•Black Hat•

•17•

Of course I said yes. And that was how I found myself on Whitebeard's ship hiding behind a wooden barrel with booze, spying on Marco. We had left the same night while everyone was asleep on the submarine and had traveled all the way to where Ace and Whitebeard, who apparently also died later on, would be buried.

Marco was coming out of a cabin and held an orange hat, when a fellow crewmate of his, that seemed to be on the same rank with him, a commander I mean, stopped to ask him whether his stuff were in there.

"Yes" Marco had replied "I packed them neatly but" he paused "I don't want to throw them away"

"It will only be a burden Marco-"

"Let me bear it then!" He had said interrupting the other man. Both of them left for the funeral and after I gathered all my courage I creeped inside the cabin.

It was a simple cabin and I guessed that was because Marco had packed all his stuff. I always imagined it messy with wanted posters of people he admired and people he hated all over the walls. He would have for example Luffy's first wanted poster so he could brag to his crew-mates about his younger brother and perhaps Gol D Roger's on the other wall so he could throw knives at him when he was angry. I smiled at the thought. In the cabin the only thing that was left unpacked was his bed. Everything else was inside of one big paper box.

I opened it and took a look inside. They didn't look like the things of a dead man. It felt like someone was moving to another room and he had placed all his belongings inside the box. The only thing was that that someone was Ace and he was dead. I pulled out a thin paper. A wanted poster... it really was Luffy's. 30.000.000 berries. I smiled again bitterly. The second one I pulled out was his.

Hiken no Ace.
Firefist Ace.
550.000.000 berries!

Oh my he was worth a fortune!! I examined the photograph they had used and saw him wearing the hat Marco was holding when he got out of the room. I imagined that was his signature hat, with the two faces, one sad one happy. As I was searching deeper inside the box I found something that I couldn't stop looking at.

A black hat... exactly like the one he wore in his wanted poster and like the one Marco was holding. Only... in black. I quickly closed the box again and ran out of the room with the hat still in my left hand. Suddenly I heard voices coming towards me and I jumped in the sea swimming till Law's submarine. I climbed up in the outer deck it had and he looked at me surprised.

"Is that-?"

"Yes. It's his!"

"Did you steal it?"

"It didn't belong to anyone anymore!" I replied and shamelessly put it on my head. "Only now it does. It's mine!" I said and closed my eyes.

I traveled all the way to Ace's grave and as everyone else paid their respects I approached his grave with my Haki and whispered to him:

"I died with you and I'm reborn now!"

And it was the truth. Pearl, the poor previously imprisoned girl, was dead. From now on I would be The Blackhat Pearl. Kuroboshi Pearl! At least that would be the name the Navy would later choose for me.

"Let us leave!" I told Law and walked inside the submarine.

"I don't take orders from kiddos like you!" He hissed but followed me and closed the door behind him.

"I'll overlook this now, because you brought me here. But if call me a kiddo again I'll make you eat your liver!" I hissed.

"I am more capable of making you do that!" He said and twisted his fingers muttering 'room'.

"You need Luffy alive" I said calmly and continued walking in the corridor. I could bet one of my fingers that he called me a bitch again.

When got back to the island that Law informed me was called Amazon Lilly and no men were allowed to enter, Jinbe was furious. I can't say I didn't expect him to be mad but when I exited the submarine and saw him my heart stopped beating. The moment my feet touched the ground I started running inside the forest of Amazon Lilly with Ace's hat still in my hands. I thought that Jinbe would hesitate to follow me somewhere that no men were allowed but that didn't seem to be the case.

In the end I managed to corner myself in front of a huge rock and I didn't even bother to hide my fear for what he would do. My body trembled like a leaf at the wind and I was sweating ridiculously much.

"Where did you go?" snarled Jinbe. I gulped nervously. "Where have you been?" He shouted angrily and I swear to god I felt my legs giving up. I feared that he would kill me. "You took Luffy and left for god knows where, without informing us! Can you imagine how much we worried? Tell me can you?"

"I can" I managed to utter. I had hid the hat behind my back but Jinbe seemed to notice it.

"What's that?"

"Nothing?" I stuttered. 

"What is that?" He asked again demanding me to show him what I was hiding.

"Just a hat..." I murmured and revealed the black velvet hat.

Jinbe's eyes opened widely. "Did you-?"

I nodded. "Law asked me whether I wanted to go"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you let me go? Together with Luffy? He was unconscious, I know, but you wouldn't have let me go, am I wrong?"

Jinbe paused. "Why did you take it?" He asked in the end.

"I guess to punish myself with its burden" I admitted bitterly.