"Are you sure this is his ship? Are you sure it's actually him? Aaaaah, what if he doesn't even remember me?"

If I had had the room to pace on The Striker, I would have, but instead I just gnawed on my nails, sitting on the one part of the back that didn't get unbearably hot as Ace hitched us to the back of a cute little ship.

"Relax, love. I spoke to him, so there's no mistake. You should be excited, not nervous." Ace chuckled, offering me his hand. He was right, but it was hard not to be. It had been over a decade. What if he didn't want to be my friend anymore? My brother?

"Yeah...You're right..." I murmured, accepting his hand and stepping over to him, climbing onto his back. I clung tight as he bent his knees and launched himself upwards with great force, keeping my eyes closed and my face buried into his bare shoulder. I wasn't usually a shy person, but it had been so long, and I knew how Luffy could be forgetful. 

Once we had landed, there was a few long moments of silence, and I remained hidden. There were a few unintelligible murmurs before a very familiar laugh. 
"Hey, Ace! Guys, this is my big brother! Ace!" Luffy's voice had deepened, yes, but it was still so obviously him. There was no mistaking it. 

"Thank you for taking such good care of my troublesome little brother." Ace greeted whoever else was on board and I felt him tip his hat before he nudged his head into mine. "Are you seriously just going to hide? Not exactly polite." 

He's right. Why am I so nervous all of a sudden? 

Taking a deep breath, I carefully climbed off of my husband's back and down off the railing he had perched himself upon, finally looking up to see who I had missed for so many years. Luffy had changed so much, yet somehow he was exactly the same. 

"Luffy..!' I couldn't contain my nervous excitement as I dashed forward and threw my arms around his neck, completely uncaring of our little audience. He caught the both of us before we could topple over, but his expression was one of confusion. 

"Uh..? Do I know you?" Luffy asked, prying me off and holding me at arms length. I was a little disheartened at that, but I sucked it up, tilting my head and smiling, trying not to get too emotional and freak him out. 
"I..It's me. (Y/N)...Long time no see, huh, Luff?" 

I could see the cogs spinning inside of his head as he stared at me, but slowly, surely, his eyes lit up, and his lips stretched into the largest of grins. 
"Holy crap! It's you!" He cried out, yanking me back in and coiling his rubbery arms around my middle two times over.

"Uh, so, Luffy, if he's your brother, who's she..?" I glanced down to find a small...raccoon? No, he had antlers. A deer? Reindeer, perhaps? Either way, he was wearing a hat and I immediately found him adorable.

"My sister!" / "My wife!"

Luffy's face scrunched up when he spun to look at Ace, obviously horrified by the revelation.
"Ew, you two got married?" He shuddered as he released me from his coiled hold, and I laughed.

"Shocking, huh? But yeah...he asked, and I didn't have anything better to do, so..." Ace hopped down from the railing and pouted, arms crossing over his bare chest.
"Oh, please. You are so in love with me."

"Who can blame you? Such a divine beauty. May I offer you some tea? Something to eat?" A blond man twirled his way over to me, lifting my hand to his lips to press a kiss to my knuckles, and I felt the temperature in Ace's direction rise, just a little.

"Uh, tea would actually be amazing, um..?" I slowly retracted my hand, a little unnerved by the hearts where his eyes should have been.
"Sanji. At your service, my dear." He bowed in an overly formal way, and it took a lot not to cringe.

"Oh yeah!" Luffy snapped his fingers, throwing his arm over my shoulder and stretching his other out to drag Ace in on his other side. "This is my crew! Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji and Chopper! Oh, and also Vivi! Guys, these are my brother and sister, Ace, and (Y/N)!"

I could see the uncomfortable looks immediately and rose my hands in defence.
"Ace and I are very much not related in any way, shape or form, I promise you that!"

Yeah, I get how that sounded disturbing...

"Well, that's a relief..." A redhead, which I assumed was Nami, from the direction Luffy had been motioning to during his introductions, sighed out. "It's nice to meet you both. Especially another girl."

For the first time since leaving the Moby Dick, I felt comfortable. I knew that any friends Luffy would travel with had to be good people. Odd, but good. There was no need for me to hold any concerns.

"Ah, shit. More trouble." The mossy haired swordsman turned to look out over the water, and I followed to see a fleet of ships heading our way. Everyone began to prepare, but Ace held up his hand.
"Please, allow me."

