Ensign Isuka - Blog Posts

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.

~ ♡ ~

Hey guys! So excited to be sharing the piece I wrote for the @opspacezine! This was a super fun project and I loved the space zine and the opportunity to write these guys as chaotic friends <33

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62050039

Including the preview again for fun (and cuz it’s cute)

and it felt like forever

i kinda didnt like the plot of this but its the only piece i completed for esuka week in 2023

Isuka grew up on the castle grounds. Being the ward of the captain of the royal guard meant she lived with him in the castle. Despite her proximity to royalty, she was never one of them. Her adoptive father's closeness to the king he served had meant she received some privileges - schooling, clothes, and training. But there was a line between her and the princess, the world reminded her of it constantly. 

Her world was incomparable to the life of the boy she would eventually fall for. 

Ace was a prince, despite it being through adoption, he was just as important as the ‘real’ prince. He was kind, beautiful and more importantly out of reach.

Each year, the kingdom threw a banquet for his birthday and Isuka would attend with the royal family of her country. Her adoptive father had to stay close to the king, so there was no reason to leave her alone.

She hid away most of the time, finding solace in the castle's library in the week-long period they stayed. Often because she was too scared about what the other royal kids would think of her. She stumbled across the prince a couple of times in a corner of the garden where she sometimes sat to read in peace, huddled beneath a giant coat and mittens. He was apparently escaping people who spoke badly of his father.

~ ♡ ~

She looked up, startled, a loud rustling noise making its way towards her, she hid behind the book hoping not to be told off by some grown-up. A kind old man had told her it was okay to use it.

‘Stupid people!’ A yell. The person sounded younger than she thought, so she looked up. It was a boy, he looked to be her age, his freckles had faded with the winter cold, but they were just visible. He regarded her with the same shock she did with him.

‘Who’re you?’

‘Isuka,’ she replied, hoping he would pry further.

‘Oh,’ he sniffed and she realised his eyes were red like he had been crying, ‘I’m Ace.’

‘Like the prince?’ She scrambled to stand up and bow to him.

‘You don’t have to do that, it’s not like I’m a real prince anyway.’

She looked up at him, ‘what?’

‘You know I’ve never seen you before, which royal family are you from?’

‘Oh no I’m not a royal, but I’m the ward of Knight Draw, the King of Oykot’s personal protection,’ she was proud of him.

‘Oh, is it your first time here?’

‘No, I’ve been coming here for the past five years,’ ever since she had been adopted five years ago. 

‘Oh,’ it was the prince’s 12th birthday, and five years is a long time. ‘Are you not close with the princess?’

‘We get along fine, we are inseparable,’ she imitated the Queen’s tone. When they were home it was true, they loved each other like sisters would. Medora knew how Isuka hated royal events, and even defended her when Draw would scold her for hiding away. So when they had to travel to other nations Medora would cover for her as she spent the week hiding. Unlike her Medora adored social events, and most of all the attention of other people.

‘So you hate those royal brats too?’

‘Technically you’re a royal brat too,’ she replied without thinking, when she realised what she had done she slapped a finger over her mouth. 

To her surprise he burst out laughing instead, ‘technically you would be correct, my country believes so, but the other kids seem to hate me.’

‘Why would they hate you?’ She sat back down, patting the seat next to her.

He took the invitation, sitting down next to her. ‘They think I don’t deserve to be a prince,’ he continued when he saw her confused look, ‘my father was a criminal, but the king took pity on my mum when he was executed.’

‘Well if your country accepts you that’s really all you need right?’

‘Ah, well, other countries need to like me to be king.’

‘Oh,’ Isuka’s face was red, she hadn’t learnt much about international politics yet, Medora had been learning for years.

‘Luffy and Sabo don’t want to be king. Luffy, the youngest, just wants to travel the world and have fun. Sabo, the middle one, wants to lead in a different way, he wants to focus on the common people.’

Isuka listened in amazement, he was the same age as her but already had a greater understanding of the world. He was considering her brothers’ feelings and taking on such a big burden. ‘But what do you want to be?’

‘I haven’t thought about it.’

‘Well,’ she smiled at him and the slight blush on his face deepened, ‘you have lots of time.’

‘Yeah I guess I do,’ he smiled back at her.

For the rest of the week, he spent as much time as he could with her, laughing like actual kids, without the weight of the world on them.

When it was time for her to leave, he hugged her goodbye, whispering about how he was excited to see her again.

~ ♡ ~

For the next two years, they saw each other at royal events. Medora made sure to tease her about it every single time she caught them together and if what Ace said was true his brothers were the same.

He sent a present on her birthday and they wrote letters for the rest of the year. She was starting to think royal events weren’t so bad when he was next to her, like Medora he didn’t care what the adults thought of her, even if the kids would say things.

~ ♡ ~

On his 15th he eagerly awaited her arrival and when the carriage from Oykot he watched the princess, her governess and ladies-in-waiting step out. Isuka was nowhere to be found.

When he caught the princess’s eyes she shook her head slightly and he smiled back in gratitude.

He found out the exact reason later. Draw had been a traitor, and Isuka had barely stopped a plot to poison the king. The king was in critical condition, and the queen did not want to leave his side as he recovered from the poisoning. Ace thought that Medora was strong for coming by herself, and her best friend was not there to support her.

Isuka had locked herself in her room and refused to come out. Medora had tried to talk her out of the room every day for two weeks since the incident. Even the mention of seeing Ace hasn’t convinced her to get out.

Ace tried to enjoy his birthday festivities but nothing seemed the same. Her presence made everything better. He found solace in the company of his brothers, they did their best to cheer him up. Even though their attempts often worked, not long after he went back to feeling empty.

When Medora was leaving, he pressed a note into her hand, ‘please give this to her.’

‘I’ll try,’ she reassured him with a smile.

~ ♡ ~

It would be another year before he saw her again. It was his 16th birthday and he was greeting guests as they stepped out of their carriages when he caught sight of that vermilion bob he hadn’t seen in nearly two years.

He must’ve looked absolutely silly, his mouth open wide as she stepped out. She looked different, older, more serious. There was a blade at her hip, her outfit more fitting for a knight than a young lady. 

Their eyes met briefly and he smiled but she simply looked away. He was confused at her attitude but chalked it up to the awkwardness of being older. He hoped that they would get a chance to catch up later.

~ ♡ ~

Unlike before, Isuka stayed beside her princess. It was impossible to get her alone. She was always surrounded, by the princess, the princess’s ladies-in-waiting, by other security. He hoped to at least make eye contact, for her to smile at him so the world could go back to what it was, but by the end of the first night he was convinced that she was avoiding him.

He was honestly confused, had he done something to annoy her? Was she mad at him? If so he wanted to apologise, he just wanted his friend back.

It had been an awful week for him. Of course, the food was good and the company great, but her bright red hair simply wouldn’t leave his eyesight. Constantly reminding him that for some reason they weren’t the same anymore.

On the third day he had given in, walking up to her when she was alone with the princess. 

‘Medora,’ he nodded and she nodded back, glancing over to Isuka to see her reaction, but the girl had an indecipherable expression on her face. He straightened his shoulders and mustered up the courage to ask, ‘may I speak with Lady Isuka alone?’ He didn’t know why he was being so formal - this was the girl who’d thrown a snowball at him for calling her beautiful.

‘Of course, I was planning on heading back to my room,’ she looked at Isuka who was going to protest at leaving her alone, ‘my ladies-in-waiting will be with me. There is no need to worry,’ she reassured Isuka with a smile before patting her on the back and leaving the pair alone.

Isuka didn’t meet his eyes and since she clearly didn’t plan on speaking first he did, ‘you never replied to my letter. You know I thought maybe you had died and they just weren’t telling me the truth.’

‘What do you want, your highness?’

‘You,’ she looked at him with shock, ‘I want to back to the way we were.’

‘That would be highly improper, your highness, you should focus our attention on girls who are right for you.’

‘And who would that be?’ He asked, annoyance building in his tone.

‘That’s not my place to say.’

‘Why are you doing this Isuka? Why are you pushing me away.’

‘I think it would be better for us to stick to our own worlds.’

He watched as Isuka walked away, helplessly staring at her retreating figure. 

It wasn't until the fifth day that he found out why Isuka had changed. Medora had been alone in a corridor when Ace had stumbled across her. She grabbed him and pulled him into a corner.

‘Shush Isuka can't see us together. She would kill me if she knew what I was going to tell you .’

She spent the next hour explaining what had happened since he had seen her last. Apparently, when Medora had been here on his 15th birthday she’d talked to the king and queen and insisted on joining the royal knights. She trained hard enough to become her personal knight in the shortest time possible and was the youngest royal knight ever. She had thrown herself into work over the guilt she had felt. Apparently, she had felt betrayed that she trusted Draw for so long when he had been the one to kill her parents because they tried to expose him and only adopted her so that he could win the favour of the king. She felt like she had played a part in his cruel plan and wanted to work in order to make things better. The king and queen had initially refused, placing none of the blame on her, she was a victim too. She had been very convincing.

‘But why would she ignore me?’

‘I think maybe she feels like she needs to keep her distance, she can’t be with you and doesn’t want to hurt you further.’

‘I don’t care about that, who told her that.’

‘I don’t know, she usually doesn’t care about what people say about her, but whoever it was really got under her skin.’

He buried his face in his hands, despite being one of the smartest people he knew she was so dumb sometimes.

So when it was time for them to leave, he waited and grabbed Isuka’s hand as she tried to get in. He handed her a note and waited for her to take it from him. She looked puzzled and in a sort of half daze accepted the letter. He helped her up into the carriage and watched as they left.

On her way home Isuka opened the letter, trying her best to conceal the contents from Medora who sat next to her.

Isuka,

It has come to my attention that you’ve been ignoring me for my sake. Well, I have to say that it’s a load of rubbish and will continue to bother you until you reply.

Waiting eagerly for your reply, Your fire fist

She smiled fondly at his use of the nickname she made for him, and then immediately stopped when she noticed Medora smirking at her.

‘He won’t be receiving a reply any time soon.’

‘That’s not going to stop him.’

‘He can try his best.’

~ ♡ ~

Isuka,

Hoping this is actually going to be read and not immediately burned. Will you be attending my brothers’ banquets?

Your wonderful and amazing Ace

P.s. please reply

~ ♡ ~

My dear Isuka,

I am going to take your silence as a yes every time I ask a question. If you don’t want me assuming weird things you should really reply.

Your dear Ace

~ ♡ ~

Oh wonderful and gorgeous lady Isuka,

Since the party is next week I shall be assuming your attendance and will be awaiting your arrival

The extremely hot Ace

~ ♡ ~

He did indeed see her at both his brothers’ banquets in which he spent the whole affair sending her notes. Paying little royal brats with sweets to give them to her. sometimes a small gift would be sent instead of a note, a flower or a piece of jewellery. The flowers she kept in her notebook, going to preserve them and the jewellery stored away safely.

~ ♡ ~

My beautiful and splendid Isuka, whose hair shines too bright sometimes,

Will you be my girlfriend?

Your stunning now boyfriend Ace

~ ♡ ~

To my breathtaking, charming, dazzling, extremely good sword-fighter girlfriend,

Happy birthday, I hope you like your present. Bet you were wishing for a kiss right?

Ace

~ ♡ ~

He would not stop sending more letters with longer and more ridiculous lines. She couldn’t reply of course having been ignoring him for close to a year now.

She definitely couldn’t let anyone know that she kept those letters in her box, tucked safely next to her other treasures. She loved his handwriting, the scrawling way he wrote her name. She read them again and again, hearing his voice talking to her softly. 

She was falling for him and she found herself minding less and less as she received more and more letters.

The words Draw had said to her as they dragged him to his execution faded slowly in her memory. 

~ ♡ ~

When she saw him next he was turning 17. This time she let him pull her into a hug, ‘I hope you plan on listening to me now.’

‘Yeah, I missed your stupid voice.’

‘Why do you always do this,’ he pulled back.

‘Do what?’ she stared up at him with innocent eyes. He was taller now, and definitely had way more muscles compared to the last time she had hugged him.

‘Insult me,’ he was pouting now and she resisted the urge to poke one of his freckled cheeks.

‘Get a room the both of you!’ Medora shouted from the stairs.

Isuka pulled away from him so fast, the blush on her cheeks spreading to her ears.

Ace chuckled, looking back at her ‘so technically I did just assume we were dating, your answer is yes right?’

She smiled sort of deviously and for a second he was worried. So when she kissed him on the cheek and whispered a yes into his ear, he froze and she used the opportunity to sprint up the stairs to join Medora.

~ ♡ ~

Nameless

why was this lowkey dark

‘Hey Isuka, how’d you get your epithet?’ Ace turned to look at her, curious about the nickname. Skull had once mentioned something about riddling people full of holes, but it’s not like she had a signature move like him.

The question caught her off guard. It was a part of her life she wanted to forget completely, but the memory plagued her.

‘You haven’t heard captain?’ Skull asked.

‘No.’

‘Well it’s her story to tell.’

‘I don’t like talking about it,’ she dusted herself off as she got up, ‘Skull can tell you if you’re still curious.’

She didn’t hear his shouts as she walked away.

~ ♡ ~

Isuka had joined the Marines at a young age, from working as a chore girl on a small East Blue base to an Ensign working in the Grand Line; the years had almost blurred together. She had almost no memorable moments apart from maybe the times she and a couple of other kids would celebrate their birthdays (quietly, with small slices of cake and handmade gifts). 

There was one memory, however, that constantly haunted her - the mission that promoted her to Ensign and gave her the epithet ‘nailing’. 

She had begged Draw to let her take part in more significant missions, to let her sail the Grand Line. She simply wanted to do more. In the East Blue, the pirates mainly were weak rookies, but in the Grand Line, the big names existed. She wanted to get rid of them, not waste her time chasing good-for-nothing newbies.

Draw had sighed, refusing her request multiple times, until he received what he thought was a small enough mission for her, big enough to maybe deter her from asking further.

