Help Me To Save My Family

doodle reqs except it's my au mweheheheheh

Some devastating facts about abortion rights in Europe:

Polish abortion laws lay out that the rights of a foetus are more important than those of pregnant persons.

In Malta, women are sent to prison if they get an abortion.

In Austria, abortion is written into criminal code - this means it is considered a crime if it is not carried out as by the law. Doctors in Austria use papayas to learn how to perform an abortion.

Women in Hungary are forced by the law to listen to “the foetal heartbeat” before they can have an abortion.

The current law governing abortions in Germany was accepted during the Nazi regime. It is still referred to as “the Nazi law” by some movements.

In Italy, 80% of doctors refuse to perform an abortion. Plus, the government is financing movements that enter abortion clinics and harrass women who want to get an abortion.

Abortion rights in Europe are fragile. Sign our initiative to make abortion safe and accessible to everyone in the EU.

how about the gaiden trio for the ask game (Ayatsuji Tsujimura and Kyougoku)

i’ve done tsujimura but of course i have to do my other two worsties 🫡 in honor of the new chapter

ayatsuji yukito - bsd

favorite thing about them: idek how to answer this there’s so many facets to him that i like. he’s a very pretty man who i gush over but also he’s a snarky little shit that i can’t stand but also he’s a pillar of angst that i cry over daily.

least favorite thing about them: he will literally put the lives of everyone he knows in peril before letting himself be vulnerable. it’s hilarious though so it’s not actually something i dislike i’m just trying to answer every prompt

favorite line: “Even then, this makes it all—” I WILL KILL HIMMMMMM please don’t talk to me about him and tsujimura it’s actually so bad for me

brOTP: ango!! also kyougoku but in the worst possible way

OTP: thousand yard stare.

nOTP: anyone except tsujimura sorry 😭😭 i’m not normally like this

random headcanon: he sucks at driving. also that he’s the opposite of a sleeper build aka he looks in shape but is weaker than a limp noodle

unpopular opinion: morally speaking he’s a very good person he’s just cursed with a very unfortunate ability #AyatsujiDefenseTeam

song i associate with them: radiohead fawkkk my life. no surprises. exit music for a film. also as the world caves in by matt maltese. i can’t think of anything not devastating i’m so sorryhdkdhdldh

favorite picture of them:

kyougoku natsuhiko - bsd

favorite thing about them: he is SOOOO funny. also the way oyoyo draws him is just. chef’s kiss. i also find his philosophy super fascinating especially when comparing it to other villains in the series

least favorite thing about them: his ability is simultaneously so overpowered that it annoys me and so useless that it annoys me. how does that work (insert ayatsuji speech bubble)

favorite line: “I think, and yet I am not.” goes hard

brOTP: ayatsuji!

OTP: real ones remember my kyougoku x fukuchi old man yaoi posting. they could’ve been so much. in fact he could’ve been such a vital part of the old man yaoi situationship web of yokohama but alas.

nOTP: ayatsuji

random headcanon: him and ayatsuji used to be really close back in the day. beyond even teacher-student that was his boy and he was ayatsuji’s safe place. but the radicalization won out in the end and deep down ayatsuji is still kind of hurt over it and misses the old him but will never admit to it

unpopular opinion: he’s honestly one of the most compelling antagonists in bsd to me. his motivations are so unique and well thought out. and he’s the kind of ultra intelligent where the mutual outsmarting of him and ayatsuji is convincing and doesn’t feel far-fetched the way fyozai’s tactics sometimes do. also i hope he’s actually old old and not another example of how bsd treats 45 y/os as if they’re 70

song i associate with them: hrmmm. poison tree by grouper? or heartaches by al bowlly. any of that kind of music that sounds like it was ported in from another dimension

favorite picture of them: Listen.

character ask game

"Don't Skip: Read My Story & Help 🚨🙏"

"A Plea for Hope: Ibrahim's Family's Struggle for Survival 💔"

1,731/20,000 ‼️🚨

For over three months, we have received no support. We urgently need to raise 4,000. Is it possible to achieve this goal ? 🙏🏻

Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #220 )✅️

Vetted by @90-ghost ✅️

I am Ibrahim Almughanni. I once dreamed of a peaceful future for my family, but those dreams were shattered by the horrors of war.

