The Fire & The Requiem

Chapter 16

feelings told

     ~Nightmare~

   "Oi. Yuki so why did Ace leave you behind?"
Yuki blinked, was that Zoro? But how! Last she knew was that she had just joined the WhiteBeard pirates and outed the fact she had a dragon er well two of them. But why was she suddenly back on the going Merry?
     So lost to her thoughts she almost missed her own reply.
     "Hm? Oh. The town is crawling with Marines. I'm honestly a bit tired and since I didn't eat much before we took off. I'm kinda low on energy."
      Zoro stared at her before he went to go tell Sanji to cook her some food. Only for the sound of a gunshot to ring in the air.
     Yet whoever it had been intended for it never touched because Yuki had moved first. She had deflected the bullet with the dagger she usually kept on her hip.
       "What the-"
     Yuki's eyes narrowed as she cracked her neck.
      "Shade let's go!"
     And just like that her requiem appeared beside her.
      "An ambush?"
      "Yes, the marines. Looks like they waited for Luffy to leave."
        Shade shook his head. They had made a fatal mistake. Luffy might have left, but Yuki was a formidable opponent alone.
        "Shade make sure you don't get to hurt ya?"
       "Of course. You do the same."
       And with that the two moved. Yuki kicked one off the ship, despite the fact she had just been stabbed. She was angry, they went after her little brothers crew.
       "Akazuna Yukina surrender yourself now!"
     Yuki smirked as she responded.
        "I would rather die than surrender."
     "So be it. Kill her and the rest of them."
      Yuki glared at the man who spoke, how dare he disregard life? All life was important wasn't it?
       "Shadow blades! Chains of Obsidian!" 
      And just like that she was once again on the move. She jumped, moved and dodged as best she could. Despite being as injured as she was. She wouldn't back down. Zoro and the others were fighting. And worse case she would call Kage into the fray.
      Yet she noticed something odd. One of the marines had refused to fight. Tilting her head she decided to pay attention to him.
      "Why don't you fight Shiro?"
     The man frowned as he looked at the Vice Captain.
      "I can't. She did nothing wrong."
      "She exists. Don't tell me you feel bad for her now?"
      The man was silent.
     "You killed that village. You aided in their deaths."
     Yuki felt her eyes widen, she didn't even care that she was bleeding now.
      "No, I was not apart of that. I may have killed her parents. But you all wanted to kill a fucking child! So if I'm gonna fight anyone. I'll fight you!"
    Yuki glanced over at the man. He had killed her parents. No big Fuckin loss there. But he hadn't harmed the rest.
      "Oh? Then you can die with them."
     And then she moved, faster than even anyone could process.
     "Ugh!" She groaned as she was stabbed in what she assumed was her kidney.
      "What the?"
      "Oh? So you're gonna save him?"
     Yuki disregarded what the man had to say as she glanced at the man behind her.
      "You alright?"
     The man didn't know what to say. He was confused, why had she helped him? Why did she save him?
     "Oi! I asked you a question!"
      The man blinked.
   "I am- but why?"
      "Why the fuck not? You may have played a roll in what happened back then. But I will not hold that against you when you're refusing to fight back now. So get the fuck out of here!"
      The man in question blinked before Yuki let out a blood curling scream.
     "How cute, to bad this is where you die."
      Yet before he could do anything did the scene change and she could hear Luffy screaming at her to wake up.
    Yuki was horrified, why? Why couldn't she wake up?!
      However just as she closed her eyes did the nightmare abruptly end.
    ~end of nightmare~

   Yuki woke with a blood curling scream that soon turned into a broken sob. The person who had woken her cursed as they quickly pulled her into their arms.
      "Shh, it's ok Yuki, it's okay."
     It took a bit for Yuki to finally calm down but when she was calm did she look up only to see it was Ace who had her in his arms.
     "You okay now princess? What happened?"
     Yuki blinked before she laid her head against his chest. Her ear over his heart as she listened to it.
     "Nightmare....I-"
     Ace only tightened his hold on her as he kissed the top of her head.
     "Your death?"
     "Yeah, what....lead up to it."
       Ace swore. He had gotten the full story from Shade about the fight during the time Yuki had been asleep. So he knew that probably wasn't something she enjoyed reliving.
      "I'm sorry princess. But hey. It's okay. You're here and I got you."
      Yuki glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow.
      "I know, but what did you need?"
    Ace blinked, why would she even ask that?
      "Yuki, I could Fuckin feel your discomfort in your sleep. Then you started screaming. I was gonna wake you up. But you woke up screaming murder."
      Yuki blinked as what he said made sense and she saw Marco at the door.
     "That was bad-yoi. Want me to sedate you?"
     Yuki slowly shook her head.
    "Not yet. I don't wanna sleep just yet."
     Marco nodded. "Come get me when you're ready." And with that he nodded to Ace and left.
     "So, can I tell you something Yu?"
     Yuki looked up at Ace before she slowly pulled away from him and shivered from the cold.
      "What's up?"
     Ace looked slightly nervous but he wasn't about to back out now. He had to tell her.
     "Ace?" Yuki was slightly worried. He had been taking awhile to respond to her.
      "I like you Yuki."
     Yuki blinked and went to open her mouth when he held his hand up to stop her.
      "I'm not done."
    Yuki closed her mouth and motioned for him to continue.
     "I like you, but it's more than that. Yuki I'm in love with you." He was silent as he took her hand with his own. "I realized it the day you- you died. When Luffy was frantically trying to bring you back. When I told Pop's what happened. How relieved I was that you had lived. Because I meant it Yu. I can't live in a world where you don't exist."
       Yuki felt her eyes widen. He loved her? Did she deserve love?
      Ace looked into her stormy grey eyes with his own coal black and softly smiled. "I'm not expecting an answer right away. But- I do want you to think about it. I had to tell you this. Can you think about it for me?"
      "Think about what?"
    His expression softened as he used his free hand to cup her face. "How you feel about me."
Yuki blinked but soon found herself nodding.
      "Yeah, I can think about it Ace."
Ace just nodded as he kissed the top of her head.
    "Want me to hold you?"
     And as an answer she simply snuggled back up against him as she yawned.
     Ace chuckled as he laid down with her in his arms. Both of them falling into a deep and dreamless sleep.