***Two Months Later***

"Enemies starboard! Ready the cannons!" Ace stood proudly on the roof, poorly carved wooden sword pointed upwards as we scattered, grins wide and carefree.

"Aye aye, Capt'n Forehead, Sir!" I laughed, skipping past him and very nearly getting clocked in the head with his faux weapon. This was what I loved. Playing together with the boys, being included, not a single care in the world.

"When's it my turn to be captain?!" Luffy whined in complaint, hopping up to sit upon the wooden railing.
"When you can beat me in a fight." Ace replied, folding his arms over his chest.
"That's no fair! Sabo, (Y/N), tell him that's not fair!"

Sabo just shrugged, seeming to agree with the freckled boy, but I opposed, moving to join the youngest and reaching out to ruffle his hair.
"Maybe next time, yeah? It's not fair that he plays captain every time. He isn't even that good at it."

When I turned to give Ace a smirk, I caught sight of Sabo slumping his shoulders, stepping to the side and out of the way.
"Like you could do any better, Flatso." Surprisingly calm in tone, Ace indirectly accepted my challenge, and I patted Luffy's leg before dropping back down onto the wooden floor, stretching my arms above my head.

"Thems fighting words, Pepper face!" I wasn't entirely mad. Arguing with Ace had become a major part of my life, and I wouldn't have traded it for anything.
"Try not to break anything this time, I'm begging you..." Sabo chuckled warily, referring to the time we broke one of the support beams during a wrestling match.

"No promises!" I should have known better than to rush the boy head on, but hey, we didn't exactly have much room up in the base. Throwing his wooden sword aside, Ace threw up his hands to push me back, easily knocking the wind right out of me and succeeding.

He'd grown a lot in the past few months. Not so much visually, but his increase in strength was obvious. When I hit the floor, I wheezed, squirming wildly when he came down on top of me, hands on my wrists.
"Heh. Pinned ya." The smug look on his face almost gave me a second wind, and with a harsh jerk, I rolled us over, hoping to switch with him, but he just kept us going in a round-a-bout roll until we were back where we had started. "Pinned ya again."

One day I'll win...

Pouting, I glared up at him, but it softened a little as I stared at his cheeks. His expression faded into confusion and I smirked.
"You sprouted more freckles. Now you're even more of a pepper face." Now it was his turn to pout.
"I have no-"

Putta putta putta! Putta putta putta!

The air around us grew thick and still in an instant, and slowly we all turned to the crate in the corner. There, the baby transponder snail, neck fluffed with pink feathers, was shouting out. Somebody was calling.

"I'll get it!" Luffy attempted to bound over, but Sabo held out his arm, face serious as he exchanged a look with Ace.
"Just leave it...There's only one person who'd be calling..." He murmured, and Ace slowly sat back on his heels, pulling me up to a seated position.

Putta putta putta!

The fear that coursed through my veins was one thing, but the overwhelming urge to answer was a whole other thing entirely. When I made a move to stand, Ace's hand quickly shot out to grasp my shoulder, but there was no force to it.
"You're not seriously going to answer, are you?"

Putta putta putta!

He almost sounded disappointed in me, and I hated it, but at the same time, I felt like I had to. His hand slipped from me as I stood, and each step I took towards the snail caused my heart to skip, and it nearly halted completely when my hand touched the receiver.

Cuh-lick!

Raising it to my mouth, I almost forgot how to speak. It felt so dry all of a sudden, as if all of the moisture in my body was escaping through my panicked sweat.
"H..hello..?"

"Oh, thank God, is that my sweet girl?" There was a strange, legitimate tone of relief coming from the familiar voice, but I could hear the smile so well that I could almost see it. "(Y/N), that is you, right? It's me. Are you alright?"

Donquixote Doflamingo. It had been so long since I had heard my name on his lips, and I felt helpless. He always made me feel like that.
"H..how did you know...that I had the snail..?" That was the only thing I could think of to ask in that moment, gripping the receiver tight so it wouldn't slip out of my hand.

"You didn't seriously think that I wouldn't be keeping a close eye on you, did you?" The moment he said that, I spun around, but the boys were already surrounding me, their backs to me and their eyes sharp, making sure we weren't being watched. Sabo's hand reached back and slipped into mine for comfort, and I squeezed it for dear life.

"Are...you here..?" If he was, that was it. I didn't care what happened to me, but there was no way he wouldn't leave the boys unharmed, or anybody else I associated with, for that matter. Not if they were keeping me from him.
"You know I'm a busy man, my dear. I just have a few of my men keeping tabs on you, is all. What, do you miss me? I've missed you. So very much..."

The worst part was that I had missed him, in a strange, unnatural way. It often kept me up at night, thinking about what he would do, or if he even really cared at all.
"It's time to come home, (Y/N), darling. You've had your fun with your little friends, but I need you back now."

I didn't want to. The thought of leaving made me sick to my stomach, but before I could respond, the receiver was snatched away from me, and Ace stood there, a deadly glint in his eye.
"Oi, Flamingo Guy, right? She ain't leaving. She wants to stay here, and if you have anything to say about it, we'll bash your head in, along with all your little grunts!"

There was a long pause, and I stared up at Ace in pure terror. Did he have any idea who he was talking to? Threatening? Sure, Ace was strong for a kid, but even if he were an adult, he had no chance. That made me feel physically sick.

"I don't believe I was talking to you, brat." Doflamingo spoke through his teeth, no doubt pissed off by the sudden interruption.
"You think I give a crap?" Ace scoffed, glancing to his brothers as Sabo slapped a hand over Luffy's mouth so he wouldn't join in. "She's part of my crew now, so you're dead meat if you don't leave her alone."

