PELAGIC - Ace x Reader x Law

CHAPTER FORTY TWO: Anything and Everything

There he was.

Battered.

Bruised.

Filthy.

Shackled.

There was my Ace, right in front of me as the Moby Dick surfaced in the bay of Marineford.

Before we had even started our ascent, Deuce had taken my hand in his so I wouldn't make an immediate break for it. It was a smart move, because the second I saw my husband I tried to.
"Don't. You're staying right here." Deuce insisted, though he spoke low through his teeth. I could feel his pulse thrumming through our connected hands.

There were so many Marines, so many fighters, but there, lined up and unphased, I could see the Warlords. I could see Doflamingo, grinning like the joker her was. Had he seen me? No, he couldn't have. Not yet. Not from that distance.

Ignore him. He's not important.

I couldn't even pay attention to what Whitebeard was saying as he stood tall and proud on the figurehead of the ship. Ace was all I could focus on, and how desperately I wanted to reach him. How I needed to hold his face in my hands to feel his warmth just so I could finally tell myself that he was truly still alive.

I tried to rush forward again, but Deuce yanked me back, right against his side. He wasn't going to let me go, and he had me completely beat when it came to physical strength. I hated it. He was right there. So close.

"Give me a second, Ace." Whitebeard spoke out, not even having to yell thanks to how deathly silent the world was after our appearance. Ace just stared, quivering and wide-eyed at his father, and then, he caught sight of me. Even from my distance, I could see how heavily his body flinched at the realisation and the risk I was about to take, along with the rest of our family.

"P..POPS..!" His voice broke as he screamed out to his chosen father, and I jerked hard against Deuce's grip yet again in vain. He just pulled me closer as Whitebeard started to warm up his Devil Fruit ability, the ship rocking back and forth as he shook the earth. The sea rose to either side of us, threatening to swallow us whole. "I IGNORED YOUR ADVICE AND TOOK OFF! WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST GIVE UP ON ME?! I'M THE ONE WHO CAUSED ALL OF THIS!"

Deuce was taken off guard by his statement, just as much as the rest of us, and it gave me the perfect opportunity to break free, sprinting towards the front of the ship. I would have risked jumping off and towards my husband if Whitebeard hadn't gently held his arm out to block my way, catching me before I skidded and fell.

"No." The Emperor said bluntly, lowering his arm once he knew I wouldn't move again, even without glancing to me. "I'm the one who told you to go...son..." My breath hitched in my throat as Ace lurched forward on the execution platform, the clanking of his shackles echoing in the quiet.

"THAT'S A LIE! CUT IT OUT!" He screamed, pitched and painful. "YOU TOLD ME NOT TO GO BUT I-"
"I'm the one who told you to go." Whitebeard cut him off again, his tone more stern, like a father scolding his son. "I'm the one who told him to go. Isn't that right, Marco?"

His head tilted a little to listen to his first commander, and my head whipped around to search for him on one of the other ships by our sides.
"Yep, that's what I heard." The blond confirmed without missing a beat, stone-faced as he stood there amidst his brothers. "I'm sorry we put you through so much, Ace-yoi. Everyone in this world knows what will happen to someone who messes with our crewmate."

Everyone began to shout to him then. His brothers, his family, his crew. Telling him not to worry, to hold tight, how sorry they were to have let him end up in such a situation. Taking a deep breath, I cupped my hands around my mouth.
"YOU'RE COMING HOME WITH US, ACE! THAT'S A PROMISE!"

I allowed Deuce to drag me back to where we had been after that. I didn't care. Ace's eyes met mine, and I could hear everything he so wanted to say. His heart was breaking, and he was horrified that we'd take such a big risk for his sake. He was hurting.

But I could feel something else, too. Not from Ace, but from the edge of the stone landing, unmistakable in a flurry of pink feathers. Doflamingo, despite shielded by his shades, was staring directly at me, his lips pulled into a tight line across his face for a few moments before they nearly split it in two with the widest grin I had ever seen from him.

No. Don't look at him. This isn't about him.

"No matter what, you stay right by my side, understand?" Deuce spoke sharply and quickly into my ear, his grip tightening. "This isn't a request. Stay. By. Me." He knew exactly what was going through my head and my intention to rush straight into the fray with no thought or care about my safety.

I didn't respond. I couldn't lie to him, but I couldn't tell him that I had no desire to listen to him, either. Ace was my goal. I'd do whatever it took to get to him. I'd already let him down once. That was too much.

I didn't bat an eye when the world began to shake again, and neither did any of our companions. Water licked aggressively at stone and wood, the tide rushing back towards solid ground. Rising above, like a mighty wall, the perfectly crafted tsunami Whitebeard had called upon had finally arrived.

Despite the shouts and screams of fear and panic coming from the Navy, I could only focus on Ace. Nothing else mattered. Whilst the hit of a tsunami could very well finish this battle before it even truly started, what of him? He was a devil fruit user, and he, too, was in the path of a watery grave. I prayed that somebody had thought this through.

"ICE AGE!" It happened too fast for me to catch, especially since my attention had been taken, but the monstrous walls of water began to solidify, a chill immediately hitting the air as one of the Admirals turned it to ice. Kuzan, was it? I couldn't remember if that was his name, but it made sense that one hit KOing them would be too easy.

As Whitebeard struck him down, I tried to weasel my way out of Deuce's grip again, but he just held me tighter. He knew me, and he wasn't going to let himself get distracted.
"Please." One word, so desperately spoken through clenched teeth, but no matter how badly I wanted to listen, how much I respected him, all I wanted was to get to Ace.

I'm sorry...

More ice. This time, it was from below, sealing our ships in the middle of the harbour. The whole of Marineford was essentially a giant, frozen battledome now, and I was itching to fight. The second the naval cannons began to fire, and people began to move, I used the sudden commotion as a chance to reef myself from Deuce's grip, leaping down from the ship in a flat-out sprint.

"(Y/N), GET BACK HERE, DAMMIT!" I heard him yell out after me, but I wasn't about to stop. Ace was there. Right fucking there. Nobody could expect me to idly sit by. Piracy was a crime, sure, but this wasn't about that. They wanted Ace dead because of his blood. His mere existence was somehow a threat to them, and I couldn't understand it. I had no desire to even try.

No matter how many times everyone had tried to insist that this wasn't my fault I knew that, at least partially, it was. I hadn't done nearly enough to try to stop Ace from leaving the Moby Dick in search of Teach, or to stop him trying to face him alone. I had encouraged it. If I had tried even just a little bit harder, maybe none of this would have happened. We could have been home, and happy.

I knew that the main person I had to worry about right now aside from Ace was Doflamingo. He knew I was here, and I didn't need to ask myself whether or not he'd try to take me back. Of course he would. I just had to avoid him at all costs, mix with the yowling crowd of pirates and Marines that were about to clash together in a sea of violence, and get to my husband. I could do it. He was right there.

Ace...just hold on...Keep your eyes on me, and I'll reach you! I promise I'll reach you!

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***Hey, I'm back from the dead with this abomination.

My best friend started her One Piece journey recently, and is a massive Ace lover, so I felt the itch to return. I only stopped because Marineford is SO hard to write, so I apologise if I speed through fighting stuff. Some chapters may be shorter than usual, because it's a struggle. I'll try.

Next Time: Not For My Sake***