She remembered it clearly. It was the day of her 16th birthday. She’d been celebrating the way they always did - a small slice of cake from that cook who liked them (she always let them take extra food since they were growing children). Ryu had given her a card he had made himself. There was a little bird inside, a crossbill that popped up when she opened it up. She had no idea how he had the time or materials to make it. Kai had gotten her a book, one she’d wanted to read for a while. He would have had to sneak out to purchase it. Tashigi had made her a bracelet, it was red like her hair, and it was meant to be a friendship bracelet, and a good luck charm rolled into one. Tashigi already had one on her wrist, a dark blue that matched the design of Isuka’s.

They had been laughing about something when Draw walked in; his commanding presence had them all scrambling to get up and salute him, trying to hide the gifts under a blanket.

‘Well kiddo the day you’ve been waiting for is here, got a mission for you, if you succeed you could be Ensign soon.’

‘Really?’ Her eyes had lit up; the others looked happy for her. They knew how much the opportunity meant to her.

‘You leave right now, so get changed right away.’

‘Sir, yes, sir!’ She saluted him as he turned around and walked away.

‘Isu this is it! Your chance to shine!’ Tashigi squealed along with her.

‘Lucky, I’ve been asking just as long as you,’ Kai grumbled.

‘Yeah, but I’m stronger than you, so obviously, they picked me,’ she playfully nudged him, and he reciprocated by nudging her back.

Ryu was uncharacteristically quiet, and when Isuka asked what was wrong, he said, ‘it seems dangerous. Please be careful.’

She pulled him into a hug, ‘don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it.’

She hugged them all once again before shooing them out of her room and began to change. She slipped on her gloves and picked up her rapier before heading to Draw’s office.

‘Ready to leave, sir.’

He sighed and got up from his desk, ‘there have been reports of a group of bandits terrorising islands this side of the East Blue. I was asked to send an officer to take them down. So considering your requests, I’ve chosen to send you. Don’t make me regret it,’ his stern face almost made her nervous, but this was what she’d been training for. Present her watched the memory with dread in her stomach. She should have said no and asked him to send a higher-ranking officer than her, but she was stupid and opportunistic. 

He led her to the small ship that would take her to the island they were currently believed to be at. Her crew was small, made up of a navigator, chef and a medic (if they weren’t at the island, she was to check the surrounding area, there was no point for her to come back and then set sail again). She was the only soldier they were sending. A small group of bandits was not a difficult fight at all, one someone like Draw wouldn’t even need to break a sweat.

She climbed aboard, clutching the rapier at her side tightly. Draw didn’t wave as the ship pulled away, so neither did she.

The journey was three hours, and she couldn’t stop her heart thumping in her chest as they drew closer. She didn’t know whether it was from excitement or dread, but she couldn’t back out now.

When they landed, Isuka gave them instructions: she would canvas the island and report. If they were on the island, they’d all be back before the day ended. They nodded as she jumped off the side and onto land. She’d studied the map on the way here and had chosen the most efficient route. 

She began looking around, hoping she didn’t stick out like a sore thumb with her uniform. She spoke to locals, some who were more valuable than others. She was able to conclude that if the bandits were on the island, they were taking refuge in a cabin in the woods.

She walked back to the ship and explained the situation. She’d been instructed to go alone and take out the bandits. The others would wait here. Only if they hadn’t heard from her in an hour would they make a move. With a pat on her back from the elderly cook for good luck, she left.

She took the fastest route through the woods, climbing up trees to make sure she was headed the right way. When she reached the cabin, she hid behind some dense overgrowth whilst taking in the situation. There were five of them. They looked older than they probably were and clearly had no regard for personal hygiene.

There were only two rooms in the cabin. It was evident that it wasn’t a place to live but rather to hang out. There was a larger room where four of them sat, drinking, smoking, and laughing. They were disgusting. There was a smaller room in the corner that had a door leading out. She decided to lure the man in that room out first. She threw a rock in the direction of the room, hoping he’d be stupid enough to step out without a weapon. And he was.

She stepped out behind him, driving her rapier through his heart just like she’d been taught. Draw had told her to leave no survivors, that the group wasn't worth it. The man didn’t stand a chance as he crumpled to the ground. He hadn’t made much noise, but one of the others stepped out to check on him and saw her, bloody sword in hand and his partner in a heap on the floor. He shouted, trying to swing the beer bottle at her, but she dodged too quickly for his drunken reflexes. She followed suit and stabbed him in the leg, immobilising him just as another of the group ran out. 

She swung out at him, causing him to take a step back, stumbling. The man she’d stabbed cracked the bottle he had and tried to lunge at her, but she flipped out of the way, ending up behind him. Just like the first man, she stabbed him through the heart, and he fell. He put up a bit more fight, trying to claw at the rocks on the ground, but they wouldn’t move.

The other man swore at her, charging like a bull. He wasn’t holding a weapon either, so she figured he was trying to knock her over and tried to dodge him. He was more intelligent than she gave him credit for and drew a knife out of his sleeve and slashed at her. In his frenzy, he managed to slice her near her ribs, ripping her uniform and the white slowly dyed red. The pain stung, but she attacked back. She’d felt worse pain before.

It took a little longer to kill this man. She’d stabbed him in more places, but he didn’t fall like the others. It wasn’t until she had the opportunity to stab him through the heart that he died. 

She didn’t realise that she was out of breath, panting she realised that the other two might have gotten away and run to the front of the cabin. 

The two men were sitting by the entrance.

‘A kid huh?’

‘Looks like they were weaker than we expected.’

They were underestimating her. They thought she wasn’t powerful because she was still young. They had no idea what was coming for them.

‘Sorry kid, this is nothing personal,’ he apologised halfheartedly as he grabbed the gun behind him and got up. The other man picked up his katana.

‘Save the apologies for the after life,’ she spat back as she drew her rapier again.

‘Have it your way kid,’ the other one replied, drawing out his own sword.

Every lesson she’d had about fighting was running through her mind, the teachers yelling about footwork, about stance, about power. She knew this fight was going to be difficult and wasn’t going to waste time. 

Her blow was easily matched, but he seemed shocked by her power, unusual for a kid her age. She glared up at him, light shock on his features. 

As they traded blows, almost equally matched, she dodged a bullet. She had almost forgotten she was fighting two people, not just the one.

She defended herself from the swordsman’s blows, all while dodging random bullets. She had more cuts on her now and had been grazed by a bullet. He’d even managed to hit her once or twice, throwing her to the side, but she had to get up. To survive, she had to get up. The adrenaline kept her running. In training she would have been exhausted by now.

When she managed to disarm the swordsman, causing him to fall to the ground, she felt the gunman aim at her. So instead of stabbing him, she kicked him in the face and turned to face the gunman. When he shot the bullet this time, she used her rapier to slice the bullet in half, a trick she’d only done twice before. It worked in shocking the man. She took the opportunity to run up to him and slice his gun in half. The man was stunned, unable to understand what had happened as she left him defenceless. The man would have been dead if the swordsman hadn’t gotten up and gotten to her in the nick of time. He slashed at her, and she had to dodge, cutting her arm. She watched as the swordsman whispered something to the other man; he must be telling him to grab the goods and run.

She wouldn’t allow it. She charged at them. He didn’t draw his sword fast enough, and she managed to stab him in the shoulder, her rapier almost scraping the other man too. The swordsman shouted in pain as she drew the rapier out, blood splashing on her face. The blood drained out of the other man’s face, and he immediately turned around and ran into the cabin. She wouldn’t let him get away. 

She slashed at the swordsman. It was met with a weak defence, his dominant arm useless. She easily disarmed him, slitting his throat, the noise of him choking on his blood following her as she stepped into the cabin.

She shouted at the man, and he whirled to face her. He grabbed one of the beer bottles in fear. But that fear slowly dissipated as he noticed an injury on her leg. The swordsman had managed to get one last good move in; the wound was deep.

‘Guess neither of us are at our best.’

‘No, but it won’t be me begging for mercy,’ she snarled, charging at him, using her last bursts of energy to attack him. She knocked the bottle out of his arm and stabbed him in the stomach. He yelled as she pulled out, more blood splattering onto her, mixing with her own and the blood of the other bandits. Her uniform was ruined. She would have to burn it.

She stabbed him multiple times, each time he yelled, trying to grab at her, trying to gain some sort of control.

‘You stupid bitch,’ he wheezed.

‘What was stupid was underestimating me,’ she replied, her voice cold as she drove the rapier into the heart with the very last hit of her strength. The sword embedded itself in the wood of the wall behind him. She didn’t even hear him yell, just watched the colour drain from him.

She fell to the ground, exhaustion catching up to her. She winced as she felt her wounds ache. The adrenaline was wearing off. She ripped a piece of her uniform shirt to try and stop her leg bleeding. 

She couldn’t remember what happened to her next. She simply woke up in the infirmary of the base.

She was told what happened by the worried friends as told to them by the crew that came with her. It had been an hour since they heard from her and, as per her instructions, they came looking for her. They saw the dead swordsman and were worried for her. They found her inside, unconscious but alive. They immediately treated her so she didn’t end up with lifelong injuries. The medic then went in ahead, carrying Isuka to the ship to properly tend to her.

The room itself was a scene of horror. The blood splatter spread around the room like an artist had finally lost it. And at the centre of it all, a man, held up like he’d been nailed into the wall. Like the others, he had stab wounds as if someone had hammered nails into them. It was horrifying to see bodies riddled with holes. It was even more horrifying knowing who’d done it.

They had tried to pull Isuka’s rapier out of the wall and the man, but even with two people, they couldn’t pull it out. So much strength in such a small body it was impossible to believe. Instead, they broke it and pulled it out of the man, taking it back with them to the ship.

They dragged the men into the cabin and set it on fire, making sure it didn’t spread to the wood surrounding them. No one would ever want to set foot into the cabin again. Not if they knew the extent of the brutality.

They then returned to the town, informing the head of what had transpired.

As Isuka had said, they made it back to the base before the day was over. They were met with immediate worry as the medic was carrying an unconscious Isuka. 

When she woke up, she found her friends passed out in different corners of the infirmary; Tashigi by her side, and Ryu and Kai somehow squeezed onto the one couch in the room. When they realised she was awake, they immediately pounced on her, expressing worry and anger. She had been out for two days.

Tashigi picked up the rapier placed at Isuka’s side, broken and bloody. Isuka asked them to get rid of it. She felt sick remembering what she had done. But everyone else sang her praises, acting like she’d created a masterpiece of blood and violence. She felt disgusted at herself.

Draw marched into her room on the third day of her recovery. He didn’t praise her, said nothing but, ‘headquarters called, you’re to be Ensign now.’ And marched straight back out the door.

Her friends were more excited than her, talking about how lucky she was, how she’d have her own crew, her own ship and get to sail the Grand Line, just like she’d always wanted.

Isuka felt unworthy, but she’d achieved her goals. She just wasn’t sure it was worth the cost.

~ ♡ ~

Back then, it had never struck her. Why would they have promoted her for the small feat of defeating some bandits? It wasn’t until Draw had been defeated by Ace that she found out. He’d basically sent her on a suicide mission. Headquarters had suggested that two to three ranked officers be sent as the enemy had proved their strength against the navy multiple times before. She will never know what he wanted out of her death or severe injury. She’s not sure she wants to know.

Later she found out that Draw had kept the rapier. To him, it was some sort of trophy. She had thought of it as a curse. That’s why she had asked to be rid of it. The more she found out about the man the more she felt sickened by his actions. 

~ ♡ ~

Isuka refused to talk about the story to anyone. Once a crew mate had asked about it, and she simply shrugged, saying it must have just caught on. For some reason she couldn’t bare them considering her a monster.

She knew Skull most likely knew, and if Ace had asked, he would have found out the truth. He would know what a horrible person she was, just as she thought he'd finally begun to respect her.

She can never forget the truth of her past, no matter how hard she tries. It was a dark mark in her record she simply couldn't burn away.

Whenever anyone brought it up, she wished she had remained nameless.

~ ♡ ~

Priorities

a crackfic with zero plot

Deuce winced as he heard the familiar voice; they had managed about two days without getting into a fight. Which may be a record for Ace, but with how close Isuka’s voice was, it was just a matter of time before they were fighting. Deuce was unsure whether Ace had heard it too; he was easily distracted by the food surrounding them. They were in a market area, and if Ace hadn’t heard her voice, it would be best to keep it that way.

‘Hey, wasn’t that Isuka?’ Deuce cursed under his breath. He could never catch a break.

‘I don’t think so. Why would the Ensign be here? Hey, isn’t that your favourite snack,’ Deuce was using all his powers of distraction, but for some reason, Ace wasn’t listening.

‘Nah I’m pretty sure that’s her, where do you think it came from?’

Deuce sighed, ‘why do you go looking for trouble? If she hasn’t seen you yet we should probably leave.’

‘So you did hear her!’ He said incredulously.

‘Yeah at this point hearing her voice puts my body on autopilot, we need to leave.’

‘Oh come on, it would be rude to leave without saying hello.’

‘Since when have you cared about manners?’ Maybe he lived just to annoy Deuce; if he died early, the cause of death should be listed as Portgas D. Ace.

They hadn’t been able to pinpoint her location just yet, the marketplace was a bustling hub in the middle of the city, and one would think the Marine’s uniform would stand out. 

‘Hey I’ll pay!’ They heard Isuka argue with someone, and Ace twirled around to see Isuka, not in her uniform but in casual clothing. There were two little kids next to her; one of them was clinging onto her leg, and she had a hand on the other one's head. From their angle, they couldn’t quite see who she was arguing with, but it was clear she was close to this person; otherwise, they wouldn't be arguing over the bill. 

‘Who are those kids,’ Ace turned to Deuce, who looked just as confused; they didn’t know anything about her personal life.

