𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘈𝘤𝘦 𝘖𝘯𝘦-𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴!!!

Strawberries

Fifth one-shot:
Strawberries

Synopsis:
Ace is a merman who is lost in the seas, away from the Fishman island. Marco is just relaxing alone on some random island, away on a mission.

Word count: 13600-ish
Enjoy reading! ^^

A/N: Inspiration from Shadow22739 , Thank youu, Shadoww (～￣▽￣)～

×××

He was lost.
Swimming through the deep waters, Ace sighed as he came to a halt. He was getting tired and it's been a long while. So long that he even crossed the Calm Belt, but he doesn't really know where he is right now. He can see that he's out of the Grand Line though, it's been a very long time since a random weather phenomenon happened suddenly without a warning whatsoever.

So yes, Ace is lost. And he doesn't know how to go back to the Grand Line. Of course he knows that he could just cross the Calm Belt again, but... He doesn't want to die. Yet. And going back to Calm Belt would be a death wish. He already doesn't know how in the hell he survived- all thanks to his ultimate luck, of course, but he doesn't think his luck can save him a second time. So, once again yes, he is lost. Very lost.

Ace hasn't seen any islands for a while now too, and those he saw were always habited. He didn't want the humans to know that a merman is out in the seas, lost and vulnerable. But if anyone saw Ace, he would of course fight back. Merfolk from Fishman island would always tell him that humans are bad and he should stay away from all of them, but he'd never forget the humans who saved him and gave him a real home, a family. Funny, isn't it? For a merman like him to call some humans his family. But that's what they are. They are his precious family, they'll always be.

Talking about them now, this part of the seas actually reminded him of his home. Well, his family's home. Ask a merman about his home and he'd immediately say it's of course the Fishman island and would send you a look of 'are you an idiot?'. But ask Ace about his home and he'd say it's his family. Wherever his family is, it's his home. And his family used to live i-

Ace suddenly came to a halt in the middle of the sea and looked up with wide, confused eyes. His abrupt stop made the fish near him scared and they swam away from him. But that wasn't his concern, no, he saw some kind of light coming from up. From the sea, no, the sky!

He decided he'd take a look at whatever that was, so cautiously he popped his head out from the water and looked up. There it was! The source of light, a- a bird?? The bird.. the bird is on fire! But it doesn't seem to mind that.. maybe he's lost too? Because that there looks like a bird from the New World. He's sure that he's not in the New World, it would have been so dangerous for him but in here there's no danger at all. Meaning the bird is lost. Poor him.

Shrugging, Ace went back in the water and let the bird go on his own, he wouldn't interfere with it even though it could be lost like him. He'd eventually get eaten by a sea king or something, even though he has only seen a few small ones around.

×××

Ace swam for a while more and finally after what felt like years, he saw an uninhabited island. It was a beautiful island with a dense forest and it seemed to be uninhabited, at least he couldn't see or hear any humans around. He swam around the island a few times, it was small but it would be a nice place to rest. He had his bubble with him, which would allow him to go on the island and look for a cave or somewhere else he could hide in. The sea wouldn't be a wise choice since despite their smaller size, there are still sea kings around. And there could be ships in the area, if they saw him they'd immediately want to capture him. He wouldn't want that.