I am married to Soha Fouad,

and we have three children: Toleen, 9 years old; Wateen, 6; and Tayseer, 4.

My children from inside UNRWA shelters

"Toleen, Wateen, and Tayseer are currently in the UNRWA shelter. With your support, we are striving to bring them happiness despite the challenges. Please stand by us for the sake of these children."

gofundme.com

Donate to Support Ibrahim’s Fight For Survival, organized by Valeria V

Support Ibrahim's fight for survival I’m Valeria, and I’m organizing this fundraise… Valeria V needs your support for Support Ibrahim’s

The Day Our Lives Shattered

I remember the day vividly—explosions began in the distance, growing into a deafening roar. Smoke and fear engulfed us as we watched our neighbors flee in terror. We grabbed our children and ran, pushing through a sea of panic until we could run no more

The Day Our Lives Shattered

We once lived a simple and peaceful life, with my children learning and thriving. Now, we are left with nothing in a UNRWA shelter, lacking all basic necessities.

Your support and contribution can make a real difference and change our reality for the better. 🙏

gofundme.com

Donate to Support Ibrahim’s Fight For Survival, organized by Valeria V

Support Ibrahim's fight for survival I’m Valeria, and I’m organizing this fundraise… Valeria V needs your support for Support Ibrahim’s

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #220 )✅️.

✅️Vetted by @90-ghost ✅️

Eyes as deep as the ocean

totally wasnt based on a tiktok trend ahahah

Ever since she met him, there was something she couldn't deny, how beautiful his eyes were. They were so bright and expressive; she never had trouble figuring out how he felt because his eyes talked for themselves. No matter how hard he tried to hide what he truly felt like, she saw the subtle changes in his gaze, like the subtle changes of the ocean. His eyes even had the same depth, full of mysteries waiting to be solved.

When she'd first met him on his ship, promising his downfall, his eyes had an amused expression as he flickered into a flame. When she lunged to attack, there was a glint of fear as he dodged, but it was soon full of admiration of her power; he knew she'd be a powerful adversary. When she struggled to stay afloat in the choppy waters, she saw something new, something like recognition, but as he turned away, she didn't catch his words.

From then onwards, every time they bumped into each other, she'd see a new side to him, all visible through his eyes. It was sometimes happiness, pure excitement in seeing her; other times, it was annoyance that she was interrupting his meal. It had soon become a small game where she'd track his expressions, guessing how he was feeling. Of course, she had no way of knowing whether she was correct, but it was fun nonetheless.

There were times she'd catch him staring at her, an unreadable look on his face, and it annoyed her that she didn't know what he was thinking. He always looked away when she caught him, and it made her all the more curious about him. She'd asked a friend what it meant if a man kept staring at her and then looked away and if it meant he wanted to fight her. Her friend simply laughed and said sometimes it was hard to forget that she was barely an adult and never really had the time to experience much about being a child. In the end, she was none the wiser of Fire Fist's strange tendencies.

Obviously, that wasn't the reason why she chased him; that was because he was a pirate that deserved to be arrested. Absolutely no other reason. So why was she up at night thinking about him? When she saw a twinge of darkness in his eyes, why was she worried? She found herself constantly thinking about him, that stupid pirate and his stupid hat.

She remembered the time his gaze towards her had suddenly changed. It was after she'd jumped into a lake to save him. When she'd pumped the water out his lungs, and he coughed up the rest, he had stared at her with a whole new expression.

'Why,' his voice was croaky, surely his chest was burning, 'why did you save me?'

'I want to arrest you, I can't do that if you're dead,' she'd answered, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear. He watched her hands as they fell back onto her lap before looking back at her. He couldn't quite comprehend why she put herself in danger trying to save him, he who had done nothing to earn her respect.

They parted ways after that; Ace confused about his new feelings for her. The next few times they fought, she found him staring at her more often. 

~ ♡ ~

Ace then stopped staring at her after she'd taken her shirt off, and they made eye contact. His head had turned so fast she was worried he'd break his neck. 

They were trapped in a cave together whilst the rain poured torrentially outside. Isuka had gotten soaked in their attempt to find shelter and desperately wanted to be warm and dry. So she rid herself of her coat and shirt, trying to dry them by the fire.

