𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓. 🃁

𝐎PTIMISTIC .2

op·ti·mis·tic
adjective
hopeful and confident about the future.
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[jan 1st]

➪ ACE HADN'T NOTICED how long he had been outside until the dark in the sky had slowly started to fade into daybreak. how long was he talking with (y/n)? he didn't even know. but all that mattered to him was that they had saved his life and promised to give it a meaning. but was this really okay? if anything, wouldn't it be a bit selfish? he began to doubt himself , should they really help him? don't they have problems of their own? "ace are you okay?" he heard next to him, but their call wasn't enough to bring him out of his deep thoughts. they were both exhausted from their unexpected long walk and (y/n) noticed he was deep in thought so they decided to take a break at a nearby park. "say (y/n)... do you ever—"

"where'd you get that cat from?" he facepalmed after a fuzzy paw was placed on his cheek. "i love cats, this stray just found it's way to me. i think it likes you! but you can continue." they smiled putting the purring stray back onto their lap. he took a deep breath. "okay... do you ever feel like me— like sometimes you think things would be better if you were gone?" he finally asked. they took a moment to respond, as if they were carefully looking for the right words to say back. "of course i do.. ace." the words gently left their lips and they carefully watched ace's reaction. his eyes saddened and they looked like he had mentally came up with an answer of his own. his voice cracked out a rigid, "o-oh."

his eyes read that he wanted to say more, and it didn't go unnoticed to (y/n) observant eyes. "which is exactly why i'm looking forward to our promise." they spoke again. "i don't get it.. why do you want to make my life worth living, even if you haven't found the answer to why yours is?" the sadness on his face was more visible. "i'm only a nobody..." he whispered low enough for them to hear it. they sighed, maybe they should've worded it differently.

"through finding out why your life is worth living..." they paused for a second and let the cat jump off of their lap. "i thought maybe i can find a reason why i should live too. so don't worry ace. we only met today but i'm still very optimistic. so if you let me, we'll figure out the answer to this together." slowly, he nodded.

"let's change our promise." he said holding out his pinky finger. "a promise that we'll both find a reason to live—wait.. is this too early? i forgot we just met a couple hours ago." he rambled on which made (y/n) chuckle. "it's fine, ace." they said, interlocking their gloved pinky with his bare one.

"it's a promise."
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☁︎︎ it was 5am, the front lock to aces house had clicked and extended the door open. the first thing that caught his eye was his two brothers that slept soundly on the couch in his living room apartment. they must've been worried. he thought while he silently closed the door behind him and tip-toed up stairs to his bedroom. he laid on his bed and began to recall his conversation with (y/n) from not too long ago. "i see, so you have narcolepsy. that explains why you suddenly fell asleep."

"yeah, sorry for worrying you."

"don't worry, ace. how about this, let's go get some rest then meet up again later. todays still our birthday right?"

ace had only realized that he fell asleep when a ping on his phone had awoken him. he rubbed his eyes and sat up, on the bottom of his bed laid luffy and a note from who he assumed from sabo. he left the note alone figuring he'd read it later, and checked the notification from his phone. it's (y/n).

4:53pm
(y/n)
good evening ace, did you sleep well?

ace
i slept well.
how was your rest?