‘Why don’t we order double, then we can both pay,’ Isuka’s shoulders sank, but it was because she was laughing. Ace grimaced slightly; Isuka barely ever laughed around them; she was too busy fighting them. Deuce wanted to point out that it wasn’t his fault Isuka didn’t laugh at his jokes. It was really that they were on opposite sides of the law and that most of them were insulting the Marines. He couldn’t, however, deny that she looked good when she wasn’t scowling. She looked younger and more peaceful.

‘Fine, fine, I can never win with you,’ she pulled out her purse and took out some bills while her friend asked for more from the vendor, who seemed quite pleased with all the sales he was making. Isuka carefully took the little parcels of food and gave them to the kids, the little one clutching her one and the older one grabbing a few more.

Both pirates snuck a little closer, trying to get a closer look at the other party. By the voice alone, they could tell it was a man, but nothing else. As they stopped, hidden behind a cart of sweets, they were finally able to see his face. He had one of those faces that exuded calmness. He was good-looking if you preferred plain and boring guys. He seemed tall and well built; he was probably a Marine, but what was really bothering Ace was why would the both of them be on vacation together.

‘Maybe we should help them with the food, we have quite a few parcels,’ the man suggested as he took a bag of food.

‘Yeah, we should,’ Isuka ruffled the younger one’s hair. She leaned over to take one of the bags from the man, but he refused to fork one over and pushed her forward instead. She held the younger one’s hand instead, carefully leading them through the crowds. They passed Ace and Deuce, the latter diving behind a stall to hide; Ace stood watching as they disappeared.

‘Do you think her radar is broken?’

‘Radar?’ Deuce questioned as he dusted himself off and apologised to the startled drink vendor.

‘Yeah her ‘Hunt Fire Fist’ at all costs one,’ Deuce decided he must’ve lost his mind out of hunger and tried to push him towards the food stalls. 

‘I think you need some food, you’re talking crazy.’

‘No, you know how she never gives up on a chase, and no matter what crazy turns I take she always manages to find me, how? Her crazy find me radar.’

Ace looked proud of his explanation, but Deuce could only sigh, ‘sure buddy, but it looks like she’s taking a break, maybe she doesn’t want to fight you.’

‘Nope, how many times has she abandoned what she was doing to chase me?’ He pointed out, ‘no, something's going on, we’ve got to find out.’

Deuce buried his face in his hands and groaned, ‘why can’t things go my way for once,’ but Ace was already dragging him in the direction she was heading in.

They were walking for a while before Ace decided to jump on someone’s roof to try and locate the pair walking together. He caught sight of them walking toward the slums to the north of the city. He jumped back down to tell Deuce and broke into a run to catch up with them.

When they reached the slums, the little kid who had been holding onto Isuka’s hand let go and ran towards another kid, holding out the little parcel of food. Soon little kids were surrounding the two Marines, and they were handing out the food to whoever was there. Isuka was crouching down to talk to them, ruffling their hair and accepting little hugs. The little kids seemed overjoyed, running back to their houses to share. 

When the food ran out, Isuka stood back up; they had just about enough for everyone. ‘It’s a good thing we bought double.’

‘See this is why you should listen to me, I’m always correct,’ he nudged her shoulder with his.

‘This is coming from the person who thought the red line was a literal red line in the middle of the sea,’ she pressed back.

‘I was 10. Give me a break,’ there was a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks.

Ace was getting more annoyed as she playfully teased him. Deuce, on the other hand, was more shocked to see this side of the Ensign that usually chased them. In her pursuit, she was ruthless and powerful, but now, seeing her laugh carelessly really proves how little they knew about her.

‘How about lunch,’ she suggested as they began to walk back. Deuce pulled Ace into a random house to hide, apologising to the terrified occupants.

‘Yes I am starving, it’s my treat though,’ he emphasised.

‘No it’s mine, take it as a way to congratulate you for your promotion.’

‘Exactly! My promotion, I should be treating you with my pay rise.’

She laughed, ‘you’re an Ensign now, I know exactly how measly the pay rise is. Let me treat you, plus I am older than you.’

‘By like 3 months, you don’t have to keep bringing that up.’

Ace waited for them to turn the corner as they walked past the house before following behind. Deuce thanked the family before running after him.

‘Ace I think we should stop now, clearly there’s nothing wrong, she’s just enjoying some time with her friend,’ Deuce stopped next to him and took a couple of breaths. ‘Although it’s a little weird seeing her so happy, I think the only time I’ve seen her smile was that time Kotatsu jumped her and ended up tickling her with his fur.’

‘Nope,’ he was being stubborn for no reason at all, ‘we have to get to the bottom of this mystery.’

‘What mystery? Last I checked we’ve been pointlessly following around a Marine and her probably Marine friend.’

Before he could get an answer out of Ace, the pair they were following turned a corner, ‘come on we’re going to lose them!’

It was a little while before they seemed to finally make a decision on where to eat. It was a restaurant that had a riverside view. They waited for them to be seated before entering themselves.

‘Could we get seats that have a clear view of that table?’ Ace pointed to where Isuka was sitting on the deck overlooking the river. She was finally using those sunglasses she always had in her hair.

The waitress seemed intrigued and was glad to help them spy on the two of them, she must’ve thought something was going on, and Deuce felt the need to clarify that there wasn’t anything actually happening. The waitress remained unconvinced and showed them upstairs to a seat on the balcony overlooking where Isuka was sitting. She bought them menus and a jug of water, and Deuce couldn’t stop fidgeting. They were at a semi-fancy restaurant, and they were following a Marine.

‘Hey don’t you think this has gone on for long enough?’ Ace simply glanced at the menu. ‘She seems happy, and that’s good because I don’t particularly want to spend the rest of our time at this island running from her, she’s kinda scary you know.’

‘Pffft, Isuka? Scary? You must be out of your mind,’ he paused, taking a sip from the glass of water in front of him,  ‘she’s just mildly terrifying.’

‘See, even you have to admit she's clearly a lot more at ease right now and we should let her be. Wasn’t there like a million things you wanted to see, you’re not going to have any time if you spend all your time following her.’

Ace sighed, looking down at the pair of Marines; she was laughing at something he’d said, tucking her hair behind her ear. She was beautiful in a gentle way, looking soft in the way the sunlight hit her. She was beautiful in the way she fought as well, fierce, like fire. 

Deuce rolled his eyes; Ace was never subtle; the look in his eyes as he watched her gave away his reasons. He said goodbye to all his plans, seeing as how Ace was simply not going to let this go.

'Fine, let's at least eat something while we're here,' Deuce called over the waitress so they could order something.

Ace immediately dived into the food as soon as it arrived, but he still managed to keep tabs on what Isuka was doing. Watched as she sipped her glittery drink and the way she gripped her cutlery.

It felt like hours had gone by as he waited for them to finish their conversation. Deuce was more shocked that Ace hadn’t spontaneously fallen asleep during the meal than by how long they could keep a conversation going.

When Isuka got up to pay, he watched as they fought over the bill before getting up himself. Before Deuce could point out that they needed to pay, Ace had left. He pulled out his wallet and placed some cash on the table before running after him.

~ ♡ ~

Deuce was already beyond bored as they hid behind a bush. Isuka and her friend had spent hours walking around town, visiting different shops.

Isuka had tried on so many clothes they’d never even thought she’d wear, but she looked stunning in all of them. There was this blue dress that had Ace tripping over the mannequin they were hiding behind. 

They waited outside a bookstore for close to an hour, sat on a bench and shared a large newspaper to hide their faces. Isuka came out with a bag full of books at the end of it.

When they’d finally tired of walking, they sat on a park bench, and Ace decided to hide in a bush nearby in the hopes of catching parts of their conversation. Deuce mumbled something about his butt hurting from sitting on the hard ground, and Ace shushed him. To his dismay, they chatted about the books Isuka had purchased, something about them being a series she loved as a kid and didn’t know there were more books in the set. Ace still paid attention to her every word, no matter how boring. Deuce ended up lying down on the ground and taking a nap.

It was darker when Ace hurriedly woke him up, saying they were going to a bar to get a meal and some drinks. He pulled him up and continued his pursuit, with a sleepy Deuce trying not to bump into the street lights.

It was harder to sneak into the bar without the two Marines noticing them. It was much smaller than the restaurant, and they barely managed to make it to a table before Isuka saw them.

Isuka could clearly hold her alcohol as she easily downed many cups of liquor. That’s one thing they had in common, Ace loved to party and could easily outdrink most people. Unluckily for him, he often collapsed, making people think he was a lightweight. On the other hand, Deuce was a terrible lightweight, so he sipped at his cup, hoping no one would notice he was on the same cup from the beginning.

‘D’ya think she’s given up on me?’

‘Who Isuka?’ Deuce poked the table with his fork as they waited for their food.

‘Yeah, we’ve been following her all day and she hasn’t noticed us once. I know we’re not exactly amazing at subtlety so has she just given up?’

‘Isuka would never, she’s got that stubbornness about her,’ Deuce took a small sip of his drink, ‘she would never stop chasing you.’

Ace laughed, but it was sort of sad. Deuce patted him on the back, ‘maybe we’re just better at stalking people than we thought we were.’ And this time, Ace laughed for real.

For the next two hours, Ace had seemingly forgotten about Isuka laughing and chatting away on the other side of the room, and he joked with Deuce like normal. That was until Isuka had gotten up to pay and leave. She placed her sunglasses on the bar as she handed the shopkeeper some bills but left them there when she left the premises. Ace was immediately up and bolting out of the restaurant, grabbing her sunglasses to follow her.

Deuce shouted after him, but it was hopeless; he’d already gone. Begrudgingly he took out his wallet yet again and paid before running after him. 

When he caught up, Ace was somehow on a rooftop, following the pair from a distance, and Deuce considered clambering up to join him but decided to stay on the ground.

They followed them for a while until they heard Isuka gasp loudly, and they stopped.

Isuka had been walking quietly and enjoying the crisp, cold air. She took a deep breath in and decided this was the best moment. She reached up to her head and feigned shock, ‘I left my sunglasses at the bar!’

‘Want me to come back with you?’

‘No, no, you go on ahead, I’ll get them myself,’ she pushed him forward before turning around to head back to the bar.

She turned the corner before leaving against the wall and calling out, ‘I know you’re there Fire Fist.’

He jumped down from somewhere, and Deuce simply stepped into the light. He was smiling at her, ‘how did you know?’

‘You’re not subtle,’ she smiled and held out her hand, ‘I’d like my sunglasses back, I assume you grabbed them on your way out. They were a gift from someone important.’

His smile dropped, and he stepped towards her, grabbing the sunglasses out of his pocket. He ignored her outstretched hand; instead, he stopped, unusually close to her. He placed the glasses back on her head, trying to remember the exact angle it fit between the vermillion strands of hair.

‘Where are they from him?’

‘Huh?’ Isuka was taken aback. She’d barely managed to register the fact that he was trying to adjust her hair, tucking loose strands behind her ear, let alone pay attention to his words.

‘You said they were a gift,’ he retracted his hands, happy with his work, ‘was it from him?’

‘Who? Ryu? No!’ She buried her face in her gloved hands; 'a different friend got me these, she’s a swordswoman like me. I haven’t seen her in ages.’

‘Oh,’ Ace rubbed his neck sheepishly; he’d jumped to conclusions again.

‘Why were you even following me Fire Fist, shouldn’t it be the other way around?’

‘That’s what I said!’ Deuce looked exhausted, and Isuka sympathised; keeping up with someone like Ace was hard work.

‘No reason,’ he looked down, kicking a random stone, ‘just thought it was odd you didn’t notice me.’

She couldn’t see his expression because his hat successfully covered his face, but she could easily guess that he probably looked like a sad puppy.

She burst out into laughter, and Ace looked up in shock, ‘of course I noticed you! It would be impossible not to! That hat is so obnoxiously orange!’

‘You did? Then why didn’t you do anything? Usually, you’re chasing me before I even see you.’ He chose to ignore the hat comment; to him, it was a perfectly acceptable colour.

‘My priorities have changed Fire Fist,’ she explained, but he looked so utterly shocked she had to elaborate further. ‘Well I’ve been receiving complaints from my crew lately about how catching you can’t always be my priority and that I also have to relax and enjoy meals. You know, not abandoning whatever I’m doing to pursue you.’

Deuce failed to suppress a laugh, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were aware how annoying it is.’

She glared at him but continued, ‘so when I saw you at the market I decided you weren’t my priority, my friend was and that I wasn’t going to abandon an old friend who I haven’t seen in a while to chase you.’

‘Aw, I’m not a priority anymore?’

‘Trust me Fire Fist, as soon as this little vacation is over you’re number one on my list. Right now my priorities are slightly different.’

‘Kinda sucks not being on your mind all the time.’

‘It’s kinda hard to forget you when you spent the whole day following me,’ she grumbled.

‘My bad, you know what, you have my word I won’t bother you the rest of your trip.’

‘I’m not sure the word of a pirate means much to me, but okay, no bothering each other.’

‘Deal,’ he smiled, sticking his hand out to her. She took it up begrudgingly, and he took the opportunity to pull her closer, ‘that blue dress was the best, you should totally get it. Also have fun with your little boyfriend Isuka.’

He pulled back and smiled at her, and before she could deny it, he jumped back to where Deuce was, ‘see you later, Ensign!’ He tipped his hat towards her and began to walk away, ‘just so you know, you’re always a priority to me!’

She blushed at the statement, though she didn’t know why, ‘he’s not my boyfriend you moron!’ She didn’t know if he could hear her but felt the need to clarify.

Deuce glanced over at Ace, who was grinning widely as she shouted at him. He rolled his eyes; what an odd pair.

~ ♡ ~

quiet night in

my first i didnt know where else to go fic

Isuka was enjoying a quiet night in, with no roommates, no fuss and no noise. She was all alone, and she could not be happier as she turned on the TV. She could finally watch what she wanted, with no judgement and no interruptions. Or at least that's what she thought. As she took a spoon of her ice cream, someone knocked on the door. She prayed internally it was a delivery of some sort and not one of her roommates back way too early and most likely crying.

