Fire in our hearts | Portgas D. Ace x OC

1. Childhood

- Penelope, you look beautiful!

- A real princess!

The girl rolled her eyes.

- I want to go out and play... just take the picture already... - the girl wailed to her parents.

- Say cheese! - Penelope's mother held up the camera.

- That's it. Now you can go play. - the little girl jumped with joy. - without getting these clothes dirty, they're brand new!

Penelope didn't even hear the last part and ran out. She was dying to meet her friends, Gary and Lily. The Fuusha village was small, but it was enough for the three of them to have fun. They explored the place, climbed trees, invented games, and had fun all day long.

The girl went to the meeting point of her friends in front of the main square. The two of them were already waiting anxiously to go on with their adventures, but, strangely enough, there was a third person with them.

- Penny!

- Guys...? Who is this?

The boy looked a little younger than her, and was crying profusely. Penelope saw the little boy's condition and noticed that she had never seen him there before.

- This here is Luffy. - Gary pointed to the boy - he said he went out to look for someone and got lost.

- I went looking for my friend... Ace... and I got lost... help me! - Luffy cried out in between sentences.

- Who do you live with, Luffy?

- I live with the mountain bandits...

The three friends shuddered. They had heard about these mountain bandits, who were violent and all. They all knew where they lived, but still, no one seemed to have the courage to go there.

But Penelope felt so sorry for the little boy who had nowhere else to go, and decided to help him, even though she was scared.

- Come on, I'll take you there.

While Luffy grinned from ear to ear and hugged the little girl, stopping crying immediately, Lily and Gary looked completely terrified.

- Penny... you're going...?

- Yes, and I'm sure nothing bad will happen to me. You can stay here if you want - they both looked relieved.

Of course the girl was nervous, but at that moment the most important thing was to help the boy.

The two of them walked towards the mountain where the mountain bandits lived. Luffy held Penny's hand while the two talked.

- Have you lived here long?

- No. I mean... I'm from East Blue, but Grandpa brought me here after I said I wanted to be king of the pirates.

- Oh yes... wait, the king of the pirates? Do you know what that means?

- Yes, the pirate king is the one who is going to find the one piece!

The girl took a deep breath.

- Right... And here, far away... do you have someone to play with?

- I keep trying to play with my friend Ace, but he always runs away from me...

Penelope felt even more sorry for the little boy.

- You can come and play with us if you want!

- You mean you're my friend now? - Luffy's face lit up when Penelope nodded - yayyyy!

Penny smiled.

As they were approaching their destination, they came face to face with a strong, redheaded woman, crying in despair.

- Hey, kid! You're there! Where did you go? - she ran to hug him - I was looking for you like crazy! Don't ever do that again!

- I was looking for Ace... but I got lost and found my new friend... yeah... what's your name again?

- Penny. - she smiled.

- Thank you for bringing the boy. - the woman smiled at the girl - do you want some ice cream? It's the least I can do to thank you.

Both their eyes twinkled.

- Yes I do, ma'am!

- Call me Dadan. Come in before it starts raining.

Penelope seemed to forget that this was a house for mountain bandits. Everyone seemed so nice and treated her so well. Luffy and she had ice cream and played games for a while.

Halfway through the afternoon, when the rain had poured and the sun came out again, the door opened and another boy appeared inside the house. Luffy's eyes lit up and he ran up to the boy.

- Ace! I was looking for you, then I got lost... but now I have a new friend!

The older boy looked very unfriendly and seemed to be totally unhappy about the situation.

- Who are you?

- Penny.

- Why are you all... poshy like that? And what are you doing here?

Penelope didn't understand the reason for these questions, but decided to answer anyway.

- Your friend was lost and I brought him home.

- He is not my friend.

The little girl's mouth formed an "o" and she didn't know what to say.

- Well, I have to go...

- You'd better. - Ace said with his arms crossed.

- Nooo! Stay! - Luffy insisted to the girl.

- I need to go home! But tomorrow I'll wait for you so we can play together, Luffy!

Penny said goodbye to everyone but Ace and headed home.

It had been a nice day, but she couldn't stop wondering why that boy was so rude to her. No one had ever been like that.

A few days later...

Luffy, Penelope, Gary and Lily had already become best friends. They played together all day long, adventuring more and more each day. After they found out that Luffy had eaten the rubber akuma no mi, they've invented new ways of playing, especially when they stretched the boy all over the place.

It was a sunny afternoon and the four of them were playing in the forest. They were climbing trees, swinging, and whenever they found something, such as a branch, it became a toy.

Suddenly they saw two boys walking by. Penny immediately recognized one of them.

- Aceeeeeee! You're here! - Luffy shouted, running to talk to the boy.

Ace looked grumpier than ever, and rolled his eyes when he saw the guys standing there.

- Who are you guys? - he asked, looking at Gary and Lily.

The three of them looked at each other for a moment and didn't answer.

- Hi, I'm Sabo - the other boy with blond hair decided to break the silence. He looked about the same age as Ace, but was much nicer.

- And I am Monkey D. Luffy! - the little boy said and Sabo smiled - now we can all be friends and play together!

- Let's go, Sabo. - Ace said, snorting.

Sabo whispered in his friend's ear.

- I want to stay. They seem nice.

The four of them quickly mingled with Sabo and started playing, all together. Ace sat in the corner, but eventually gave a discreet smile without anyone noticing.

It was the beginning of a great friendship.