pacing and muttering something out on deck a few minutes ago."

"I don't blame her. We're all pretty stressed, but she's sure to be the most."

I looked back at them, unsure if they knew I could hear them. But they were right. Marco ever told me the date of his execution since he didn't want me to stress too much about it, but I'm still carrying a burden heavier than my body could take.

"Y/N, Oyaji wants you!" Haruta called.

What could Oyaji want?

"Coming!" I got up and turned into a Phoenix so I could quickly dry off, then flew up onto the ship.

"Oyaji...? You wanted to talk to me?" He nodded and motioned for me to come closer. I sat down at the end of his bed and tilted my head.

"Ah... this reminds me when Ace came in here to talk to me about his father."

I gave a bittersweet smile and looked in my lap. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect him." Oyaji laughed. "Again with the apologizing, huh?"

He sat up straight and looked me straight in the eye. "Y/N, it's not your fault that Ace is in Impel Down. I'm sure he doesn't think so either."

"But... I think so..." I gritted my teeth. "I was with him... and I left. Why did I leave...? He said it was dangerous and didn't want me to come, but if it's dangerous for me, then it's dangerous for him!"

I was pulled into Oyaji's embrace, right into his chest. He was so much taller than me, but it wasn't frightening when he hugged me. It was so comforting. I shut my eyes, letting myself sink into the hug.

"Looks like she relaxed." I heard Marco say.

That night, I leaned on the ship's side, looking up at the sky. There were so many stars, but there was always that one star that seemed to shine brighter. I never quite knew why.

Ace once told me that it was because it saw me and wanted to impress me, but I knew that was just one of his flirty lines. I never quite expected him to be the flirty type, to be honest.

I quietly hummed, kind of hoping that the wind would carry my tune to Ace. I never really believed in that kind of thing, but right now, I really hoped it was true.

"Y/N, can you sing again tonight!" Ace yelled. I looked over at him. "Really? Are you still having trouble sleeping?" "No... it's just calms me down." I chuckled and followed him. "Of course."

I don't think I've ever hummed a different tune. Even if I tried, I'd just accidentally transition to the one Ace loves. Luffy liked it too, but he'd normally fall asleep before I could even start. Ace never slept before I finished though.

As a matter of fact, I think he never actually needed it. He just liked hearing it.

"Still thinking about Ace?"

I turned my head, seeing Marco standing there. "Oh... yeah, I guess so." Marco chuckled, standing next to me. "I've never had a little sister before, but I'm pretty sure the older brother is supposed to comfort her when she's sad."

He hugged me and tickled my sides, my held back giggle echoing through the night. "Marco, no!" I scolded through my laughs.

While I still had Ace lingering in my mind, I felt a little more relaxed. Probably what Ace wanted me to feel like.