Willow and The Whitebeard pirates (One Piece)

Ace's Reassurance

It had only been a few days since Teach and Thatch were killed. The smell of burnt flesh was in the air, though it was starting to go away. The shipwrights that were on the ship had removed the scorched boards and were placing new ones down. Once they pulled the damaged boards up, they quickly took them away, and threw them into the sea. They didn't want to have anything else to do with the boards and felt that they would be better in the ocean.

Over the few days that had passed, Whitebeard had allowed me to stay in his cabin with him. He wasn't sure how I was going to be after what happened, so he wanted to keep an eye on me. Of course, for the first two nights, I'd had nightmares. Some of the nightmares were just me watching myself kill Teach, though in that one, I always had a smile on my face, whereas others were about the new power that I had acquired. There was always a dark shadow, and it would always take me over, causing me to do horrible things to others. I was trying not to let any of the dreams get to me, but they never seemed to end. Ace had joined the two of us, as everyone on board the ship could usually hear me. Ace hoped to possibly help me while I slept, but even he wasn't sure what to do.

Whitebeard and Ace were exhausted, but at least I was starting to get better with their help, though I stayed in Whitebeard's cabin, keeping to myself, not wanting to go outside just yet. I knew that I would want to practice and learn how my power worked, but I was going to wait to do that. I wasn't sure if something would go wrong, or if I could hurt people.

I was staring down at my hands, when Ace opened the door, peaking his head inside. "Are you doing alright Willow?" He asked, walking over, and sitting down on the couch. I didn't respond to him, as I was lost in my thoughts. Ace sighed, before waving a hand in my face. That got my attention, and I looked at him. I saw how tired he looked, and I felt bad for him. I knew that I'd been keeping him up, and I felt that it wasn't fair to him. I gave him a small smile, though it didn't last long.

"What's wrong?" He asks, looking at me. He knew that something was on my mind, apart from the things that had just happened.

"Were you ... ever afraid of your power? Afraid of burning everything?" I asked. I hoped that Ace would give me some insight on what it felt like when he got his power. For me, the circumstances in which I got mine, weren't the best, and it was darkness of all things. I wasn't even sure what all it could do, and that scared me more than anything else.

"Well ... a little, but you've got to trust yourself with it. If you don't do that, then you will hurt someone with it." Ace put his hand on my shoulder, "Marco and I can train you, same goes for others on the crew that have eaten a devil fruit. We'll make sure you get it, but knowing you, you'll probably get it on the first try." Ace said, laughing a little bit, closing his eyes as he laughed.

I looked away from him, at my hands. "Hmm ... maybe ... you're right ..." I say quietly. "Ace ..." I stop talking when I hear snoring. I look back at Ace, and he's asleep, sitting up. That made me smile a little bit. "I'll do my best." I slowly moved, laying down on the couch, curling up a little bit. I let out a breath, before closing my eyes. I slowly drifted off to sleep next to Ace, a small smile on my face.

Whitebeard came in not too long after Ace, and when he saw us, he smiled. It seemed that Ace had said something to help. He laid down on his bed, falling asleep within minutes.