He held his hand out toward her, and she looked up at him. He still wasn't looking at her, so she looked at what he was holding in his hand. It was his shirt.

'Wear it so you don't get cold,' she was startled by his voice; this was the first he had spoken since they entered the cave. He'd silently gathered wood and started the fire, his hat low over his eyes so she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

She accepted the shirt, suddenly aware of how exposed she was in just her bra and shorts, 'thank you.' She put it on; it was warmer than she thought it would be. She did the buttons up, leaving the top two undone. It smelt almost familiar; maybe they fought way too often. 

They continued to sit in silence; they had never had a conversation apart from the insults and comments they made as they fought each other. She stared into the fire: it had been a long time since she'd been this close to an open flame as big as this. It made her sort of nervous, so she sat a small distance away, still grateful for the warmth.

Ace kept stealing glances at her, her small frame in his shirt. The yellow suited her well, the way it hung loosely off her shoulders. Seeing her like that made his feelings clear; he wanted to see her like that more often. This was a feeling she'd never seen in his eyes before; the warmth in his gaze confused her even more. Why was he so at ease with her? So Isuka pretended not to notice the way Ace was glancing at her; he would just stare and smile to himself. 

She hadn't really seen him without his shirt before; he always had it on. It was weird to see him without it, but for some reason, she simply couldn't take her eyes off of him, having to force herself to look away so he wouldn't notice.

There was nothing they could really do, so Ace decided to make himself comfortable and sleep through the storm; hopefully, the skies would clear by the morning. Isuka, on the other hand, was still uneasy around the fire and decided to stay awake. When Ace woke up, the skies had cleared, and he could hear the birds chirping outside. Isuka was gone, his shirt was folded up neatly next to him, and her stuff was gone. The fire must have eventually died as he wasn't keeping it going. 

~ ♡ ~

The next time he saw her was Sabaody, her dedicated self chasing him even while she was on holiday. When they ended up locked together in the Ferris wheel, he could feel her gaze burn into the side of his head, but he kept looking outside. Hearing her story, he cursed fate; how could he fall for her as a pirate who could turn into fire?

When Isuka proposed that he leave the pirate life and join him as a marine, she noticed the change in his eyes. There was a small darkness she'd seen before, and she already knew his answer, so when he jumped out of the capsule, she simply closed the door and sat back down, now facing a terrified Deuce.

Once they reached the bottom, she let him go too. Those on the side of justice shouldn't take hostages.

Two days later, she found out the truth about her life, about the morals she'd lived on for the past decade. She wanted to cry, to let it all out, but she stayed silent, tears streaming down her face as she had a hand on her mouth. She could dimly hear the ongoing battle. She didn't remember when her silent cries had become sobs, but Deuce had mentioned clearly hearing her as he faced Draw. Both Ace and Deuce had fought for their lives as she sat there uselessly, unable to think, let alone stand up.

When she no longer heard the sound of punches being exchanged, she looked up; Ace was offering her a hand. Just when she thought she couldn't laugh again, this man says the most outrageous things. During the fight, there was darkness in his eyes, especially when Draw blamed him for the children being put in danger, but now they were lighter, hopeful she'd take his hand. So she did.

She held on tight as they ran through the back alleys towards the shore, where a fleet of marine ships was making their way towards them. She caught sight of the Spadille as they neared the coast. His crew were shouting at him, asking him to get on, and it suddenly hit her; she couldn't join them; she couldn't do that to them. Ace was kind enough to look past their differences, but she felt bad for his crew. To them, she'd always be a marine, and she knew she wouldn't be able to look past it either. So when he leapt, she didn't; her shaky legs stayed planted on the ground. She almost didn't have the heart to explain when he shouted for her. He deserved all the love in the world.

'Don't die out there, Ace. Thank you,' she smiled as best she could, but she could tell her eyes didn't carry the message. The tears in her eyes clouded her sight, and she couldn't tell what Ace looked like as he disappeared on the horizon. She hoped his eyes were still bright as he looked to the future.

Only Deuce saw the longing in his eyes and the darkness that clouded them. He was always scared he didn't deserve to be loved, Deuce knew this not to be true, but Ace had a pain that couldn't be healed by medicine.

