"CAN YOU JUST STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME, FOR FIVE MINUTES?!"

"ALL I DID WAS SNEEZE AND YOU STARTED SCREAMING AT ME!"

"YOU'RE IN MY PERSONAL SPACE!"

"I WAS LITERALLY NOWHERE NEAR YOU!"

"STOP TALKING!"

The eyes of the surrounding Whitebeard Pirates were growing tired. Back and forth, back and forth, like an aggressive, verbal game of badminton with no end in sight. Even Whitebeard himself couldn't terminate our arguments, and he too sat upon his throne, exhausted as he watched on.

"It was cute at first, but now I kinda wanna ring their necks, yoi." Marco groaned, slumping against the side of Whitebeard's chair. Thatch, however, muttered something unintelligible to himself as he stalked off, seemingly much more agitated by the constant bickering than anybody else.

"IF YOU'RE SO SICK OF ME SCREAMING AT YOU, THEN TAKE ME HOME. TO DRESS-RO-SA!" I emphasised each syllable with a sharp clap, and each one caused Ace's jaw to clench harder.
"ARE YOU SO MESSED UP IN THE HEAD THAT YOU CAN'T SEE THAT I HELPED YOU?! GOD, YOU'RE DELUSIONAL!"

He was pointing at me now, with a fiercely critical finger, and I pointed right back. We were completely unaware of the hunched figure steadily moving towards us.
"YOU DID NOT JUST CALL ME DELUSIONAL, YOU MOTHERFU-"

*Click Rattle Click*

My words died instantly when I felt something cold and heavy clamp down around my wrist, and once those large hands moved out of my way, I looked down. It was a metal cuff, and my gaze travelled along the chain, all the way to Ace's wrist, where its twin had been placed. Much to my absolute horror, we had been shackled together.

"Now that I have your attention, listen up." Thatch began through clenched teeth, trying ever so hard to keep his cool. "This is your last chance. Settle this now. (Y/N)?" He looked to me, and I immediately twisted my face into a sickly sweet smile aimed towards the freckle faced man across from me.

"My sincerest apologies, Mr. Fire Fist. Now, would you ever so kindly agree to escourt me home? I'd very much appreciate it." Was it obviously fake? Yes, without a doubt, but all Thatch seemed to want was for us to stop being so outwardly aggressive towards one another. I'd do that to escape being stuck to an asshole.

Sighing, the cook turned to Ace, motioning for him to respond.
"Ace? Go ahead." Before he even started speaking I knew he was going to royally screw me over. It was just how he was.
"Pardon me for giving you the impression that I give a shit. I don't. Dreadfully sorry for the miscommunication."

I'll break your face!

It wasn't so much what he said that got under my skin. It was that bratty little smirk of his, the one he seemed to reserve just for me, that made me want to reel him in with the chain connecting the two of us and knock his teeth out.

Dragging a heavy hand down his face, Thatch groaned to himself, settling his thumb and forefinger into a pinch upon the bridge of his nose.
"This is why I never had kids..." He muttered bitterly, turning and beginning to walk away. "Don't even think about asking me to take those off until you can get along like decent human beings."

Realising the fate that Ace had sealed for me, I tried to bolt after him, my still healing shoulder jerking back when the chain ran out of length.
"W..wait..! Thatch..! You can't leave me tied to this..this lunatic! Thatch?!" It was no use. He wasn't having a bar of it anymore, and to top it all off, everybody else, including the man I was chained to, seemed to think it was the funniest thing in the world.

Spinning on my heel, I glowered at Ace, having no choice but to follow along as he began to walk his own way.
"Well, Pancake, looks like you're stuck with me. Lucky you, just when I need to go take a wizz, too!"

Horrified, disgusted, and very much on distress, I immediately started sprinting in the opposite direction, reaching out towards where I had seen Thatch disappear.

"I'VE LEARNT MY LESSON!"

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"Just how small is your bladder? I swear, it's smaller than your brain..."

I plodded slowly behind Ace as we returned from his sixth trip to the bathroom, the sound of a heavy stream now permanently echoing through my head.
"I could ask you the exact opposite. You haven't gone once today. What, are you shy? We've bathed together before, it's not that big of a deal." He pointed out, and I flicked my wrist, causing the chain to whip against his forearm.

"That's totally different, and we were kids!" I snapped back, but I was just too exhausted to put any more effort into antagonising him. It had been a long, gruelling day, and Thatch had made himself scarce, knowing full well I would hound him for release.

Not acknowledging my response, Ace continued on, down into the depths of the ship until he came to a stop in front of a door.
"As a commander, I get my own private quarters, so at least you won't have to put up with a dozen guys snoring and passing gas all night." He chuckled, but before he could enter I tugged hard against the chain.

