Nobody Else (Portgas D. Ace x Reader)

Exception ~ Ch10

Present day

(Y/n)'s Point Of View

"Did you hear? Apparently Dressrosa is involved with an illegal trading business?" A voice said from behind me, making me freeze at the mention of a certain Island ruled by a certain man- an island that I still admittedly think of as one of my many homes among the seas.
"Doflamingo's country? Surely he wouldn't let anything as big as that sit under his nose?" Another voice replied, making my grip on my cup tighten as I tried to ignore the conversation.

"There's a reporter who spent a few weeks in Dressrosa that seems to believe that he's a part of the whole scheme!" One of the men said, both of them moving to sit down beside me within the common area. I then realised that it was Thatch and Marco talking, both of them now sitting on either side of me on the bench. I suddenly had the strongest urge to flee.

"The heavenly demon, right?" Thatch asked, "I mean, he's bad but surely as a warlord he knows to stay away from any kind of shady business like that."
"(Y/n), you've been to Dressrosa, righ-" Marco was then cut off by the sound of Ace's voice breaking off from the chatter amongst the choas of the common area.
"Baby, could you come help me with something?" Ace asked, leaning against the wall, staring down at me with a look that showed that he understood how uncomfortable I felt.

I gulped as I nodded eagerly, wasting no time before standing up from my seat.
"Yeah, of course. I'll talk to you later guys, okay?" I said to the men before waving goodbye and rushing over to Ace who wasted no time before pulling me into his side, guiding me down the stairs onto the main deck and away from the common seating area. I released a relieved sigh now that I was further away from the mention of his name. I didn't like listening to people talk about him- only because nobody knew him the way I did. That went for both the good and the bad.

"Thank you." I mumbled once we were further away, making him tighten his grip around my waist understandingly.
"It's alright. I know you don't like talking about him very much." Ace replied.
"It's not that I don't like talking about him..." I admitted, "It's just that I don't like hearing other people talking about him, especially when they talk about things that they don't know...and it's not like I can correct them, because I'd rather them not know of my connection to him because it would only fuel the need for questions."

"But I'm the exception, right?" Ace grinned, making me chuckle as he guided me towards his bedroom.
"You're always the exception." I replied confidently with a smirk, making him smirk as he opened the door for me.
"You never told me how you met, you know?" Ace then prodded curiously as we entered his bedroom. I immediately headed for the bed, falling backs against it with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I did." I denied, honestly not remembering if I had or not in the past.
"Not really. All you've told me was that you met him when you were six and stayed with him untill you were nine." Ace told me as he sat down beside me, leaning back against the mattress once he'd taken off his hat and placed it on his bedside table. "You know, then you met us and then you met him again when you were sixteen." I went silent for a few moments, not realising that I hadn't actually told him the full story. I guess my first departure for Doflamingo wasn't my favourite memory in the world.

"Well, actually at the age of six, I met someone before I met Doffy and it was this person that 'introduced' me to Doffy." I told the man with a nostalgic smile, using my fingers to place quotation marks around introduced.
"Why the quotation marks?" Ace laughed, making me chuckle.
"Well, his name was Rosinante and I kind of just attatched onto his leg until he was forced to take me back to his home which he shared with Doflamingo. He didn't want to- he always said Doffy would be the death of us if we allowed him to be." I admitted.

"Rosinante?" Ace echoed curiously, "And he lived with Doflamingo? Is he part of the family? I've never heard of him."
"He's Doflamingo's brother...and you've never heard of him because he's dead now." I whispered, making Ace pause.
"Rosi was the first to begin looking after me since Doffy didn't really care about the children that followed him around. But it was after a few weeks ago that Doffy kind of took a liking to me and started treating me better, and a few months until he started staying that I was his one and only soft spot." I chuckled, Ace staying completely silent.

"It wasn't long before I was an official member of the family in his eyes- despite the fact that I couldn't fight for shit. He liked to say that I was mostly there for decoration." I chuckled bitterly.
"It was when I turned seven and Doffy had set up plans for my education that Rosi gave up on trying to get me away from Doffy." I told him, making Ace's eyes go wide.

"Wait. It was Doflamingo who made sure you were educated?" Ace asked with surprise, making me nod. He wasn't the only person who was surprised. Caring about something like education was quite out of character for Doffy.
"He found a few private tutors for me. Since I already knew how to read and write, they mostly just taught me history and a few languages." I told him, remembering how serious he became about my studies.

"It sounds like your life there was pretty good... but if he treated you so well, then why did you leave?" Ace found himself asking, making me pause, an image of Rosinante appearing in my mind.
"Well, I told you that his brother died...and it was the day that he died that I knew I had to leave Doffy." I admitted, my voice in a mere whisper.
"But...why?" Ace asked me softly.
"Because it was Doffy that killed him...and I couldn't forgive him for that." I admitted, my voice in a mere whisper.

Ace went silent for a few moments.
"And then then next time you met him was after you were taken from us..." Ace said, finishing the story for me.
"Yeah." I mumbled with a nod, "I found him again when I needed him most."
"So, he's like me, right? He can help you control it?" Ace asked me curiously, making me nod.
"To be honest, if I hadn't found you last year then I'd probably still be with him now." I told the man.

"Would you... be a part of his crew?" Ace asked me slowly, his eyes curious. I couldn't help but flash a toothy grin.
"Impossible. You know that I'm still loyal to Luffy." I teased, making him scoff.
"Does Doflamingo know that?" Ace then fired back, making me wince.
"Well...I guess not." I replied. Doffy saw me as part of the family- and still probably does which probably meant that he believed me to be part of his crew. He trust me.

"It's not too late, you know?" Ace began to say, "Pops has offered a thousand times and he'll probably ask you a thousand more until you say yes. You could be a commander like me? Or under me- you know, that works too." Ace told me with a cheeky grin, making me burst out in loud giggles.
"As tempting as that sounds, I'm comfortable like this- as a guest of whitebeard rather than a member of his crew. And that'll make it easier- for when the day Luffy calls for me, I'll come." I explained softly, making Ace grumble out with objection.

"You'd really leave me for Luffy?" Ace frowned, making me roll my eyes.
"I'd come and visit you, you big baby. Who else is going to stop you from drowning in your soup?" I teased playfully, poking his nose as he grabbed onto my waist and rolled ontop of me.
"I love you, (Y/n)." He chuckled, making me smile before replying,

"I love you too, my pyro-idiot."

(A.N ~ I wrote this last week but forgot to post it.)

Chapter 11 Quote Teaser :

"Do you remember when that was? The day you abandoned me along with that street rat? I expected it from him (Y/n), but you? You disappointed me."