She placed the ice cream on the coffee table and padded towards the door, 'I'm coming!'

She, however, did not expect to throw open the door and find one Portgas D. Ace leaning against the wall, injured. It was a well-known fact that the both of them did not get along in school, with Isuka being a stickler for the rules and her trust in authority meant she wasn't too fond of Ace's carefree nature. They'd argued about plenty of things in school, like Ace's uniform not being up to standard, about his poor attendance and his tendency to get into fights. She barely saw him now that they no longer went to school or lived anywhere near each other.

'Oh, thank goodness you're home. I didn't know where else to go,' Isuka gasped as she took in his appearance. He had bruises and cuts on his face, fresh ones as if he'd been in a fight. Scrapes on his arms and legs, almost like he'd fallen out of a tree and some bigger ones which definitely needed to be dressed. There were bruises on his stomach, like he'd been kicked, visible because, as usual, his shirt was open.

'What on earth happened to you?' She draped his arm around her shoulder to drag him in. She sat him down on the sofa before frantically trying to search for the first aid kit; no, maybe he needed to be taken to the hospital.

'If you're worried about me, you should see the other guys,' he smirked at her despite the fact he was clearly in pain, wincing when he tried to move. He kicked off his shoes and placed them to a side, his bag was on the floor, and he emptied his pockets onto the table. He also took off his shirt to make it easier for her to access all the cuts and grazes.

Isuka had managed to find the first aid kit fully stocked because of a certain someone's clumsiness. 'Why are you here?' She waited for him to sit up before opening the kit and pulling out what she needed; most of his injuries were minor cuts and grazes, but the bruises made it seem a lot worse. 'Are your brothers terrible at treating wounds? That would be horrible considering the fights I've seen the younger one get into.'

'That would be Luffy,' he laughed, coughing as pain shot up his side, 'and yes he's a terrible doctor, you're better off not going to him for this sort of stuff. He's also with his friends so I can't really bother him.'

'Noted,' she smiled at him before opening a packet of sterile wipes to clean the wounds, starting with his legs. She could feel him tense as she held his ankle to tug his leg onto her lap.

'Sabo, you can trust, he's pretty good at this stuff,' he caught her eyes again as she focused on his other leg, 'but he's out with his girlfriend right now, he might murder me for ruining his date and then murder me again for getting into a fight and getting injured.'

Isuka chuckled, 'he sounds like a reasonable person,' before adding, 'well anyone would seem more reasonable compared to the both of you.'

Ace held out her arms for her to clean next, 'yeah he's always been the smart one. I figured they would murder me if I didn't do anything at all about these wounds and I don't know anyone else around here.'

Isuka continued to clean his wounds. After getting through about five wipes, she made sure everything was good enough to move to the next step, cleaning the skin around the bigger wounds. She dabbed the cotton ball with antiseptic before signalling for him to come closer.

She heard him suck in, 'sorry I'm trying to be gentle. What are you doing here? You're pretty far away from home.'

'This is home,' he had an indecipherable look on his face, 'I had some time off so I came back to visit. It's been a while since I've seen everyone.'

'Yeah, it has,' she thought about the last time she'd seen him, younger and more carefree, as school ended. Then he moved away, and in all this time, Isuka's career hadn't gotten any further; she heard about his achievements, and some part of her was happy for him even if they had their differences.

'It's been even longer since I've seen you, I see my brothers way too often,' he looked up at her, but she didn't address the statement.

'Sorry I couldn't help more. This is all we have,' she apologised as she tugged his arm closer.

'Oh don't worry about it, you've already done more than I expected,' he smiled gratefully.

'What did you think I was going to do?' She continued her work, focusing on the cuts on his lip and nose.

'Honestly? Wrap me in bandages and send me home.'

'We may not like each other Ace, but I'm no heathen.'

'We don't?'

'Huh?'

'No, nevermind,' he waved it away. He watched her work, her concentration as she tried to only dab the skin around the wounds. Whenever he winced, she apologised before carefully going back to what she was doing.

For a while, Ace sat there watching her work. Isuka had always been kind, almost too kind for her own good. He knew she didn't like him that much, but she had been nice enough not to say it to his face, so hearing those words from her mouth was somehow different. 

She pulled out small plasters for his nose and lip and pieces of gauze for the bigger cuts on his arms and legs. She placed the plasters on, 'so why did you fight them?'

'Huh?'

She began placing the gauze on the wound on his arm and took out something to wrap it with, 'I mean you didn't just fight them for no reason right?'

'Oh that, of course not what do you take me for?'

'Didn't you get into fights a lot for no reason when we were back in school?'

'What?' he chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head after Isuka was done wrapping his arm. 'It's been a while, I was young and stupid, I've changed since then.'

'Oh so you admit you were stupid?' she teased as she focused on a cut on his leg.

'Hey, I have changed, give me some credit,' Isuka knew that to be true, but his flustered expression was way too funny to ignore, 'I really did have a reason.'

She shook her head affectionately as she finished up the last bandage, 'let me put this away, then I'll get you some ice for those bruises,' she gestured to his stomach. She packed everything back into the first aid kit and got up. When she got back, she walked over to the kitchen. 

'You don't have to worry about an ice pack, I'm pretty sure these will just fade,' he called out to her.

'No, that's really not how it works, in my opinion you should get checked in case of internal bleeding but since you insist things will be okay the least you could do is ice it,' she replied as she bent down to open the freezer. She pulled out the first ice pack she saw, wrapped it in a towel and made her way back to the sofa Ace was now lying on. 

He let her place it on his wounds before sitting down on the floor next to him, 'why do you even have an ice pack?'

'Sports injuries are very common in this household, you've got to be prepared,' she shrugged as she gently iced his injury.

'I can do this at the very least,' he placed a hand on hers to get her to stop.

'If you'd like,' she sighed and got up, settling herself on the armchair next to the sofa.

Ace continued icing the area before speaking, 'they were trying to attack this girl.'

'Who?'

'The guys I attacked.'

'Oh right.'

'After I went to Sabo's and he gave me the leave and if you accept any offer to third wheel our date I'll murder you look,' Isuka chuckled, picturing Ace's teasing look and Sabo's murderous one. 'I took that as a signal to leave the lovebirds alone and was making my way to Makino's bar,' Isuka was familiar with Makino, the kind woman who ran the only bar she enjoyed going to, 'I was cutting through this alley when I heard a voice shouting for help. So I went over to where I heard the voice and I saw four guys cornering this girl. She looked terrified so I stepped in, she ran away as soon as she had the opportunity and I fought them to make sure they didn't try to chase after her.'

'You got beat up pretty badly, you sure there were only four of them?'

'They had weapons, this bruise is probably from the bat they hit me with,' he pointed at the bruise he was currently icing.

'A bat? You sure you didn't break a rib or something,' it didn't feel broken when she touched it, but there was no harm in double-checking.

He ignored her concern at first, 'I couldn't bother Makino with my injuries. She's busy,' but he quickly added, 'stop worrying so much. I've broken ribs before; this is nothing compared to that.'

'None of that statement makes me any less worried,' she shook her head disappointedly. 

'You worry too much. You should know by now nothing hurts me that much,' he glanced over at where she was, but she didn't look convinced; like usual, she thought too much. 'Have I ever told you you think too much?'

'Yes,' she sighed, multiple memories coming to the front of her thoughts, 'multiple times.'

'Oh, well you do, maybe you should think less Isuka, you look stressed.'

'I'm stressed because of you! You can't come to my home, for the first time, injured and expect me not to worry.'

Ace was quiet before he spoke again, 'I tried visiting you before, but you were never home, always holed up at work,' Isuka opened her mouth to try and deny the statement, but he continued, 'your roommates told me.'

'Well, I can't say they were wrong but I do take breaks; matter of fact, I was taking one before you came,' she leaned over to grab the half-melted ice cream; she might as well put it back in the freezer.

'Oh that's right, it's quiet, where are your friends?'

Isuka grabbed two cups of water before making her way back, 'Tash is on a date,' she placed one in front of him and sank back into her seat, 'Koby and Helmeppo are doing something or the other. I didn't question it.'

'Oh so you're home alone? Must be fun,' when he was younger, being home alone was a luxury he rarely had, but when he did, the peace and quiet was something he appreciated.

'Well I planned on bingeing some show until I passed out on the sofa and was woken up by my roommates,' she signalled to the stack of blankets and pillows she'd moved to make space for Ace, 'but as usual I can never catch a break.'

At first, Ace didn't quite clock what she was talking about before realising he was very much the problem, 'ah, sorry about that.'

'Nothing you can do about it now,' she waved off his apology, 'have you eaten? You mentioned being on the way to Makino's.'

'Now that you mention it,' he hadn't eaten; he was planning on clearing Makino's stock, lovingly as her sort of younger brother.

'Let me see what we have,' Isuka got up yet again, she had eaten a big lunch and decided eating a whole tub of ice cream was good enough, so she hadn't had dinner yet. She opened the fridge, which was startlingly empty; not even the basic things like eggs or milk were present; she really needed to go grocery shopping. She and her roommates were always busy, meaning lots of takeout and tons of leftovers in the fridge, but apparently not today.

'It doesn't have to be fancy!' He shouted, supposedly helpful, but not when the fridge had a single energy drink and a strawberry, the one Koby picked from their strawberry plant the other day.

She returned to Ace, 'yeah turns out we have absolutely nothing,' she pulled out her phone to see what places would deliver.

'What were you planning to eat?'

'Ice cream.'

'For dinner? And you say I make terrible decisions,' he teased.

'I don't make them on a daily basis, just sometimes, plus I'm not on the clock. Let me relax,' his annoying, bother Isuka voice was making a comeback, 'do you want pizza?'

'Yeah sure.'

She placed her usual order and let him pick what he wanted before paying, not without a small argument about who should pay. Isuka won, her main reason being he was in pain to simply fish his card out of his bag. With food on the way, they sat in silence.

Ace broke the silence first, 'so what have you been up to,' he hadn't heard much about her in the past 3 years. He got updates about basically everyone else through his brothers, but Isuka wasn't friends with them, so he didn't have a real reason to ask them about her. He was not about to call his grandfather to try and get information about his subordinate. Skull was able to get snippets of information about her from time to time, but it was not much.

Isuka thought for a moment before replying, 'well work I guess, there hasn't been much time for anything else.'

'Is that why you're home alone on a nice night like this.'

'Like you're any better, you ended up at my place, injured on a nice night.'

'Like I said I would've bothered someone else, but unlike you they are with other people.'

'There's nothing wrong with enjoying some alone time.'

'Sure,' he really had a way of making her annoyed. Damn his stupid face and addictive smile. 'Are you still fencing?'

'Huh? Oh yeah, but it's just for fun, I help out with a kids class too,' she smiled, remembering the little kids who watched in awe as she demonstrated different moves.

'I see, that must be a lot of work,' Isuka had almost become a professional, representing nationally and even had an offer to take part in an international competition. That was until she gave it up because of personal circumstances.

'Yeah but it's a lot of fun seeing the younger generation interested in it.'

She smiled sadly, he hadn't known her for long, having transferred into her school a little late, but her friends had told him enough. She was once one of those kids eagerly attending every session. Even in the time he knew her, her passion for the sport was astounding.

He wanted to say something of comfort, but she broke the silence first, 'so what about you? What's it like living away from your family?'

'Of course I miss my brothers and home, but I've found a family there too. They're good people.'

'That's good,' she'd been worried about his reckless nature, but he'd found people who'd helped him settle down.

Silence took over again. Ace fiddled with one of his bracelets, 'so, um, what show were you gonna watch?'

Isuka looked puzzled, 'oh, my show. It's nothing really, a friend recommended it to me. It's one of those murder mystery shows.'

'I see,' Ace wasn't someone who spent a lot of time keeping us with tv shows. If it was on, he'd watch it, but he spent most of his time outside with others. Deuce would always be rambling on about some show or book; in all honesty, he'd learned to tune him out.

'Do you want to watch something? While we wait?'

'Oh sure, we can watch your show if you want,' he felt bad that she was missing out on her form of relaxation.

'You sure? I don't mind watching something else if you'd prefer,' she offered.

'Nah, murder is interesting enough.'

'Okay then, murder it is,' she turned on the TV and pulled up the show. She hadn't started watching it and planned on not sleeping (or trying not to) until she finished it.

~ ♡ ~

The both of them watched quietly as the show began, setting up the murder, introducing the victim and then the main character. Ace winced as the murderer stabbed the victim, and Isuka laughed, which then prompted him to call her psycho for enjoying this sort of stuff. They watched as the murderer hunted for the main character, and the doorbell rang, causing the both of them to jump, before Isuka realised it was the pizza, paused the show, and went to collect it. 

'There you go,' she placed the boxes on the coffee table.

'Almost thought we were going to be murdered.'

Isuka laughed and said, 'don't worry there are enough weapons in this house to protect ourselves with.'

'Oh right, you guys have a bunch of swords and stuff,' Ace sat up slowly and opened up the boxes as Isuka went to grab some glasses for the drinks.

'That would be all of us but Koby, he's more of a martial arts type person,' they each had their own interest, with made for an odd assortment of weapons in the house.

'Right, remind me never to try to surprise you. I might end up riddled with holes,' he watched as she sank back into her seat, 'can you even see the TV from there?' Isuka nodded, and Ace added to the question, 'I mean properly? Isn't the angle kinda weird?'

'It's not too bad, I'm used to it, all four of us can't fit on one sofa,' the four of them tried to eat dinner together as often as they could, which was very rare and always caused arguments about what to watch.

'Join me,' he smiled, patting the seat next to him. The sofa was quite spacious, and at first, Isuka denied the offer, stating she was quite comfortable where she was. Ace, however, was insistent, and she caved, getting up to join him.

He clicked play when she picked up a slice of pizza and leaned back into the seat. They were mostly quiet, their attention focused on eating and the show.