"Hold up, Forehead! You don't honestly expect me to sleep in the same bed as you, right?!" Appearing to be genuinely confused, Ace tilted his head, brow cocked upward.
"How else are we supposed to sleep? Unless you wanna chop that arm of yours off at the wrist, then that's what's gonna have to happen." He replied, opening the door and dragging me inside.

I wasn't sure what I had expected, but it was certainly not what I was looking at. His room was surprisingly tidy for a pirate such as himself, even though his shelves were rather cluttered. Not by mess though, but by little bits, bobs and trinkets, likely things he had collected on his travels.

"It's...not appropriate..." I started my rebuttal in a murmur, cautiously eyeing a few animal skulls set in a row on his dresser. "I'm engaged, so-"
"Okay, stop right there." Ace's demeanour had done a complete switch, and even though he wasn't facing me, I could tell he had that serious expression again. "Whether you're gonna get married or not, it doesn't mean anything. We're two adults sharing a bed. That's the end of it. I'm not gonna try and touch you, if that's what you're trying to insinuate."

Did I actually offend him..?

After a few moments of staring at his back, I finally caved, more due to guilt than anything else.
"N..no...I know you're not like that...." I mumbled, surprised when he gently tugged his wrist forward to get me to continue on instead of yanking me like he had been all day.

With a faint huff, Ace sat himself down on the edge of his single bed, our joint chain jingling as he took his hat off and frisbeed it across the room, running a hand through his messy raven.
"I'm glad you at least think something positive about me, I guess." Shifting, he studied his bed for a second before turning back to me. "You'll probably be better on the outer edge, considering which wrists our cuffs are on."

He was right, and I was almost pleasantly surprised that he had taken even that short amount of time to consider that. Once he had moved over into the bed, I shut off the lantern and followed in the pitch black, unsure why my heartbeat had ramped up.

Even long after we had settled, I was still awake, and I knew he was too. It was awkward, but at the same time I felt a strange, nostalgic sense of comfort being by his side. I couldn't make heads nor tails of it.
"Hey...remember when we built the tree house..?" I asked out of the blue, choosing to stare directly up at the ceiling instead of turning to him when he shifted.

"Yeah, I was surprised you did as much work as the rest of us did." He replied, trying to position himself so we weren't completely pushed up against one another.
"Then you tried to abandon me out in the rain." I reminded him, but I made sure I didn't make it out like I was trying to pick another fight. I really wasn't in that moment.

"Hey, come on, I was ten. I was still susceptible to girl germs back then." He stated a matter-of-factly, and I couldn't contain my snort of amusement, using my unshackled hand to cover my mouth.
"If that was the case, then why did you let me sleep beside you that night? Wouldn't that have been the easiest way to catch them?"

Why am I bringing that up now? While we're like this?

When Ace didn't respond, I thought he had either fallen asleep or found the question too awkward, but after a while he puffed out a short sigh, as though he had been contemplating something.
"You were small and scared. When you were over in the corner, you were thinking about something that made you seem so...fragile. I hated it. That I couldn't do anything about it."

His answer hadn't been what I had expected. Actually, it was completely out of character for the Ace that I knew.
"Is that why you made that promise..?" I asked softly, and his shoulders shrugged against the mattress.
"Maybe. It wasn't like I felt some kind of obligation or anything. I just...wanted to keep you safe somehow, even if it took a while to get to a point where I really could protect you..."

Ace...

Hearing him speak such sincere things made my chest ache, and in my mind, I wished that things had been different.
"Ace, you know I really do appreciate that you kept that promise...I do mean that. It's just...It's hard to explain. Things between me and Do-"

"Don't worry. I get it." He cut me off quickly, almost sharply, but his voice quickly lulled back into a gentle murmur. "I mean, I don't get it, but I get it. Try to get some sleep, okay? Maybe tomorrow you won't castrate me like you oh-so sweetly offered to do, what, eight times today?"

"Nine." I sighed, smiling to myself in the dark, hoping he'd at least be able to sense it. "Night, Forehe...Ace." He didn't respond as he rolled onto his back, stretching out towards the wall so he wouldn't bump me.

As worried as I was about Doflamingo, and being held captive on a ship full of dangerous men, something deep inside of me felt completely safe beside Ace. He was familiar, albeit infuriating, but perhaps that was helping too. I couldn't help but wonder, however, just how long it would last this time around. I knew it could never be forever. I'd learnt that twice over.

"Hey, Ace..?"

"Mmm?"

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"...I gotta pee."

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***It's almost 3am and I'm suffering.

I finished the first 'Ace's Story' light novel, and all I have to say is that Ace is a gremlin child and Deuce is my new son. He shall be included in this.

For those who haven't read the light novels, Deuce was the first person to join the Spade pirates, and also somewhat Ace's babysitter.

Next Time: Spoke Too Soon***