I could only sigh as he leapt back down to The Striker, knowing he was about to show off. He always did when he had the chance, and honestly, if I had such a flashy ability I would have too.

"Are you sure he can handle it on his own..?" A long-nosed man murmured, sounding entirely unconvinced. Luffy and I just shared a look, smirking to each other proudly.

"Just watch."

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"So, I'm dying to know. How exactly are Luffy and Ace related, but you have no relation to Ace? Different mothers?"

It had quietened down since Ace had taken care of what we soon discovered was Baroque Works, and I was now sitting on deck with Nami, Vivi, Chopper and Zoro whilst Ace and Luffy caught up.

"Actually, I'm not related to Luffy by blood. He just claimed me as his sister and we shared a cup of sake as kids." I explained, taking a sip of the tea Sanji had served to me earlier.

"You all grew up together then? That's really sweet!" Vivi smiled, sweeping her long blue hair over her shoulder.
"Well, I was only with them for a few months. They temporarily saved me from a bad situation, but it was my favourite time during my childhood..."

Please don't ask about the details...

"Temporarily? What happened?" The cute little Reindeer placed a hoof on my knee and I nearly melted. He was too adorable for his own good, or mine.
"Long story, but that doesn't really matter. I'm just really glad that Ace found me again, and now we found Luffy, too."

It was nice, being able to talk to new people. In Dressrosa, I was mostly limited to only speaking to members of the Donquixote family, and even whilst free on Whitebeard's ship I mostly only had the chance to converse with our crewmembers.

"You and Ace, though, huh?~" Nami snickered, leaning forward and wiggling her brows, which earned her a scoff from Zoro. "He seems like a catch. Tell me more."

A catch is pushing it...

Rolling my eyes, but not in a nasty manner, I fidgeted with the handle of my teacup.
"Not much to say. He whisked me away against my will, at the time, and one thing lead to another. We'd always had a bit of a love hate relationship as kids, and it's still there, but we work. Pretty well, I'd like to think."

I glanced over my shoulder when I heard rambunctious laughter coming from the galley, knowing Luffy and Ace were enjoying whatever they were talking about in there.

"That boat of his looks really cramped. How do you manage to ride on it with him without getting burnt?" Vivi asked curiously, and I shrugged my shoulders.
"I pretty much just sit as far away from his flames as possible and pray I don't fall overboard and drown." I laughed.

"Can't swim?" Chopper asked, his ear twitching and making me squeal internally. It was getting almost too hard not to pick him up and give him a cuddle.
"Devil Fruit. I could swim before, but now? I'd perish."

Zoro leaned forward, just as Nami had, his curiosity finally peaked.
"We've been running into a bunch of Devil Fruit eaters, recently. Almost too much considering how rare they're supposed to be. What's your power?" He asked, and I hesitated before deciding I trusted them enough to show it off.

Concentrating, I heard the four of them shift when a cool presence appeared behind me, and I leant back to look up at Corazon, who waved at them all.
"I can summon people who I've seen die. They can be touched, and they can fight, but I get a fraction of any damage they take. They can't speak, either. They're not really who they once were, but if I've known them well enough, they're pretty close..."

I still don't remember seeing you die, though, Cora...

Chopper immediately jumped up and began circling Corazon, inspecting his spectral form closely.
"This is incredible! Transparent, like a ghost! Kinda spooky!" He gushed, completely and utterly mesmerised.

"That's a new one..." Zoro hummed, leaning back in his seat, mildly impressed. At least I hoped so. It was hard to tell. Murmuring an apology to Chopper, I made Corazon disappear, taking another sip of my tea.

"Anyway, I'm really glad that we ran into you guys. Travelling with Ace is cool and all, but when it's just the two of us for so long...Honestly, I get close to ringing his neck sometimes." I snorted, mostly serious. I loved Ace, but his antics could be infuriating.

"Why are you two travelling, anyway? Especially around these parts, of all places?" Nami asked, crossing one leg over the other, and I sighed, settling in to give them the run down.

"Well, you see, it all started on our wedding night..."

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
***I've been having a rough time with being sick (two flu cases in a month and I'm suffering), work overload and some other personal crap that's doing my head in. I'll try to update this more regularly.

Next Time: Hotter Than Hell***