'Who do you think did it?' Ace asked when they paused to clear up the mess.

Isuka pondered the question before answering, 'I think it's too early to know, but the uncle is suspicious.'

'Right? He gives me the creeps.'

They sat back down on the sofa, Isuka grabbing the blankets and pillows so they could get more comfortable. Isuka wrapped herself in the blanket and sat with her legs up on the seat. Ace accepted a pillow and placed it behind his head.   When the show started again, the both of them talked a bit more, Ace making a comment about the dumb ideas the police had and Isuka complaining about how reckless the main character was.

At some point, Ace made a noise of discomfort, and Isuka made him lie down on the sofa, putting the pillow below his head and draping a blanket over him.

'You don't have to baby me, you know.'

'My house, my rules, you are injured, you don't get a say.'

'Yes ma'am,' he saluted as she sat back down, lifting his legs to sit down before placing them on her lap.

~ ♡ ~

It wasn't very long until Ace fell asleep, he tried to fight it, but the nice hot meal and being tucked in made it really difficult. He woke up, the room was dark, and the only light was the TV; Isuka was still awake. 

He watched her as her expression changed, her hair tucked behind her ear, making it all the more easy. Her eyes seemed tired, but she stared intently, barely moving.

'What's happening?' She seemed a little startled as she turned to face him.

'Oh, how was the nap? If you want you can take my bed.'

'Nah, I'm good,' he wasn't going to admit that he likes being on the sofa with her, 'did they find out who did it?'

'Yeah, it was the uncle, but they haven't caught him yet.'

'So we were right? Wow I'd make a great detective, maybe I should join you Birdie.'

'I don't think you should quit your day job too soon, Fire Fist,' he smiled at the use of nicknames, well more like Birdie was what he called her to annoy her, and Fire Fist was what most people knew him as, but it was still cute she remembered.

He smiled to himself before turning his attention back to the TV, the show was clearly coming to an end, and he wondered what time it was. Isuka grabbed them the ice cream she planned on eating later, and they finished the whole thing, laughing at each other when they got a brain freeze. 

When the show ended, Isuka got up, stretching her limbs. He wanted to do the same, but the pain made him stop.

'That was a good show.'

'Yeah, Deuce was right,' Isuka chuckled, and Ace did too until he clocked her words.

'Deuce?!'

'Yeah, he watched it a while back and told me it was good and I should check it out.'

Ace hadn't wrapped his head around the fact she'd just said Deuce. Deuce, who was absolutely terrified of her and used every excuse to avoid being in her path, that Deuce was now exchanging TV show recommendations with her? He vaguely remembered Deuce mentioning a murder mystery show, but then again, he hadn't been paying attention, so he wouldn't know.

'You talk to Deuce?'

'Occasionally, he usually texts me. Skull too, he tells the funniest stories.'

'They have your number, but I don't?' He was even more shocked that Skull had also kept in contact; he always mentioned admiring her from afar, not exchanging stories weekly.

'Well you never asked, Deuce asked before we finished school. Skull asked a little later.'

He muttered under his breath, 'those traitors,' he'd mentioned Isuka multiple times in the past couple of years, and apparently, they never thought to mention that they were in contact.

'You can have it now, if you'd like,' she held out her hand, and he scrambled to find his phone for her to enter her number.

'So it's just me you don't like?'

'Huh?'

'Earlier, you mentioned not liking each other, you really don't like me?'

Isuka stared blankly at him before bursting out laughing, 'Ace you really crack me up, sure I didn't like you when we first met. I thought you were annoying as hell.'

'And?'

'I still think that,' Ace's hopeful look immediately fell, and Isuka started laughing again. 'However, I never really hated you. I mean, we were just similar people with different views; we could have been good friends.'

'Could have? Can't we? Like now, we can be friends right?'

Isuka saw the look in his eyes and realised he was being serious about getting closer, 'sure.' His face immediately lit up; Isuka always thought he looked adorable when he smiled. 'I do think, however, since it is four in the morning, we should get some proper sleep.'

'Yeah that's a good idea Birdie.'

'You're not letting that nickname go are you?'

'Oh, absolutely not,' he smirked, and Isuka questioned what she was getting herself into.

~ ♡ ~

Come morning, Isuka woke up with a crick in her neck and her arm numb. She'd fallen asleep on the armchair, Ace sprawled out on the sofa. She got up and stretched, making her way to her bedroom to freshen up. When she got to the kitchen, she was met with a slightly bemused Tashigi.

'Looks like you had a fun night,' referring to the sleeping figure of Ace on their sofa.

'I could say the same about you, when did you get home?'

'About 10 minutes ago,' she took a sip from her cup, 'should I be happy or worried for you?'

'Happy, I think,' she opened their cabinets to make herself a coffee.

'Well, I guess our guest is staying for breakfast.'

'Let me check,' she abandoned her quest to make coffee and instead turned her attention to waking up Ace.

He woke up, a lost expression on his face, 'where? Who? Birdie?'

'Yeah, it's me. I was wondering whether you were going to stay for breakfast.'

He sat up, Isuka helping him. He rubbed at his face before looking back up. Tashigi had made her way to the living area, so he waved at her, and she nodded back. 

'Well, considering I told Makino I was going to see her yesterday then disappeared, it would be a good idea to drop by and let her know I'm not dead. Plus I have invaded your space enough for one visit.'

'Okay, if you want you can use the bathroom over there and I'll pack your stuff,' he nodded, getting up.

When he came back, he looked a lot more awake, and Isuka handed his bag over, 'thanks, Birdie.'

'No problem, Fire Fist. Make sure to take care of those injuries.'

She opened the door to let him out, 'I look forward to seeing you again, now that I have you I'm never letting you go Isuka.'

She could feel her cheeks burn as he turned around, waving as he disappeared down the stairs, 'I look forward to it.'

~ ♡ ~

Mutual Destruction

lokwey mustve been going through something

When Ace had held out his hand to her, she'd almost laughed at his absurd request, but despite that, she found herself running through back alleys towards his ship.

~ ♡ ~

Isuka rarely ever cried; it was something that held true throughout her childhood. She had vivid memories of her mother praising her for not crying when the other kids teased her or when they pushed her. Instead, she always stood back up and walked back to her home, ignoring the shouts. Her mum would be in the kitchen preparing dinner. She'd hug her, and her mum would turn around and bend down to wrap her arms around her, and despite feeling like she wanted to, Isuka never cried, and she never fought back.

She had told her mum, after one of those incidents, that she was going to become strong so that their pushes didn't hurt anymore, and when she was old enough, she was going to sail away and make lots of money so they could move to a bigger house, with a big garden for any plants her mum wanted. That should have been what happened. 

She began spending the afternoons after school in the mountains, training to become stronger, or was trying to. She was there that fateful day too. She had accidentally stayed too long in the mountains, and it had become dark as she ran back towards her village, hoping her mum wouldn't be too mad or that her dad wouldn't ground her. What she should've returned to was a peaceful village, with the sound of light chatter as the families settled down for dinner. Instead, she returned to an inferno.

She was out of breath as she stood at the edge of the village, the houses were burning, and there were screams and cries filling her senses. She couldn't let herself be overwhelmed. She thought of her parents and began to run. This time she couldn't stop the tears from falling, overcome with a sense of dread.

She pushed past the fatigue in her legs, running out of necessity. Her lungs burned as the smoke seemed to thicken. She lived on the other edge of town; it would take too long to run around the edge, so she sprinted through the roads she once knew, now unrecognisable. The fire had touched everything. Everywhere she looked, homes were burning up in flames.

When she reached her home, or what was left of it, she could no longer hold herself up. Something had taken out the middle of the house, leaving the rest to collapse in on itself. It looked like something massive had been thrown at the row of houses since all of them were similarly damaged. The fire in this section of the village was dying down, there were still flames, but it wasn't the inferno the other sections of the village were.

On her knees, she crawled closer to the rubble, barely feeling the rough ground scratch at her skin. She couldn't see anything under the debris, but her tears were clouding her vision, and she didn't want to give up hope. She cried for her parents as she tried to claw at the rubble, picking up smaller pieces of wood or stone. Her hands brushed against something soft, and she frantically tried to pull it out; she fell back when the object finally came loose. It was a toy bunny that her mum had found earlier that day, she had asked Isuka whether she still wanted it, and Isuka had said no, that she was too old for toys like that. She looked at it now. The purple colour of its fur had faded, and one of its ears had burnt off in the fire, but she hugged it close, thankful to have something familiar.

She wiped some of her tears and placed the bunny to the side, and tried to go back to searching. The material was still hot, and she had to pull her hands back often. Just as she was able to stop the tears from flowing down her face, a piece of wood collapsed and fell on her hand. Crying even harder now, she pulled it out and cradled it close. 

She sat there for a while, trying to ignore the pain, but it burned the more she tried to focus on something else. She hadn't given up hope, but everything was starting to catch up to her; her legs hurt to move, the scratches on her knees were bleeding, and her hand was burnt. She couldn't do anything but cry. She felt useless.

'Lieutenant Commander!' She looked up, picking the stuffed bunny up again; there were people nearby.

'Lieutenant Commander Draw, sir, we need to leave, we have the pirates in custody. We've rescued everyone we can, the village is going to collapse!'

'I can hear crying,' the small group of people rounded the corner, and Isuka could see that they were Marines. Marines had once landed on the island, and although they'd stayed on their ships, the kids had all snuck around trying to get a glimpse of them. She recognised their uniform, white and blue, the man in the middle had a large coat on, but she couldn't see the back.

'You were right sir, there is a child,' Isuka was standing up now, trying to stifle her sobs. 

'My parents,' she tried to say, pointing at the rubble; the soldiers looked at her with pity.

The man walked up to her and bent down to his knees to level with her before wrapping his arms around her. 'You can let it all out,' he whispered before picking her up. One hand clung to his shirt, and the other kept a hold of her bunny as she cried. 

'She's injured sir,' one of the men pointed out.

'The poor child, it's moments like this that show how much suffering pirates have caused; she's lost her village and parents,' the men seemed to agree with the statement, 'let's treat her on the ship along with the others, hopefully, she can find a new home.'

Isuka stayed silent until they reached the ship; the man put her down and let another crew member led her to the medics. A kind woman patched her up, cleaning her wounds and dressing them, she tried to ask questions, but Isuka continued to stay quiet, and the woman didn't prod further.

'There's a family willing to take you,' the man had returned, 'I'll take you there, they're setting up camp.'

'Can I stay?' she mumbled; she clutched her toy a bit harder.

'What?' he struggled to hear her murmuring.

'I'm really strong, I promise, I train everyday!' she shouted a bit louder, 'so please, let me fight as well, that's what you do right? You fight pirates,' she fiddled with the ear of the toy, 'so let me fight them as well.'

The medic put a hand on her shoulder, 'sweetheart calm down, it's okay, I know what you feel like, but sweetie, you're just too young.' Isuka didn't listen; she kept her eyes locked on the Lieutenant's, hoping she looked strong enough; the medic tried to usher her back into the chair.

'Wait,' he said to the medic and bent down again, 'are you sure?'

'I want to fight,' Isuka said back; she'd never been so sure of anything in her life. She was done taking things lying down. She wanted to fight, for her parents, for her village. 

'Well then, I think it's settled; she'll join us,' he grinned at her, and Isuka sighed, relieved; the medic, on the other hand, seemed apprehensive.

Looking back at that now, she realised that she was too young, no child should have to go through what she went through, but no child should be joining the Marines either. She wondered if she was just another part of his extremist views, no one would question the man who'd gone back just to save a child he'd faintly heard crying. To him, her village was just in the way of his path to power, and he'd gotten what he wanted. He was promoted as the 'hero' he was seen as. 

~ ♡ ~

After the incident, she'd vowed to herself that she would never cry again, that she'd get stronger and fight back, and that she'd destroy all pirates. So, for the next seven years, that's what she did, first as a chore girl on Draw's ship, training in her spare time with the crew. It was actually the medic who introduced her to the rapier as a weapon; she said there was an elegance the weapon held that suited her. 

She was then left at a base; the seas were not for her, not yet. The officer of the base let her work there as a chore girl, allowing her to train in her spare time. She moved up the ranks fast, becoming one of the youngest ensigns. She was soon on a ship of her own, with a crew of her own, on the Grand Line. That's where she met Ace.

In a word, Ace was unpredictable. He was a wild card that was making the higher-ups nervous, being one the fastest-growing rookies at the young age of seventeen. So who else would be better suited to bring him down than the equally young Isuka? Having been on the Grand Line for a year now, Isuka had an impressive record, that was until she met Fire Fist Ace.

~ ♡ ~

If anyone had told her that when she'd first met Ace, she'd end up joining him; she would've stabbed them. Yet here she was, breaking the promises she'd made and on the deck of the Spadille as it sped away from the archipelago and made its way to the New World.

She'd promised she'd never cry again, but the weight of the years had crushed her all at once. The truth she believed, her one motivation in those difficult years of training was false. A blatant lie. So she let herself cry, feeling the tears stream down her face as she tried not to be too loud. She had also promised to always fight back, but her legs didn't let her move. The ache she felt that day made its way back to her muscles, the fear and betrayal she'd felt in the moment was something she had hoped never to feel again, but once again, she found herself on the floor. This time, she had nothing to clutch onto for hope.

So when Ace offered her a hand and made the most absurd request, she found herself accepting it. She let him drag her through the alleys, shouting directions at Deuce. 

She found herself feeling thankful for the pair of them, they'd fought hard, and despite being on opposing sides, they'd offered her a hand instead of leaving her. So without thinking it through, when Ace had told her to jump, she'd followed. 

Landing on the decking of Spadille felt different this time; she'd been on the ship plenty of times before. She could even make out all the marks she'd left trying to fight Ace. Ace still held onto her hand, she suddenly felt eyes on her. Of course, she thought, to them, she was still the enemy. 