~ ♡ ~

It had been two years since she'd last seen him, he was now a commander in Whitebeard's crew, and she was now a captain. She hoped she'd bump into him in better conditions than this, but escorting him from his cell was not how she imagined their reunion would look like. She'd seen his pictures, how he'd grown, the man he'd become, but now as she held his arm to lead him, he was barely himself.

He refused to make eye contact, but she could see the lifelessness in his eyes; he'd accepted his death, and to her, it seemed almost impossible. The boy she met wouldn't accept his fate so easily.

She walked with him to the ship, letting the other marines take him from there, unable to chain him to his temporary prison. As she went downstairs, he caught her eyes, and she turned away, praying something would happen and he'd be safe.

The war itself was a horrible memory she never wished to go through again; the inhumane killing sanctioned by the higher-ups made her sick. She was forced to choose sides halfway through the battle, unable to hover between the two sides, and she wanted to rescue Ace. She used the distractions caused by Straw Hat Luffy to her advantage; Ace's eyes were full of fear as he watched his family fight for him. Isuka finally understood why he was ready to die; he was willing to die for those he loved, the stupid fool.

In the end, she could barely remember how they'd actually saved him, he was badly injured, like his brother, but they were safe. She was on the Heart Pirates' submarine, sitting by his bedside, watching him breathe. His eyes were shut, but if they were open, she thought they'd be empty. His captain and father had fought to the death to ensure his safety, and she knew Ace would blame himself.

~ ♡ ~

The next two years were hard. Maintaining his health, both physically and mentally, proved to be a task. When he wasn't being restrained because of his reckless tendencies, he trained with his brother, wanting to get stronger to go after Blackbeard again. She constantly had to tell him not to overwork himself when he was still recovering, but Isuka knew she couldn't stop him. There was a fire in his eyes no one could distinguish.

The one thing she could count on was that Ace returned to her side every night. Now that she was no longer a marine, considering she'd betrayed them to save him, she stayed with him. She planned to continue to stay by his side for as long as she could. The remaining Whitebeard pirates had all journeyed to see him at least once, the Spades had come to stay, and Marco had stayed for extended periods of time to help medically.

She looked up from her book as he entered her room; it was basically his as well, with how much time he spent in it. He smiled at her, and she made space for him next to her on the bed. He took it as an invitation and laid down next to her. They stayed in a comfortable silence until Ace moved her arm to allow him to crawl onto her, and she simply adjusted her position to make it more comfortable for the both of them. He was heavy as his weight pressed her down, but she found herself not minding; it meant that she knew he was there.

'Thank you,' he whispered as he buried his face into her neck; she carefully stroked his hair. He thanked her a lot recently, she wanted to tell him he didn't need to, but he won't stop.

'It's okay,' she whispered back as he fell asleep in her embrace. 

Ace also enjoyed watching her work; whenever she had her books open to conduct research on various things, he sat next to her. She ignored his presence most of the time, especially since he usually fell asleep, but sometimes he stared at her.

'Stop looking at me with those eyes,' she pleaded, his gaze clinging to her. It was hard to concentrate when he looked at her like that.

'What eyes,' he asked innocently as she turned to face him. He looked at her with such pure adoration she didn't need to search his eyes to see what he was feeling. He'd made it clear that he loved her when he'd woken up and seen her passed out by his side, but in no way did he pressure her to return his feelings, just another thing she loved about him.

She leant over and placed a kiss on his lips, and he sighed contently; what an attention-seeking cat. He was resembling Kotatsu and his clingy behaviour more and more every day. But she still loved him more and more. 

Now that she could clearly see his eyes, she didn't need to play guessing games; she didn't have to think about it; all she had to do was love him like he loved her for as long as time allowed her to.

~ ♡ ~

doodle break between other art stuff

it's been quite the week with a lot of personal things, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things again. Thank you for your patience.

Lineart and color accent portrait commissions

Other portrait available :

Half-chibi (flat colors) - 5€

Sketch and watercolor (uni color) - 15€

Black and white sketch (with screentones) - 20€

Lineart and grey with one color accent - 25€ (+€5 if you want hair shading like in the black and white sketch)

DM me or send an email if you're interested!

