The Window Maker - (OCXCANON)

Chapter 40 (Alabasta Arc}

The next morning Ace awoke as the sun peeked through the window above his bed. He blinked away the sleep in his eyes but something was off. The bed was too warm and he wasn't left with the usual empty pit in his chest. His arm was still tightly wrapped around Ki's waist from behind, clutching her flush to his body. He buried his face into her hair and drew in a deep breath, savoring the moment for just a bit longer. He lightly squeezed her side as inwardly cursed, 'This could be our everyday... If she would just stay.'

He softly grumbled to himself as his fingertips dragged across the skin of her stomach as he pulled away. He lightly shook her, "Ki, it's morning. Shouldn't you be getting back to the Straw Hats?" She didn't move, 'Does her breathing seem labored?' He carefully pulled her shoulder to turn her onto her back. A worried gasp tore from his throat as he eyed her flushed face. Sweat was beaded on her forehead and her breathing was ragged.

He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead, "You're burning up! I need to go get Marco!" He shot up and crammed his legs into his shorts as he bolted out the door, "Marco!"

As he burst out onto the deck, the boat was in a chaotic mess. The crew was yelling and running around in a panic with their faces painted in horror. Ace caught one of the men by the arm and shouted, "What's going on?!"

The man broke down in tears and rage as he shook his head, "It's Thatch! He's dead!"

Ace's eyes widened as he shook the man by the shoulders, "How the hell did this happen!? Who did thi-!"

Whitebeard spoke up across the deck in a grim tone, "It was Teach. he cut him down and stole that devil fruit," The old man's voice was filled with exhaustion and pain as he held his face in his hand.

Ace lost it and growled, "I'll kill that bastard! You don't kill your comrades!"

Whitebeard shook his head and clutched his spear tightly in his palm, "This will be the one exception to the rule. I don't have a good feeling about this."

Ace gritted his teeth and yelled to the old man, "I'll take care of this!" He reached for his hat but it wasn't perched around his neck, 'Right! Ki!' He yelled, in a new panic of his own, "Where's Marco?! Ki is sick! I need him to take a look at her!"

Whitebeard raised a concerned eyebrow, "She's still here? God, she was here when this happened..."

Marco pushed through the thrush of men towards Fire Fist, "Take me to her."

The two men rushed back to Ace's room, they pushed open the door to see Ki sitting on the edge of the bed. Her hair was a mess. Sweat had matted it to her face and neck. She was bent over, fiddling with the straps of her sandals with a frustrated expression.

She flicked her gaze to the men and laughed softly, "Heh come to see me off boys?" A sudden cough thrashed her throat and she hid her face in her elbow, trying to muffle the horrid sound.

Marco shook his head and commanded, "You're not going anywhere besides back in that bed. You look like shit Ki. What happened? You were fine last night!" He eyed her for a moment, 'I knew something was off.'

Ki didn't have the strength to protest, so she let him help her back into bed. He touched her face and took her pulse, "You have an extremely high fever and your heart is beating rapidly. Stay here. I'm gonna go find something to bring your temperature down," He eyed the dress she wore and regarded Fire Fist as he exited the room, "Get her something more comfortable to wear."

Ace swallowed the anger that had bubbled up like bile as he began rummaging through his dresser for a tee shirt and sweatpants, 'I can't tell her what's going on. Not now that she's sick. She'll kill herself trying to follow me.'