Before she could say anything, Deuce was leading her away, 'you have a crew to lead Ace, and Isuka needs rest,' Ace nodded, giving Isuka's hand a comforting squeeze before turning to address the rest of the Spades.

'I'm sure you all have questions, but first we need to get out of here, so full speed ahead!'

~ ♡ ~

Isuka found herself in the captain's quarters; Deuce had said it was the most private. No one would bother her, except for Kotatsu, who came and went when he pleased.

She looked around the cabin; it was bigger than hers and much more personal. The only thing she had from her childhood was the bunny, which she'd probably never see again, and the scar on her hand. Ace had photos and all sorts of knick-knacks from his travels strewn across the room. She saw one of him as a young child with two other kids. She recognised Luffy from Ace's stories, and she smiled, remembering the way his face lit up talking about his kid brother. There was another child that Isuka couldn't quite place, she didn't recognise him from any of his stories, even he had stories he kept private.

She saw pictures of the Spades in various different places; she could recollect having fought Ace in most of the places. Looking around, she felt like she was intruding. The Spades were a tight-knit family, one she felt she didn't belong in. She envied Ace as a leader; he had a relationship with his crew she could never have; her crew didn't joke around with her. They simply respected the hierarchy. Maybe she had made a mistake following Ace. She'd never feel like she belonged.

She found herself wanting to crawl up into a ball, so she sat down in the corner of his room and pulled her knees closer. She didn't know how long she'd stayed in the position, unmoving, her head resting on her knees.

'Isuka?' It was Ace, he was standing at the door, 'you there?'

She wiped her face with the back of her hand and looked up, 'yeah?' She winced at how hoarse and tired her voice sounded.

He stepped into the room to inspect where her voice came from, 'what are you doing over there? Was the bed not comfortable?' He chuckled at the little ball she'd curled up into.

'No, I, no it's just nice in the corner,' he offered a hand, and she took it, stumbling as she got up. Her legs ached a little from being in the same position for way too long. 

He sat back down on his bed, patting the spot next to him so she could join him, 'so how do you like it?'

'About that,' she began, fiddling with her fingers. It would seem that Ace had noticed her hesitancy, and instead of allowing her to stand around awkwardly, he pulled her down next to him.

'You don't have to say anything; it's not easy getting used to different environments,' he looked over at her, she had her head turned down. 'Tonight you can sleep here, I'll be taking the night watch, so don't feel like you're intruding.'

'But I do, Ace, I really don't think I belong here,' she couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes; he'd been so kind, and she wasn't used to it.

'Why do you think that, this crew's full of people who aren't strictly pirates, they can be whoever they want to be.'

'I don't want to be selfish Ace, I couldn't do that to you,' she could feel the tears pricking the back of her eyes.

'You and your selfless heart,' he tilted her chin up to get a better look at her face, 'be selfish Isuka, let me be selfish for you.' He pulled his hand back, a little startled when she began to cry.

In between sobs, she spoke, 'you've always been like this. Aren't you worried?'

'About what?' 

'I'm scared I'll destroy you Ace,' what good would come of her joining the crew? She could think of a million things that could go wrong, and she wished none of that on him, 'I don't want to hurt you.'

'You're worried you'll hurt me?' he asked almost incredulously, running a hand through his hair, 'Isuka I'm so scared I'll hurt you.' She looked up, confused, 'leave it to me to fall for a girl who'd been hurt by flames and pirates, and who am I, a pirate who can turn into flames.' He chuckled at how cruel fate had been.

She tried her best to wipe her tears yet again and took a hold of one of his hands, 'I'm strong Ace, you could never hurt me, I know you won't.'

'I know but I can still worry,' he smiled at her trust in him, 'if you want to leave I'm not stopping you, I would never force anything on crew members. You can just tell the Marines you were taken hostage, I'm sure they'll take you back.'

'But then they'll think worse of you, for crimes you've never committed,' her eyes were full of worry.

'They think enough of me already, you don't have to worry about that,' he brought his other hand to her face, brushing away a strand of hair.

They sat there quietly; Ace had removed his hand, suddenly aware of what he was doing. Isuka quietly contemplated what had been said, 'so it'll be mutual destruction?'

Ace burst out laughing; she was taken aback by it, 'yeah, you could put it like that.' He considered it for a second, 'mutual destruction.' He pulled back and stuck out his hand, 'so you'll stay?'

She wiped away all her tears and took a deep breath in before taking his hand, 'for as long as you'll have me.'

~ ♡ ~

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.

~ ♡ ~

Closer

my longest and fluffiest fic so far <3

It hadn't been long since he last saw Isuka; it was just last week they had fought at a summer island, the heat deadly in more than one way. This time they had stopped at what was supposed to be a rainy island, but there had only been clear skies and a cool breeze so far. Which was good because something told him he was going to be running a lot and very soon.

'Fire fist!'

'Oh Isuka,' he waved in her direction, 'fancy seeing you here,' the comment earned him glares from some of his crew; Isuka wasn't there for pleasantries, which was obvious by the fact she was sprinting towards Ace. 

'We'll meet you back here Cap!' Skull shouted after him as he began to run away from her. Ace simply nodded before focusing on trying to get away from the very hotheaded marine currently chasing him.

He managed to run past the small village he had seen before they encountered Isuka and into the surrounding forest. He reached a small clearing before stopping and turning around to face her. Here they could fight with no distractions, no obstacles, just the two of them.

'Fire Fist!' as he'd predicted, she was still right behind him. Her stamina was no joke; by now, Deuce would have collapsed. She was breathing hard, and his eyes dropped to her legs; those shorts were made to kill him.

'Hey, let's get this over with, no hard feelings,' he grinned at her annoyance, 'right?'

'Sure, the faster this is over the faster I can get you in handcuffs,' she drew her rapier, ready to attack.

Ace stepped back into a defensive stance, 'ooh, slow down there, Ensign; I didn't figure you were such a freak.'

The annoyed look on her face briefly turned into a flustered one before she quickly masked it by lunging forward to attack him, 'you will regret that Fire Fist!'

And so their usual tango began, Isuka pressing forward with her attacks and Ace dodging and countering with one of his own. They were unusually matched, Isuka's attacks would be deadly to someone without Logia powers, and no average person would be able to dodge Ace's attacks so easily. So all their fights ended the same way, with Ace managing to get away. Isuka knew she was strong, she wouldn't Ensign otherwise, but it was infuriating that she wasn't strong enough to be a proper opponent for Ace; he seemed to fight her for the sake of it. Even if his flirty comments always said otherwise.

~ ♡ ~

She had no idea how long it had been since they'd begun fighting, her arms were burning from attacking, and she could've sworn she felt rain at some point. They had moved from where they started the fight, leaving evidence of their encounter on the surrounding trees. She said a small apology in her head for all the burn marks and slashes; the trees did not deserve that.

Over the time she'd spent fighting Ace, she'd slowly begun paying less attention to her surroundings when she was with him; he kept the fight between them and only them. Which was probably why neither of them realised they were heading for a cliff. Isuka had taken a step back to avoid one of Ace's attacks when the ground below her gave out. Usually, she could've easily avoided this, but a combination of fatigue and a  very slippery floor meant she was going to fall.

But before she could react or even shout, Ace grabbed her hand, yanking her towards him. They fell back together on sturdier ground. Ace had reacted fast, way faster than she could've, and a small part of her wondered why he bothered saving her, but that didn't matter right now. She took a deep breath in; she could've died; she could've fallen and died a painful death. She scrunched his shirt in her hands, trying to calm herself down, and he let her, quietly stroking her back as she tried not to cry. They stayed like that for a while before Ace spoke up.

'Hey, you good?' Isuka looked up at him. He had propped himself up on his elbows and looked at her with concern. She sat up in his lap, glancing away, head in her hands, suddenly aware of the position they'd ended up in. He began to sit up, 'hey? You sure you're okay?'

'I'm perfectly fine, Fire Fist,' she mumbled from behind her hands, attempting to wiggle away from him, but an arm kept her pressed against him. She knew his body was toned, but she really did not need to be up against it or have an arm gripping her waist.

'No, let me see you first. You could've gotten hurt,' she shook her head. If her face were as red as it felt hot, it would be plain embarrassing, and she wasn't in the mood for his teasing. The blush wasn't going to be disappearing anytime soon, not with the way she could feel his muscles shift when he moved.

'Fire Fist, I am perfectly fine,' she repeated, determined not to let him see her face, 'I would appreciate it if you let me go.'

'Hey, come on,' he was struggling to grab her arms and keep her close, 'if I let you go, you're just going to run away. Do you even know where we are?'

'Huh?' the question confused her enough to lower her hands, 'I'm not directionally challenged Fire Fist.'

'Finally,' he grabbed her hands with one of his, pulling them away from her face, 'see, it wasn't that hard.' He scrutinised her face, there were a few scratches, as usual, but nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. 

'See, I'm perfectly fine,' finally satisfied with what he'd seen, he loosened his grip on her waist to allow her to climb off him.

'You're really red though, you sure you aren't sick?'

If it was possible, her cheeks burnt a bit brighter or at least that is what it felt like, 'no, perfectly fine.'

'You've been saying that a lot,' he chuckled, dusting himself off as he got up. 'Let's call it a draw, I don't feel like fighting anymore,' he looked over at Isuka, who simply nodded in return.

She was relieved; her heart rate hadn't gone back to normal just yet after that near-death experience or the very sudden exposure to his body, 'yeah, we should head back.'

'Well, miss not-directionally-challenged, where are we headed?' He smirked at her, ''cause I sure as hell don't know.'

'Well, if I remember correctly, the woods are to the north of the village I was planning on staying in tonight with the rest of my crew,' she pulled out a necklace with a small compass as a pendant. 'So, I'm heading this way. Are you joining me Fire Fist? Do you even know where the rest of your crew are?'

'Not exactly, they're probably where I left them, but I'll stick with you for now,' he threw an arm around her, earning a small squeak of annoyance, 'wouldn't want to get hopelessly lost now, would I?'

She shook off his arm before bending to pick up her rapier, 'suit yourself.'

~ ♡ ~

They spent some time walking in silence. Usually, Ace would've tried to make conversation, but she seemed shaken up and frustrated. He wouldn't be able to make it back by himself; well, not quickly, he'd make it back eventually, but his stomach would not be pleased with him. Just as things were looking up, the rain Isuka had hoped wouldn't bother them began pouring. She cursed as she picked up the pace, finding a tree large enough to give them both shelter.

'I was hoping the rain wouldn't be a problem,' she tugged at her shirt, which had been soaked through her jacket; it was sticking to her uncomfortably.

'This is a rainy island,' he offered, trying not to look further down than her collar bones, which were quite defined, 'eyes up Ace, this is no time to be staring at her body', he reprimanded himself. He knew she was well-built; well, how could he not? Her uniform wasn't the most covering, and with the way she constantly pounced on him, it was hard not to notice.

'I guess,' she sighed, 'this is going to make it a lot harder to return back to the village.'

'We should probably find someplace to stay for the night, it's getting darker,' he had an arm on the tree, leaning over her to try and cover her from the rain.

'Yeah that would be best,' she stopped tugging at her shirt, 'I think there was an inn to the north of the village, we should stumble upon it soon enough.'

'Yeah, or we might be stuck out here all night,' he knocked off his hat and ran a hand through his hair which was falling over his eyes, 'not that I'd mind sleeping next to you.' 

Isuka choked on nothing in particular, 'now why would I sleep next to you?'

'Body heat,' he grinned like he had cleared it all up.

Isuka shook her head; she didn't have the energy to even bother coming up with a witty response. 'In your dreams Fire Fist, let's just try finding that inn.' After rechecking her compass, she set off towards what was hopefully the inn. 

'Why wouldn't I dream of you,' and Isuka tripped in shock. When she turned to face him, a scandalised expression on her face, he simply smiled that flirty smile at her. Now she was really mad; there was no reason for him to tease her as he did.

And so their usual bickering began, a flirty comment from Ace and a shocked response from Isuka. He loved teasing her; her reactions always made it worth it, the way her ears became red, and her expression turned from flustered to angry. He loved riling her up, especially if it meant she tried storming off. She was way too nice to actually leave him, so she'd stop a couple of metres away and tell him to hurry up. To which he'd laugh and jog to catch up with her.

'I'm starting to think we are hopelessly lost Fire Fist,' Isuka complained. They'd been walking for what felt like hours, and yet there was no inn in sight.

'Don't give up too soon,' he decided against placing a hand on her back, 'we'll stumble across it soon enough.'

'I sure hope so,' she shivered, the cold wind worsening the conditions. Isuka wasn't unfamiliar with horrible situations; as a marine, she'd come across many of them, and her training made sure she knew how to survive. However, for some reason, she wanted to throw a tantrum; she shouldn't be lost right now; she should be tucked in bed, pissed off at Fire Fist for escaping.

Ace watched as she shivered, desperately wanting to wrap his arms around her; the cold didn't mean much to him, and the rain barely affected him, but he kept that distance between them. He may be comfortable stepping over lines; that's what he did, break the rules, but Isuka wasn't that type of person; she stayed within the boxes, to a certain degree.

'Let's keep moving,' he gently nudged her shoulder; he lit a small fire in his palm, visibility had reduced, and it was no use trying to walk around the dark, 'sooner we get there the sooner you can dry off.'

'Yeah, I guess,' she started walking again, her arms wrapped around herself, rubbing her arms in an effort to warm up.

It had been about 30 minutes of walking before Ace spotted the inn. They had stopped by another tree, Isuka, wanting to double-check if they were headed in the right direction. Ace smiled fondly at her deeply focused expression, but as he looked up, he spotted a roof, which could only mean one thing: they had made it.

'Hey, we made it!' Ace pointed in the direction of the building.

'We did?' Isuka turned around so fast she nearly fell, arms coming around her to steady her, 'we did!' 