Portraits commission for all budgets !

Portraits available :

Half-chibi (flat colors) - 5€

Sketch and watercolor (uni color) - 15€

Black and white sketch (with screentones) - 20€

Lineart and grey with one color accent - 25€ (+€5 if you want hair shading like in the black and white sketch)

DM me or send an email if you're interested!

+1 ! 🐶

Here is my HeiShin Valentines Exchange gift for @yumerikka! I love both your prompts so much, and so I did both. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy making them~🥰 -red

Also thank you @heishinvalentineexchange2025 for holding the event! It was a blast!🥳

there was only one cave

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63742741

my piece for the @alabasta-zine

the rest of the zine is available for download now so please check it out! there's so many amazing pieces including the cover art for this fic :)

as usual fic below the cut <3

~ ♡ ~

“They got away! There was a huge wall of fire!” Isuka walked past the marines gathered by Captain Smoker, she didn’t know the man that well.

“Who was that pirate anyway?”

“Yeah, he looked strong.”

Isuka rolled her eyes: the quality of recruits these days.

Isuka recognised the swordswoman standing near them, Tashigi. She had an exasperated look on her face. “You guys seriously don’t know the commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' second division?”

Isuka froze as she was walking down the streets of the bustling Nanohana. She had heard rumours and even seen photos, but she was here to see for herself if what people were saying was true. 

Portgas D. Ace was back in paradise. 

She had missed him in Drum Island, but had heard from the locals that a man matching his description had been by. They remembered because, strangely, it didn’t snow that day. They said he was going to be waiting for someone in Alabasta for ten days. That meant she had a chance to finally catch up to him.

She had spent the last two days in the port town of Nanohana, hoping this was where he was waiting for whoever it was he was waiting for. The journey itself to the Alabasta Kingdom had taken five days. She was already three days behind Ace, meaning today was her last chance of finding him. Her time off was also coming to an end, so, in reality, this was likely the last chance of seeing him again. 

She grabbed one of the marines by the collar, surprising him. “You’re sure it was him?”

Tashigi nearly drew Shigure on her. “Isuka!”

“I asked. Are you sure it was him?!”

The marine was shaking. “Yes ma’am!”

“Thank you,” she let him go, nodding at Tashigi. “Where are they?”

“Escaping, probably out to sea already.”

She knew it was a long shot as she ran towards the coast, but she just had to try. Maybe she could catch a glimpse of him. That would be all she needed.

She almost fell into the sea in her haste, and two nearby people had to grab her stumbling form to make sure she didn’t.

“You should be more careful, Miss,” the man said. The lady next to him nodded.

She bowed in embarrassment, “Sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Where are you going in such a hurry, love?” The lady asked.

She couldn’t answer, instead spinning around to scan the view. She saw the Straw Hats’ ship sailing and at least five other ships burning around it. This fire meant he had to have been there. So where could he be?

She nearly gave up hope, turning to once again apologise to the helpful people, when out of the corner of her eye she saw him heading back to land.

She had a chance.

“Where is that boat headed to, do you know?”

Both of them looked over to where she was pointing. “It’s all desert over there, I’m not sure what is there.”

She sighed. “Thank you for your help,” she bowed again before running in that direction, hoping to see where he landed.

~ ♡ ~

Isuka had never run so fast in her life. She sprinted back to her room and grabbed her things. She was wearing her usual vacation clothes under an open white robe and a red shawl wrapped around her neck that she covered her head with when she went outside. Her sunglasses were on her face instead of her head. Her uniform was stuffed haphazardly in her bag, and her rapier at her side once again. She had paid in advance for the room, quickly thanked the clerk and got back to the chase. 

She pulled out the map of Alabasta she purchased when she first arrived. She didn’t know where exactly he was going, but there were a few places he could land. There was a small cove-like area in between Nanohana and Katorea that was her best bet.

Stuffing the map back into her bag, she began running again. She knew it was stupid to try and run all the way. However, her options were very limited, she didn’t really have the funds to rent one of the animals that could transport her. They were hard to catch and tame and therefore cost too much. Sandboarding was also off the table since the desert was mostly flat near the coast. So, trying her best to pace herself, she continued.