My hands shot out, one to grip Ace's arm, the other to screw the front of his shirt into my fist. Our eyes met, and I could see his jaw tense as I shook my head frantically, already well on the verge of tears.

An eruption of amused laughter echoed through from the other end of the call, the face of the snail a terrifying match to what the man himself must have looked like in person.
"That's almost cute. Cut the shit, kid. (Y/N) is more than welcome to choose if she stays or not, but she knows what might happen if she makes the wrong decision."

My grip tightened on Ace, and I could feel both Sabo and Luffy place a hand each on my back, attempting to keep me calm. There was no way I could be in such a situation. I knew it had been coming. No matter how hard I had wanted it to be true, I wasn't going to be allowed to stay forever. I wasn't that lucky.

"So, sweetheart, it's your call. Are you gonna break my heart? You can't blame me for what may happen if you do..." There it was, that Doflamingo-style threat, in such a playful voice, it was sickening. What made it even worse was that it was working on me. Part of me truly believed that it would break the heart he obviously didn't have.

"I'll...I'll co-" When I began to answer, Ace pulled the receiver as far as he could from my mouth, my hand still clutching his arm. There was a pained look of disbelief on his face.
"You can't be serious? (Y/N), you cannot go back to that guy!" He whispered, each word making me flinch.

"I won't let you!" Luffy wasn't even bothering to keep his voice down, his arms coiling around my middle tightly.
"We can hide you somewhere, o..okay? Somewhere he'll never find you! Think about this!" Sabo was just as desperate, but they didn't understand. It wasn't that simple.

Swallowing down what felt like wads of dry cotton, I used all my strength to drag Ace's arm back, having to lean towards the receiver so my meek voice would be heard.
"I'll c..come back to you...Just...don't. Please, Doffy...Don't..."

Luffy's arms grew even tighter around me, almost stopping me from being able to breathe. Sabo stepped back, raking his hands down his face and beginning to pace. Ace, however, went limp, and the look he donned on his face made everything a thousand times worse. Complete and utter disappointment. At least that was what I could see.

Doflamingo chuckled softly, so smugly, and heaved a sigh.
"That's my good girl. Now, I don't want to be cruel, so I'll give you until sundown tomorrow to say your goodbyes. But remember, if you try and go back on this, I will find you. All of you. You won't do me wrong, will you, (Y/N)?"

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't take my eyes off of Ace's. The longer I looked, the more I could see that it wasn't just disappointment in his gaze. There was anger, sadness, and, shockingly, fear.
"I won't...I promise...b..but you have to p..promise-"

"I promise I won't, sweetheart, as long as you come home to me. Ah, I'm so excited! You've been gone for so long, I haven't known what to do with myself! I'll see you soon, (Y/N). Remember, sundown tomorrow, the West shore~ Cuh-lick!"

The moment he hung up, my legs gave out from under me, Luffy falling with me and refusing to let me go, our tears rushing down our faces in equal amount.
"No! I won't let you! Ace, Sabo, tell her you won't let him take her away! She's not allowed to go!" The rubber boy wailed, snot bubbling and dribbling from his nose.

"She made her choice." Despite the upset in Ace's voice, it hurt beyond words to hear him say that. I knew he didn't understand. None of them did, and they wouldn't be able to unless they saw what Doflamingo could do first hand.

"There...has to be a reason, right? I know you said he's a bad guy, but (Y/N), what were you asking him to promise?"  Sabo had removed his hat to sweep his hand through his blond hair, and I sat there, my arms around Luffy, trying to use him to ground myself.

"Th..that...he wouldn't...kill you all..." It was so hard to say it out loud. I still wasn't sure if he would keep true to his word or not. Doflamingo had never broken a promise to me in the past, but I still couldn't completely trust his word.

"I'd like to see him try to kill us. He has no idea who the hell he's messing with." Ace growled, sticking his nose in the air, which allowed the faint residue of a tear to drizzle down his cheek. His confidence was what made me snap.

Prying Luffy off of me, I stood up, marching up to the boy on shaky legs and grabbing him by the collar, startling him into silence as I began to shake him with all that I had.

"No, Ace, you don't have any idea who you're messing with! Th..this isn't like the little games you're used to! He has a three hundred and forty million berry bounty! I've seen him kill people without dropping a smile!"

Why can't you understand..?

"If I..I try and run from him, he won't stop at killing you! Every single person in this country will die..!" With an extra forceful shake, I knocked him backwards, landing over him but continuing my assault. "M..Makino, Dadan, Dogra, Magra...he..he wouldn't even spare children! Why can't you realise that?!"

My breathing was erratic, but I didn't fight back when Sabo dragged me off of Ace, pulling me back first into a hug, allowing me to curl in on myself and trap his arms between my chest and my knees.
"D..dammit...So there's nothing we can do, huh..?" He whispered, trying to hold back his emotions.

Luffy crawled over from where I had left him, latching on to me as well, sobbing and sniffling, but Ace remained where he was, silent and stone-faced.

I couldn't bring myself to say anything more in that moment. It was devastating, knowing that I had just over a day left with them all. It was my own fault, for getting so attached, but how could I not have?

Buried between Luffy and Sabo, I peeked out, just for a moment, to see Ace turning around, nose scrunched and eyes rimmed red, and it hurt even more.

One day...and after that, will I ever see you all again..?

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***Do I know what I'm doing? Nope.

Am I basing literally all of this fic on a reoccurring dream I had a few weeks ago? Yep.

Can somebody please tell me why the hell I latched onto Doflamingo, of all characters? He's awful, but my brain is now entirely: Huehuehue big hot bird man make Mombat go brrrrr

I've been drawing him constantly and I hate it.

Next Time: Binds and Bonds***