She threw her arms around him, on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck. Her body was cold against his, 'wow, you're so warm,' she chuckled as she pulled back from the hug, not quite realising what she'd done.

Ace grinned nervously at her. She still had her arms on his shoulders and was making it very hard not to look at her and her very soaked shirt, 'why don't we head inside,' he gently turned her around and pushed her towards the building before she could notice the rising blush on his face.

~ ♡ ~

They headed to the inn; it looked empty, and there were no lights on, which was not a good sign. As they knocked on the door, no one answered. Instead, the door swung open eerily. 

'That doesn't look good,' Ace stated, leaning on the doorway as Isuka stepped in.

'No, it does not,' she sighed, 'but at least it's shelter, let's see what we can find.'

'Sounds good,' they split up, Isuka taking the downstairs and Ace the upstairs. There weren't many rooms in the inn. It seemed pretty small; Ace walked from room to room, a small fire in his palm. It didn't look abandoned, just empty for the night, the beds were made, and nothing seemed out of place. They could easily stay for the night; if there was running water and food, they had nothing to worry about. 

As he made his way back down to share the good news, he heard laughter, laughter that probably should not exist, considering the fact that it was just him and Isuka in this place.

'Hey, Isuka?' He called tentatively from the stairs. He carefully stepped down, unsure what he'd find, 'hey is everything good?' He could fight a person, but ghosts were a very different story; his fire would just go through them.

He turned a corner only to bump into Isuka and let out an embarrassing scream, Isuka, who had been just as startled, jumped back, clutching her chest.

'Fire Fist? Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again,' she glared at him, her heart racing, 'I was just coming to get you.'

Just as he managed to calm down, a lady walked into view, a very pale lady, an almost ghost-like lady.

'It's a ghost!' he shoved Isuka behind him, holding an arm out, 'stay away from us!'

'No Fire Fist,' she stepped out, pushing his arm down, 'this is Miss Lisa. She owns the inn.'

Ace looked at her confused, then at the ghost-like woman, and back to Isuka, 'she's the owner?'

The said Miss Lisa stepped closer and into the light of Ace's fire, no longer looking like an apparition. She wasn't very old, maybe early thirties, about his height; she had a kind face now that he could see her features.

'Yes, and, luckily for you, I came back to get some wood,' she smiled warmly, 'you kids must be freezing.'

'Why is no one here?'

'As I was telling your little girlfriend here,' Isuka was violently shaking her head, no, and Ace rubbed the back of his neck. Still, she paid no notice to them, 'when the rain gets too heavy the roads become flooded, meaning you end up stranded; we were running low on supplies here, so we moved everyone into town this afternoon.'

'How did you get here then? Isn't a long walk from the town?'

'The both of you are really quite similar, your girlfriend asked the same questions.'

Isuka interrupted before she could carry on, 'Miss Lisa, like I said we're not together in any sense of the word.'

'People don't often get lost in the woods with people they don't know,' she asked, a bit confused.

'Well we know each other,' she began, 'but we're not exactly close,' the owner still looked lost, 'occupational complications,' she added. In the light, it was probably difficult to make out the insignia of the Marines on Isuka's jacket and the colours of his very telling hat.

'I see,' she seemed unconvinced, 'as I was saying, I live nearby with my husband, and I came back to get some more wood. And as I asked your friend over here, would the both of you like to stay at our house? Just for the night.'

'That's why I was coming to get you, this seems like our best option,' Isuka turned towards him.

Ace took in her appearance. Isuka seemed way more exhausted and cold than him. It might do her good to have help, 'if you want to.'

'Perfect, we'll come with you Miss Lisa, thank you.'

'It's no problem at all, you can help me get more wood too,' Isuka smiled gratefully before following the lady to the back entrance. The wood was stacked by the door, Isuka made a move to grab some, but Ace stopped her. He grabbed a big chunk of them, telling her to relax.

~ ♡ ~

As they made their way down the small road to the house, Isuka made small chat with the lady, who was telling her about the area, about how the inhabitants were quite used to the rain and that no one accesses the inn without going through the town first, if they had they would have known it was closed.

'Well, we're here,' she inserted her key and pushed the door open, 'you can place the wood in that corner,' she gestured to a corner with wood already stacked. The three of them removed their shoes, and Lisa placed slippers in front of them, which they happily slipped their feet into.

'Follow me. We only have one other room apart from mine and my husbands,' she led them upstairs and to a sizeable guest room, 'I hope that's okay with the both of you.' Ace nodded, and so did Isuka. There was an en suite and a large bed. She turned to Isuka, 'if you hop in the bath, I can wash and dry your clothes. I'll try and find you something warmer for the night too.'

'Oh, thank you, that would be nice,' she followed her into the bathroom. Lisa turned the water on, she grabbed a bottle from the self and added it, creating bubbles. It had been ages since Isuka had had a luxury such as this. Isuka took off her jacket, shirt and shorts and folded them neatly but left her gloves on; she took off her sunglasses and placed them on the cabinet.

'Allow me to take your undergarments as well, I'll make sure they're dry before giving them back,' she adjusted the temperature of the water. Isuka blushed, 'sweetheart if you want I can wait outside and you can simply slide them into the rest of your clothes and hand them over, but I can't let you wear wet clothing. Now come here and check the temperature.'

Isuka nodded before taking off one of her gloves to test the water, 'that seems fine, thank you Miss Lisa, if it's possible could I have a small plaster.' her hand traced the one currently on her cheek.

'Now you can just call me Lisa, of course I can. I'll wait outside the door,' she stepped outside, shutting the door behind her. Ace was sitting on the chair in the corner. He was fiddling with the hem of his shirt. 'Would you like anything washed or dried?'

'Nope, I'm basically dry,' the upside to having devil fruit powers.

'Yes quite convenient powers you have there, but you'd benefit from taking a shower, there's one in our room.'

Before he could answer, Isuka cracked the door open slightly to place her clothes on the floor, folded neatly with her gloves placed on top, 'Mi-, Lisa, if it's okay, could you bring back my gloves with the clothing?'

'Of course darling,' she bent down to pick up the clothes, 'now you,' she pointed at Ace, 'come on, I'm sure you got plenty dirty in the woods.' She wasn't wrong. His legs were quite muddy, and so were his shorts. He doubted Isuka would let him sleep like that. He got up to follow her.

Isuka sighed happily; the water was so lovely. Lisa had suggested she add lavender-scented salts to the bath, which released a relaxing smell. She dipped her head below the water, letting the warmth engulf her. She lay in the tub until Lisa returned. She opened the door and placed some clothes and a towel on the cabinet.

'You can drain the water and quickly rinse off the soap before getting out. I've placed everything I could find here,' Isuka nodded, and she left the room.

Isuka did as she was told, almost reluctant to leave the tub, but her skin was turning prune-like. She dried herself with the towel, which was warm and soft; she was being spoilt. She slipped her undergarments back on, now warm and dry, and put on the clothes she was given: a pair of black shorts that were slightly longer than the ones she usually wore and a faded yellow jumper long enough to reach below the shorts. It slipped off one of her shoulders no matter how many times she adjusted it. She replaced the plaster on her cheek and put her gloves back on. She stepped out of the bathroom, holding her sunglasses in one hand and drying her hair with the other.

Lisa was waiting outside, 'oh sweetheart, it's too big for you.'

'It's perfectly fine, M-, Lisa,' but she was a bit distracted by Ace standing behind her; he'd been wrangled into a different pair of shorts and an orange jumper. His hair was messy like Lisa had aggressively dried it. He looked surprisingly good when they weren't fighting, huggable and warm.

'I'll make a start on dinner, make yourselves comfortable,' she smiled before closing the door behind her.

'Never thought I'd see the day when you'd look so small Ensign,' he teased, the massive jumper making her look more petite. Not that she usually seemed small, her massive personality and strength normally made up for it.

'Oh and you love the jumper you're in right now,' she playfully poked his chest.

'She wouldn't take 'I'm made of fire' as an excuse,' he frowned halfheartedly, 'she did give me some wood to start a fire, you know, if you're cold.'

'That would be nice,' the fireplace was a reasonable distance away from the bed, which she sat on. She didn't have to go too close to it.

Ace placed some wood in the fireplace and eventually got a fire going. He leaned back to appreciate his handiwork. He turned to see Isuka, whose expression had become nervous, 'hey you good?'

Isuka had thought she would be okay with the fire, but it was making her uncomfortable, the scar on her hand itching as she watched it burn. She was shaken out of her thoughts by Ace, 'oh, I'm fine,' she smiled, but it was unconvincing.

'It doesn't look that way, is it because of the fire?' her slight flinch gave it away. 'If it helps I can always control it, see,' he held out his hand and absorbed some of the fire. It died down a little, reducing the intensity of the flames.

'Thank you Fire Fist, but really, I'm okay,' her smile was slightly pained, and she was rubbing the back of her hand.

Ace remained unconvinced but decided to let it go. He got up and walked over to the chair before sitting down. 'I can sleep on the floor tonight, you can take the bed.'

'Huh,' she locked eyes with him, 'oh no I can't let you do that, I can take the floor, I'll ask Lisa for some extra bedding.'

'Nah, you deserve the bed,' he chuckled, 'plus I'm used to sleeping on the floor, so don't worry about me.'

She hesitated before speaking again, 'how about we share?' Isuka suggested, unsure what she was saying, 'I mean, the bed's quite big and we're both tired, and it's not like I mind. I mean it's okay, if you're okay with it of course, I'm not saying you have to sleep with me, wait I don't mean it like that,' she buried her face in her hands again.

Ace got up; her rambling was adorable, 'hey,' he moved her hands from her face, 'we can share if you want to.'

'I do,' she replied, before adding, 'I mean I don't mind if we do, don't take it the wrong way.'

'Whatever you say, birdie,' he sat down and lay back.

'Birdie?' 

'Yeah, your name is a bird name, right?'

'And?'

'It's a nickname, like how you always call me Fire Fist,. It's getting kinda boring calling you Ensign.'

'What's wrong with my name?'

'Nothing, it's cute,' Isuka turned bright red, but thankfully Ace had his eyes closed. Was this man clueless? One does not call his enemy cute. Well, technically, he had said her name was cute, but still, it simply wasn't done. Before she could say anything to retaliate, she heard a snore. He had fallen asleep, she carefully got off the bed, not wanting to disturb him. She knew Lisa hadn't wanted her to help, but she wanted to contribute to dinner in some way; after all, she was letting them stay there for free.

~ ♡ ~

It was less than an hour later, and Isuka was shaking Ace awake. He was a heavy sleeper, and it took all of Iuska's shaking power to wake him up.

'Hm,' his sleepy expression made her giggle, 'is something wrong?'

'No, dinner's ready,' she tugged at his arm, 'let's eat.' Ace put out the fire before following her out the door and down the stairs.

Lisa had prepared what she had bought earlier, but it was not enough for all the inn's guests. It was, however, enough for four people or six, considering Ace could probably eat enough to feed a small army. They met her husband; he, too, seemed like a good-natured person. He was taller than Lisa and was in no way bad looking; he introduced himself as Walker.

'So, my wife tells me you're a pirate,' he laughed heartily.

'She would be correct,' he bowed, 'Portgas D. Ace, it's nice to meet you.'

'Oh ho ho,' he patted Ace on the back, 'you seem like a good man.' Ace rubbed the back of his neck, a little bashful because of the praise.

'I'm Ensign 'Nailing' Isuka of the marines,' she held out her hand to shake his, but he pulled her into a hug instead. She patted his back awkwardly as she stood there, not used to displays of affection.

'A marine and a pirate, what an odd pair you've found, darling,' he called out to his wife.

'Aren't they? I was sure they were dating. You know kids these days always breaking the rules,' she laughed with her husband, but Isuka could only chuckle nervously. 

'They aren't?'

'They were pretty insistent that they weren't,' his wife shrugged.

'Shame, they look adorable together,' it was Ace's turn to chuckle nervously as a blush crept up his neck; Isuka was less lucky, her whole face felt hot.

'We really aren't. I'm just the officer that chases after him. We've taken a short break because of the weather.' 

'A break, eh,' he gave them a knowing smile. There was, however, nothing to know, 'well I won't keep us longer, let's eat.'

Dinner was a peaceful affair, well as peaceful as it could be around Ace; they all told stories and laughed until all the food had been cleared. 

When Lisa made a move to clear the dishes, Isuka stopped her, 'you've done a lot for us. Let us clean up,' she nudged Ace, who then nodded along with what she was saying.

'Oh I couldn't let you, you're guests.'

'Please, I feel bad that you've done enough for us already,' she must've been convincing because Lisa eventually gave up and let them clean up.

'We'll be upstairs, if there are any problems let us know,' she wrapped an arm around her husband before disappearing up the stairs.

Isuka and Ace began clearing up, and washing the dishes came first. She tied her hair back in a small ponytail, which Ace had flicked and burst out laughing like a child. She also rolled up her sleeves and replaced her usual leather gloves with rubber ones she found under the sink.  

'You're pretty good at that,' Ace pointed out. He had been assigned to dry the dishes just in case he broke some washing them. He'd been told off by his crew before and didn't want an earful from Isuka too.

'Fire Fist, this is a very basic life skill, plus I was chore girl at a marine base pretty young.'

'Oh, you grew up in the marines?'

'Sort of,' she didn't give anything else, so Ace didn't press her.

'Makes sense; you're pretty young for an Ensign, right?' He figured they were about the same age.

'I guess you don't usually get promoted to a ranked officer without earning it. It's easier when being a marine is all you know.'

'Would you ever give it up?'

'Huh?' Isuka nearly dropped the plate she was holding.

'Forget I asked,' he shook his hands in front of him, embarrassed he'd even considered the thought. Fighting by her side was just a dream.

Isuka stayed silent in contemplation. She'd never considered leaving the marines, and she'd given so much to them. They were her home, in a way, and she wouldn't abandon them.

'What about you? Would you ever consider stopping being a pirate?'

'Nope, wouldn't be anything else. I've got something to achieve.'