By the time she made it to the edge of the town, her lungs were on fire. She knew the heat would be affecting her stamina, but didn’t think it would be this much. Her view of the cove was being blocked by a sand dune, so she began clambering up it. 

When she had made it to the crest, she stopped, taking a sip of her water and looked down. She spotted the cove, but it was hard to tell whether such a small boat was docked there. She was starting her descent when she tripped over something in the sand, an orange scale stuck out of it. Steadying herself, she drew her rapier. She didn’t know what types of animals dwelled in the Alabasta desert. She was surprised when a timid-looking purple gecko emerged tearfully, holding its head.

She immediately sheathed her sword, apologising to the animal. It didn't seem to hear her at all, and she felt bad, so, rummaging through her bag, she found some crushed biscuits and opened the packet to offer them to it. The noise snapped it out of the pain, and it suspiciously accepted them. She watched as it ate them, seemingly enjoying them. 

“You’re not very dangerous, are you?” She chuckled as it tried to bend down, presumably to be scratched. She obliged, “You’re just as needy as Kotatsu.”

She smiled fondly at the memories of the precious lynx and his owner, suddenly missing those days. She gave it the rest of the biscuits she had.

She began to draw her arm away when she had an idea. A ridiculous one but worth a try.

“Hey, do you think I could ride on you?” The gecko blinked in confusion, she signalled that she needed to get to the cove in the distance, and it seemed to understand. “Could you carry me there?”

The gecko nodded, apparently happy to be useful, it bent down to allow her to ride on its shoulders. As soon as she stopped adjusting herself, it began moving.

~ ♡ ~

She held onto her scarf as the gecko raced across the desert. Never in a million years did she think this would happen. When she neared the cove and saw the striker pulled up onto the sand, she let out a sigh of relief. Ace, however, was nowhere to be seen. 

She jumped off the gecko a small distance from the striker, just in case he would notice her from somewhere and take off. She gave him a chocolate bar he was saving for herself and watched him run back. Walking towards his striker, she noticed his footprints walking away from it, but close to nothing else. He’d left his watermelon bag in the striker. She rummaged through it, finding nothing but maps, some food and water and some pictures. She was inspecting the pictures, there was one with a suspiciously familiar vermilion bob in the background, when she heard a noise from behind her.

She drew her rapier and spun to face the source of the sound.

“Birdie?”

“Fire fist?”

Ace stood with his arms up in surrender, “What are you doing here?”

She pointed her rapier at him, “I could ask you the same thing.”

“You already know why,” he smirked. She was chasing him again, there was no way she was here out of pure coincidence.

“I don’t think I do,” there was a small blush settling on her cheeks. He stepped closer, slowly lowering his arms. 

“You don’t have to lie to me, Birdie.” he was in front of her, pushing down her sword. “Were you expecting a chase? For old times' sake?”

His smile was infuriating to her, she sheathed her sword, “I don’t have the energy for that.”

He began to jog, “Another lie, afraid Isuka? You’ll probably lose again.”

He was laughing, and she had to prove him wrong, so she chased after him, not bothering to drop her bag. They hadn’t even run 100 metres when Ace turned to taunt her and fell through the ground. Simply vanished.

Isuka ran closer, “Ace!”

There was a hole in the ground where he had disappeared. She tried to peer into it but felt the earth give way, and she was falling too.

~ ♡ ~

Isuka groaned as she sat up, a dull pain in her back. She looked around to see where Ace had fallen. She didn’t immediately register that she had fallen onto him, her vision struggling to get used to the dark.

“You know you don’t exactly weigh nothing, right?” The voice came from below her, and she scrambled off of him. Dusting herself off and holding out a hand to him.

“Are you okay?”

He accepted her hand and got up, “Don't worry about it, I'm sturdier than I look.” 

She chose to ignore his charming smile and look around instead, “Where on earth are we?”

“Good question,” he peered around the tunnel they’d fallen into, lighting a fire in his hands. “Looks like ruins of some sort.”

