PELAGIC - Ace x Reader x Law

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE: Planning

The first chapter of our married lives wasn't exactly how either of us had imagined. 

Thatch's death wasn't something that we could get over quickly, or easily, and it took a long while for it to really sink in. He was gone. No more words of wisdom, no more appreciative smiles when we would compliment his cooking, no more being scolded for sneaking into his precious galley. He was just...gone. 

Ace was taking it much harder than I was, but that was to be expected. He had known Thatch for far longer, and they had a bond stronger than iron. Brothers in all but blood. After we had left the Moby Dick, he had hardly said a word for the following few days. Just single words, or short responses. It hadn't been until our fourth night on our own, when the sky was pin-pricked with stars and the air was thick with silence, that he had allowed reality to hit him. 

It broke my heart further, holding him close to my chest as he let out his grief, my shirt soaking through to my skin with his tears. As painful as it was to see Ace in such a way, I was also relieved. He wasn't the type of person who coped well with bottling his emotions, and I was, at the very least, glad that he had cracked like that instead of a violent way. 

After that, he seemed to somewhat return to his usual self. Since we had left Whitebeard and the others with nothing but the clothes on our backs, we tried to lift our spirits by seeing what necessities we could get away with stealing before we ran into significant trouble. Food was easy enough to get ahold of with very few repercussions, but clothing and camping supplies? With the way the townspeople and marines responded, anyone would have thought we had stolen a royal child or something. 

"Hey, do we have any tangerines left?" I called out to Ace as I emerged from our small tent, deflating when I saw his head shake. 
"Sorry, my love. You had the last one yesterday." He reminded me, scooting over when I came to sit next to him in front of our campfire. Nudging him in the side, I couldn't help but smile before I began rummaging through one of our two bags. 

"My love? When did you get so sappy?" I snickered, flicking away a stray ember that tried to land on my bare leg. Ace caught it on his finger, unphased by the burning sensation it would have caused him. 
"What, would you rather me call you Pancake all the time?" He asked teasingly, earning himself a light smack on the arm. 
"Pepper-cheeked asshole." 

"Flatso." 

"Sniper's dream." 

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Genuinely perplexed, Ace cocked his head, and I smirked as I leaned in to poke him between the eyes. 
"Your massive forehead. It's a sniper's dream target." I stated a-matter-of-factly. It took a few moments for Ace to react, but when he did, I was glad that it was with laughter, his arm moving to sling around my shoulders and pull me close into his side. 

"You're a little shit, you know that? A cute, cheeky little shit." He chuckled, relaxing more the moment I began to absently trace the lettering of the tattoo on his left arm. "So, I suppose we should head to the Alabasta kingdom next, huh? If we were given the right information, then that guy, Scorpion, knows where we can find Teach..." 

Humming, I kept my eyes trained to his inked skin, the light of the open flame making beautiful patterns dance over the both of us. 
"Do you really think that's true..? Also, isn't he going by Blackbeard now? Trying to be the polar opposite of Pops..." It rubbed me the wrong way, but Ace kept me from becoming too agitated, nuzzling his nose into my hair. 

"Well, it's the only lead we really have, so there shouldn't be any harm in checking it out. Besides, we're close to the Drum Kingdom already, and from the looks of the papers, Luffy is heading the same way. Wouldn't it be cool if we ran into him?" He pointed out, and I nodded in agreement, excited by the sheer thought of possibly seeing the spritely boy I had made a pact with so long ago.