Ikari ][ One Piece ][

Chapter Seven

~Ace's POV~

                Her rage was eating away at her. It wouldn't be long before she began to dwindle away to nothing. That's what I'd thought, but perhaps it was different. Perhaps it wasn't her rage that ate away at her, but a heartbreaking pain and loneliness. What happened to warp her so much? Just what was it that caused her this much pain?

The other day there were tears in her eyes and as she turned to walk away a few fell and I felt something stir inside of me. An absolutely asinine feeling burst forth within me. I felt the need to protect her, even though I knew she was a force to be reckoned with and could easily take down over half the crew members aboard and perhaps even some of the commanders if she got serious enough. When it came to combat and physical strength she was remarkable, but when it came to her emotions and expressing herself she was truly weak and that was where I wanted to protect her.

"Hey, you should join our family." Thatch's warm voice sounded up ahead by the main mast where all the commanders and Oyaji were gathered. Were they having some kind of meeting?

My heart skipped a beat as I spotted Ikari standing in their midst glaring back at all of them spitefully. "I don't need a family." She hissed darkly.

"Eh? Everyone needs family." Someone responded but I couldn't tell who.

"You're better off without them. Families are cruel." Ikari snapped bitterly.

Why did she hate family so much? I inched closer knowing it was rude to eavesdrop but I had to know, I had to understand what made her this way. Was it her family? Then why did she cry out so desperately for her parents in her sleep that night? There had been tears in her eyes, she cried in her sleep as she called out for them like a child who desperately needed her parents. Did they abandon her?

"Well sometimes we're mean to each other but we'd never do anything to seriously hurt one another." Thatch chuckled.

"Is this why you called me here?" Ikari glared, "To talk about trivial things?"

"Family isn't something trivia-."

"I have no desire to be a part of any family. I don't need a family nor do I want one." She said dismissively and turned to storm away.

"What did they do?!" I couldn't take it anymore, I ran after her startling the gathering of commanders and Oyaji in the process, "Just what was it they did to you to make you so hateful?"

She turned to me and I flinched expecting her to lash out at me but stared in awe at the agony reflected in her smoldering eyes. In that moment she looked so small and fragile. "What do you think they did to me, Ace?" Her voice was so soft, weak and faint I almost hadn't heard her.

"Did they beat you? Neglect you? Abandon you?" I asked as my heart trembled in my chest, why was she in so much pain? My heart hurt for her.

"No. They never even raised their voices at me."

Everyone was watching us curiously now. They'd all been curious too, but none of them had the courage to ask her.

"Then what?" I asked her in defeat.

 The pain reflected in her eyes shifted to a cold malicious rage I'd never seen before, "You want to know what they did to me, Ace?" Her voice was dark and twisted. "You want to know what my wretched family did?" She stalked toward me with perfect lethal grace.

I hesitated, "Y-yes."        

In that moment she transformed from a beautiful china doll to a fierce goddess of war. There was a wicked glow in her smoldering eyes and it was as if an unseen wind whipped around her rippling through her luminescent champagne blonde hair. She reached me in a few long strides and gripped the front of my shirt in her hands wrenching me closer.

"You sure you want to know what those monsters did to me, Ace?" Everyone had gravitated closer to hear her more clearly.

Despite her rage and how often she lashed out at anyone who spoke to her, they were all worried about her. "Yes." I said more firmly, we were all worried about her.

"They loved me, Ace. They told me I was a blessing..." Her body trembled and I noticed the confused looks of all the commanders.

Something was wrong. I had a foreboding feeling that I didn't want to hear what else she had to say. My heart began to race and I felt the need to flee. I didn't want to know! Something horrible happened to her and deep down I was afraid, afraid of the horrors she faced. It took all I had to stay in place, she needed me, she needed someone to listen. She needed to let it all out.

"They told me there had to be a reason I was so beautiful..."

Everyone else began to grow uneasy as if they could sense the upcoming horror.

"My parents were sick, Ace. They were inflicted with an insatiable addiction for a very expensive drug."

My heart was racing and sweat began to bead on my forehead and collect in my palms. I didn't want to hear it.

"Eventually they became unable to pay..."

I closed my eyes; I couldn't gaze into those endless pools of despair and agony anymore. I couldn't look into that smoldering gaze without wanting to cry. She was completely tormented.

"They sold my body to any despicable man that would pay."

My stomach turned and I slipped to my knees unable to stand anymore as the overbearing weight of her burden fell atop my shoulders. How, how could she support this all on her own? A few of the commanders gasped and I noticed some having a similar reaction others just looked horrified and disgusted with what she had said.

"I was six years old, the first time. My parents were down stairs, my buyer paid them with their drugs and they let it happen...They listened to me scream for them and they did absolutely nothing to stop it." The darkness in her voice began to fade, she sounded helpless and vulnerable.

I looked up in awe to find tears welling in her eyes; the burning hatred had finally burned out only to be replaced with endless crippling agony. My knees were too weak to lift me, I was unable to comfort her, unable to offer her support to help her shoulder the burden.

Oyaji darted forward before anyone else could move and pulled the crumbling girl into a warm embrace, "It's alright, little one." He rubbed her back consolingly and everyone gaped as she sobbed against him.

I was too weak to help her stand, but I found my resolve again. I'd get stronger, for her sake. One day, I'd be able to help her shoulder the burden, I'd be strong enough to support her, strong enough to protect her, and maybe, just maybe, one day I'd be strong enough to keep her forever by my side.

Video- "Sleep Well My Angel" By We Are The Fallen