LET ME PROTECT YOU [Ace X fem! reader]

Chapter 15 // The Moonflower

"YO! BIG SIS!"

A loud slam from across the room startles you awake. You quickly shut your eyes again and put all your effort into ignoring the hammering footsteps rapidly approaching you.

"WAKE UP! I GOT BIG NEWS!" Mila jumps on your bed and starts shaking your lazy body awake.

"Ugh..." You groan drowsily, your heavy head glued to the pillow.

"YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS! THERE'S A MUSTACHE GUY HERE." You've barely gained consciousness, yet Mila has already begun loudly bombarding you with random words. "WAKE UUUUP!"

"What? No!" You angrily roll over.

"UGH! NO, LISTENNNN!!!" Even with your back turned against her, Mila still doesn't give up on bothering you. She pathetically attempts to drag your blanket off — succeeding in nothing but annoying you even further — and you realise she won't stop nagging you until she gets her way. 

With a loud sigh you threateningly whip your head around. "What is it!?" 

"A GIGANTIC boat has just docked at shore!" She lights up as she speaks. "It belongs to the guys who were supposed to visit a few days ago! And between you and me, I heard some whispers about them being big shots..." She grabs you by the shoulders. "So, if we don't want to miss it, we need to go now!"

You roll your eyes. Personally you've never understood the appeal of gawking at supposedly 'important' people strolling through town like they're on some sort of pedestal. You're aware that a lot of the townsfolk enjoy breathing in the fresh gust of freedom they occasionally bring with, but it just doesn't sit right with you. All their showoffs are often just a flashy facade to hide their true intentions anyway, so feeding into it is just a waste of everyone's time. 

"You know I couldn't care less about these 'big shot' marines, Mila..." you sigh. "Don't be fooled by their–"

"OH, NO!" she gasps, grabbing her chest like she's offended on their behalf. "These guys are not marines..."

"Then what are they?" you yawn, more interested in tucking yourself under the warm covers again.

A sly grin curls up Mila's face. "They're pirates!"

And suddenly you're wide awake.

A cold wave of questions washes over you as the last word repeatedly rolls in your mind. Did you hear that correct? Pirates?! No, it can't be. Mila didn't say that. Because why would Kariko, in any way, shape or form, ever voluntarily welcome pirates?

"What?" You straighten your posture.

"Yes!" Mila exclaims, gleefully soaking in your full attention. "I heard that they're kind ones too, like your mom! And the captain has a goofy name as well! He's called 'Whitemustache' or something... I swear I've heard that name before–"

Mila's blabbering voice turns muffled as your own thoughts slowly submerge you. So she wasn't joking. Somehow, Kariko village, a pirate hating town, willingly took in pirates with open arms. No wonder this whole process was so secretive. About half of the population would've never let this slide even if the pirates were 'kind' as Mila says. However you know there's no such thing as kind pirates, especially if they're like your mom. And why would we even want pirates here on Windfall the first place? Plus out of all the crews we could accept, we choose one with a captain pathetic enough to call himself 'Whitemustache'? That silly name doesn't even sound pirate-like nor like anything you've ever heard of–

Oh.

You freeze. An image of the tattoo on Ace's back flashes in your mind, and suddenly you remember where you've seen that jollyroger before...