An Eternal Bond

More Than the Moon

When one raises their weapon in victory, whether it be their sword or their fist, cheers often sound through the land. Perhaps tears of joy are streaming down people's faces.

That's what I saw that day.

I smiled, hearing those who have been suffering for so long finally hold peace in their hearts, those who have been sad for so long with a content grin on their face.

I strayed from everyone else. I went out into the empty land, wandering through the dead fields that lacked plants and water. In the middle of it, where there was no noise, I sat down.

My eyes closed.

My body still.

And the world went completely dark.

"Ace!" I called into the darkness, turning around to see if he stood behind me.

"Y/N." His hand landed on my shoulder and I flinched until I realized the familiar warmth. "Ace!"

He showed me his toothy grin and scooped me up in his arms. "You're amazing, do you know that?"

"Of course I do." I let a smug grin creep up onto my face.

"By the way, do you really know my ass that well?"

"That was a comment from the spur of the moment."

"Was it? You know exactly how many freckles I have."

"I used to trace constellations on your cheeks, obviously I do." I placed my finger over one of his freckles. "This is a corner of the Ursa Minor."

"Oh really?"

"That's what I always made it." I began moving across his face from freckle to freckle.

He never closed his eyes for any longer than a second. Ace always does that. Every time he looks at me, it's as if it's the last time he'll look at me.

'Ah, young love' Marco used to say. He's only like, 20 years older than Ace and I, geez.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask with a chuckle.

Ace smiled and placed his hands on either side of my face. "You're beautiful, do you know that?" He moved a strand of hair behind my ear. "You should start tying your hair."

"The wind feels better in loose hair, doesn't it?"

"Right, because the wind is what you'll be focused on in a battle."

I nodded, half joking, half dead serious. One of the most freeing feelings is being in an empty place and there was high winds blowing in my face. I mean, Izo hated the fact that he had to fix my hair afterwards but it's a nice feeling in the moment.

Ace sighed. Not a relieved one or an entranced one. He just sighed.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, really. Just remembering how you used to hum some weird little song and I'd make lyrics to it."

"The lyrics would change all the time since you could never remember them!"

He laughed, one of the big hearty ones captains do when they're together, reminiscing about how they used to be when they were young.

"Well, your song never changed." Ace began combing his hand through my hair. "It was always the same tune every single time. What song is it?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. I began humming it at some point and then never stopped."

"You'd put the crew to sleep!"