“Oh, I read about this!” Isuka rummaged through the bag and pulled out a book, the known history of the kingdom. “Apparently, the Alabasta Kingdom once fell victim to a massive sandstorm. Much bigger than the other ones. It buried most of the tunnels they used to use to avoid the sun. The people just built over them since their old homes were too buried. Some have been unearthed, but the majority are still buried to this day.”

“Why do you even have that book?”

“It looked interesting,” she defended, putting it back in her bag.

“Well, does it say anything about how to get out?”

“No, just that they exist.”

“Great.”

“Hey, we wouldn’t even be here if you didn’t run away!” she stabbed a finger in his direction.

“Me? You're the one who followed me out here!”

“Not to capture you! I just wanted to talk!”

“Oh,” he scratched his neck sheepishly, “about what?”

Her throat suddenly felt dry. “What on earth are you back in paradise for?”

“I’m chasing someone, a traitor. I plan on bringing them to justice,” he pulled out the photos in his pocket, “someone said they had intel to give me if I met them out here.”

She accepted the stack of photos, scanning through them, “Why did you have a photo of me in your bag?”

“Huh?” he looked like a deer in headlights, “You saw that?”

She handed him the photos, “Yes, I did. It was from far away, like someone was spying on me.”

Ace stammered, “Well, uh, Skull said that, someone said they saw you, and that photo was proof.”

“And?”

“And I kept it?” He really didn’t have any other explanation. Thankfully, she sort of believed him and hadn’t found the stack of newspaper clippings of her (that would be impossible to explain). Or that he had been the one to ask Skull about her whereabouts.

“Well, we should probably get out of here somehow. You think one of these leads out to sea?” She pointed at the fork they were standing at.

“Only one way to find out.”

~ ♡ ~

Isuka sighed as she watched Ace try to push random tiles on the wall in front of them.

“Like I said,” she whacked him on the back of his head, “it’s a dead end, so stop trying!”

“How could I have been wrong! This has to be a secret passageway!”

“Why are you surprised? You’re not correct very often,” she scoffed as she picked up her backpack and began to walk away.

“Hey! What was that supposed to mean?” He chased after her.

“We should have gone right like I said,” she mumbled to herself. “Just cause you won the coin toss.”

“Hey, I won that fair and square!”

~ ♡ ~

As soon as they were back to where they started, Ace let out an annoyed noise.

“I can’t believe we’re at the start again!”

“I don’t know why you’re acting like it wasn’t your fault.” She slid onto the floor, not caring about the sand that would end up on her. She was hungry, so she began rummaging through her bag.

“Wow,” he sat down next to her, “it’s like nothing has changed.”

She didn’t look up. “What do you mean?”

“Us,” she looked up, “we haven’t changed, we’ve been reunited for like an hour, you wouldn’t assume we haven’t seen each other in two years.”

“I guess,” she finally managed to find her emergency snack bars. Wordlessly handing him one and eating the other.

They ate in silence, mulling over Ace’s words. He was the first to get up, holding his hand out to her. She accepted it, dusting herself off when she was standing. 

“Okay, let’s get out of here,” she began walking towards the path on the right. “This time the right way.”

He jogged after her, “How many times do I have to apologise for that?”

“You haven’t apologised at all.”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry.”

“Save it, Fire Fist.”

“Yes ma’am.”

~ ♡ ~

“See, the sand here is damper than the sand where we fell,” she held out her hand to him. “We have to be getting closer to the sea.”

“No, it is not,” he poked it, “what are you? A dampness meter?”

She threw the sand at him, “Believe whatever you want!”

He spluttered, coughing out the sand that ended up in his mouth, “Hey! What if that makes me sick or something?”

“I thought idiots couldn’t get sick,” she continued walking down the corridor.

“Yes, we do!”

“No comeback for the idiot thing?” She asked when he caught up.

“Not a convincing one,” she burst out in laughter, and he stared in confusion. He’d never made her feel anything but annoyance before. It was starting to get increasingly warm, even though he only held a small fire in his palm.

“Come on, I think we’re nearly out.”

She was correct; they only had to walk another 10 minutes before they saw the light. It was a welcome sight. 

“It’s so beautiful,” she took a deep breath in as they stood in the sheltered cave. The waves crashed lightly, and a breeze blew past them, making her hair flutter. 

“It really is,” he smiled, looking out at the view.

~ ♡ ~