'Well, you have my answer as well. We're all doing what we do because we want to,' she turned to face him, but he was already looking at her. 

'Yeah,' he was smiling, and Isuka had to admit he was gorgeous when he beamed like that, carefree and happy. 'You've got a little something there,' he pointed at his own cheek, and Isuka tried wiping the soap off her face, failing miserably because her gloves were all soapy. He laughed at her before leaning down to wipe the suds from her face. 

'Thanks…' her voice became smaller as Ace didn't remove his hand; instead, he stepped closer, thumb resting on the corner of her mouth. Her voice cracked, 'Fire Fist I-'

He was pressing a small kiss on her lips, pulling away before she could even register it. She stood there starstruck, but Ace was stepping away faster, 'I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did that,' he groaned into his hands. He ran his hands through his hair before looking at her again, but she stayed glued to the spot, unsure of what happened.

'Can we please forget that ever happened?' He looked at her, almost ashamed that he'd let himself act on his thoughts. Her lips looked soft and so inviting, and before he knew it, he was leaning down to kiss them.

She finally found her voice again, 'I don't think that's possible, Fire Fist,' she took off the gloves, abandoning the dishes. She turned to face him, leaning against the cabinet, trying to maintain an unbothered expression when in reality, she was screaming internally. At least he had the decency to look mildly terrified.

'I really don't know what came over me. I really am sorry,' he sounded sincere, and she found herself sighing in defeat. She couldn't stay mad at him, at least not when they weren't fighting and especially not when he looked like a sad puppy.

She walked over to him, 'don't look at me like that! And it's fine I guess I didn't really stop you either.'

'Really? You liked it?' He teased, apparently feeling much more confident.

And there he went, hearing only what he wanted to hear, 'huh? I never said that,' she felt the blush staining her cheeks again. She stumbled back as he leant towards her again, cursing his ability to suddenly flip the situation. She felt her back hit the cabinet, cursing the small kitchen too. He leant in, a hand cupping her cheek, and she shut her eyes, waiting, but he pressed a kiss on her forehead. So she opened her eyes; he had pulled back, rubbing small lines on her cheek. She felt disappointed; wait, disappointed? Since when was she disappointed when a pirate didn't kiss her? She should be relieved, but some part of her enjoyed the kiss, enjoyed the warmth he bought her when he was around. 

So she took matters into her own hands, cupping his face with both her hands and dragging his face down to her height, 'wait-' but she was kissing him. She felt him tense, then place his arms around her waist and pull her closer to him, and then melt against her. She felt him smile against her lips, and she knew he was thinking something dumb. She let her hands fall to his chest. The sharp intake of breath made her happy; she still had some power over him. 

She pulled back after what felt like the longest minute of her life, 'you really shouldn't tease a girl like that Fire Fist.'

He was gaping at her, 'I wasn't trying to tease you, but if it made you do that, maybe I should tease you more often.' He was hugging her now, gently squeezing her. Usually, Isuka would've pushed the person away, but it was relaxing being in his arms. It was something she could get used to.

'We should really get back to cleaning,' he shook his head and buried it in her hair, lips ghosting her neck. 'Come on Fire Fist we really have to, I kind of insisted.'

He stood up, a resolute look on his face, and suddenly, she regretted trusting him at all, 'call me Ace, and maybe I will.'

'What?'

'You heard me, call me Ace, you never call me by name, it's always Fire Fist.'

'I don't think so. Fire Fist,' she stuck her tongue out.

He laughed exasperatedly, 'come one Birdie, it's not like I'm asking for much.'

Instead, she gently pushed him back to put the gloves back on; she had almost forgotten about the burn on her hand, surprised Ace hadn’t brought it up. He watched as she continued to wash the dishes, 'do you plan on helping,' she paused, 'Ace?'

'What?' He hugged her from the back; she knew he heard the first time.

'I said do you plan on helping, Fire Fist Ace?' 

He hugged her tighter, 'I could get used to hearing that everyday.'

'Don't get too used to it, and pick up that cloth and dry some dishes.'

'Yes ma'am,' he saluted her before going back to his spot.

The rest of the cleanup was a lot more peaceful; they worked fast, putting away the leftovers and tidying up the room. When it was over, Ace put out the fire in the room and followed Isuka up the stairs. She said something about asking for toothbrushes, but when he entered the bathroom, they had been placed in a cup already. He laughed at Isuka's little speech about the importance of brushing and ended up cleaning a bit of toothpaste off her face, not without stealing a kiss. 

'What side do you sleep on?' He asked, pulling the duvet off the bed.

'Why do you have a side you prefer?'

'Not really, I was just wondering if you do,' he smiled as she threw herself on the bed.

'I don't, I could honestly sleep anywhere.'

'That's something we have in common,' he got in next to her, pulling the covers over the both of them.

'I don't doubt that,' she settled closer to him, closing her eyes, 'I've seen you fall asleep mid-battle before.'

He let her lay her head on his chest, her leg thrown on top of his, a hand clutching his shirt. She was adorable, he thought to himself as he watched her chest rising and falling evenly. She must've been exhausted to have fallen asleep almost immediately. He pressed a small kiss to her forehead and shut his eyes.

~ ♡ ~

The Spades weren't worried about their captain, they rarely were, but Kotatsu was a whole different story. The loyal lynx was pacing back and forth worriedly as his master had not returned all night. The others had assured him that Ace was probably staying somewhere for the night since the rain was heavy. He may be reckless, but he is not an idiot. Furthermore, he was with Isuka, who was level-headed and reasonable.

As soon as Deuce had woken up, Kotatsu had been bothering him, concerned for Ace. Deuce and Skull had barely had breakfast when the lynx was dragging them out.

'Calm down boy,' Deuce rubbed his head, 'Ace isn't that easy to get rid of.'

'Master Ace is strong, he'll be fine boy.'

They spent the morning walking inn to inn to see whether a cowboy hat-wearing pirate had stayed the night. They bumped into Isuka's crew at one of the inns, but they seemed too worried about the disappearance of their Ensign to notice Deuce, Skull and Kotatsu. Which just solidified the theory that the both of them were together and, therefore, most likely safe.

Just as they planned to give up and wait it out on the ship, a woman approached them, 'by any chance are the names of the people you are looking for Ace and Isuka?'

'Yes, Ace is our captain, he must've stayed with Isuka.'

'The both of them are currently at my house, they were stuck outside in the rain so I let them stay the night,' she pointed in the direction of her house. 'I hope you haven't been too worried about them.'

'Oh no, they're both strong, we had no worries.'

'Well, they seemed exhausted, so they are probably still asleep. I slipped out to buy some groceries. If you'd follow me, I could take you there.'

They accepted her offer and followed her back to the house. She gave them slippers and led them into the living room, 'they're upstairs. I can see if they are awake.'

Kotatsu had heard they were upstairs and immediately pounced up the stairs, following his nose to find his master, 'no need, Kotatsu will probably wake up Ace,' Deuce thanked her and followed the lynx up the stairs.

Kotatsu had correctly identified the room Ace was in, but what was throwing him off was the proximity of Isuka's smell, not that he didn't like the marine. It was just odd that they were that close together.

'What's wrong boy?' Deuce asked, pushing the door open for him. He, like Kotatsu and Skull, stood in shock for a second as they entered the room, the image of Isuka and Ace cuddling forever in their minds.

Deuce was the first to burst out laughing, nearly keeling over in laughter, 'oh my god, he's never going to live this down.'

Skull gently shook Ace awake. He woke up, his voice groggy, 'what time is it?'

'Almost ten Master Ace,' Skull replied helpfully.

Ace's sleepiness disappeared almost instantly; he was very aware of the situation. Sometime in the night, he'd kicked off the duvet and wrapped his arms around Isuka under the warmth of her jumper; her slender waist fit perfectly in the crook of his arm. This was definitely not a position he wanted to get caught in; his favourite marine asleep on his shoulder. He could almost feel the teasing energy radiating off Deuce and Kotatsu, who were ready to ridicule him for the rest of his life.

'Fire Fist is something wrong?' Isuka muttered, still half asleep; she could barely register the characters in the room. However, when she did, she sprung away from Ace and dived under the covers hoping it would hide her shame. Deuce was cackling out loud now, not just in his head. Kotatsu was also wheezing; at least, that's what it looked like.

'We'll let you get ready,' Skull said sympathetically, pushing the other two out of the room.

Ace sat up, rubbing his face, 'they're gone now.'

'Doesn't make it any less humiliating,' Isuka complained as she sat up.

'I don't think we can hide this, not from my crew at least.'

'Yeah, mine on the other hand never have to know,' the both of them got up. Lisa had left their clothes on the table, so they got changed and went downstairs, ready to face the obvious questions. Ace squeezed her hand reassuringly before leading her into the room.

They ate breakfast, joined by Deuce and Skull with a bowl of milk for Kotatsu. Surprisingly Deuce kept quiet about the situation, most likely for Isuka's sake.

When they got ready to leave, they thanked Lisa and Walker again; the couple simply waved them off, wishing them the best on their journeys. Lisa winked at Isuka and told her that Ace was quite the catch and to not let him go.   They walked together to the edge of the town, where Isuka stopped them, 'well, we should probably separate here. I should really get back to my crew.'

Ace nodded, saddened to see her go, but he understood she had responsibilities to return to. She stunned him by placing a kiss on his cheek before running away. The move earned more teasing from his crew mates. Which was made worse when they returned to the ship and Deuce announced to the whole crew what they'd seen. It was never ending; every time he did something, it was suddenly related to Isuka. He couldn't sleep - it was cause he missed sleeping next to her - they weren't wrong, but they didn't have to put it like that. In the end, he did miss her and her soft lips and the way she muttered in her sleep.

There was more to their relationship now, and Ace knew things couldn't go back to the way they were, but that was a risk he was willing to take. By her side, he felt like anything was possible. First, he had to get her closer to him, which could throw up problems considering she was a dedicated marine, but it didn't worry him. She would always be his, and he hers.

~ ♡ ~

A Fight Without You

the height of my esuka obsession T-T

Yet another island Isuka hadn't been at; it was getting worrisome. Isuka, without fail, had been there at every single island since they had first met, always there, determined to bring him in. Ace loved the attention; Deuce speculated that it was because she was a gorgeous young woman who could take him down if she wanted to. However, this was the second island they'd been to, and Isuka hadn't been there. Ace felt uneasy leaving the previous island without seeing her, but she was a marine who had other things to do apart from chasing him, or so he tried to convince himself. He was finding it harder to believe now that she hadn't turned up this time.

Ace sighed, 'you don't think something bad happened to her do you?'

'To who? Isuka? No way I've never seen anyone like her,' Deuce chuckled, 'she fights like she's got devil fruit powers.'

'That woman is fearless,' Ace seemed to accept it for a while but looked back at the horizon, 'but nothing could've happened to her, right?'

'Ace, cap, no offence but you're awfully worried about a woman who has done nothing but try to catch you. Maybe it's a good thing she isn't here, one less thing to worry about if she's finally lost our trail.'

'She hasn't only tried to catch me, she's,' Deuce raised an eyebrow, 'I just think it's weird okay, she's just always there.'

'You know she has other duties right? She's an ensign, that's pretty important, she's probably got meetings to attend, boring marine stuff.'

'Yeah I guess,' Ace didn't seem at all satisfied with the answer but didn't try to argue back.

'Boss!' Skull shouted from the sand, 'bad news, the locals just said that we can't leave tonight!'

'Why's that?'

'Apparently there's a bad current that appears from time to time. It's wiped out massive fleets before, we shouldn't risk it.'

'I guess we're spending another night here,' he seemed to consider his options before jumping down to the sand, 'Deuce let's walk, I'm bored.'

~ ♡ ~

Deuce often got dragged into things because Ace was bored or hungry. Since he'd left Sixis with Ace, life had not been dull, maybe even a little too interesting. Thankfully this time, Ace didn't get into much trouble, although his usual narcoleptic attack did frighten a few villagers. 

Or so he thought. Things had been going well until Ace caught sight of a marine, just an ordinary officer slipping past the crowds and into a back street.

He immediately broke into a run, 'Ace!'

The officer was fast, keeping to the back streets as he made it to the other side of the island, where he met with another officer. Ace recognised them; they worked under Isuka on her ship.

'Did you find any others?'

'No there's only one doctor on this island.'

'That's not good, hopefully the antidote works, we've contacted headquarters, but no one will be able to reach here for a while.'

'The Ensign is strong, she'll pull through.' At the mention of Isuka, Deuce felt Ace tense. He was never subtle when it came to her.

'Hopefully.'

Deuce felt Ace move, grabbing one of the marines before he could stop him, 'what did you say?'

'Fire Fist!' The other one spluttered, 'what are you doing here?'

He tightened his grip on the man, 'answer the question, what happened to Isuka?' Deuce sighed. Ace had an especially short fuse when things were about her. After all, he'd beaten up a guy who'd made some unsavoury passes at her when she confronted them at a bar. Ace was not someone you wanted to anger.

'We don't need to tell you anything, pirate.'

Ace looked like he would punch the guy but was stopped by a loud rustling sound getting closer to them from more than one side. He dropped the guy before preparing for a possible ambush. The marine gasped for air before crawling over to his colleague.

'Boss!' One of the voices shouted. Skull had come looking for them.

The other person, unfortunately, was a marine who, at the sight of Ace, drew her gun. 'Fire Fist Ace, the ensign is in no state to fight you. Leave.'

'Take me to her.'

'Boss, that's-' Skull began; that was too much to ask of them to lead a notorious pirate to their leader, who was in no state to fight.

'I want to see her.'

The marine sighed; she looked over at his two colleagues; they weren't enough to deter the pirate, 'can you help her?'

'Deuce is a doctor, he can take a look at her, if she needs something and we have it, you can have it.'

'How do we trust you, pirate? Getting rid of the Ensign Isuka would be advantageous to you,' the marine he had grabbed spat out.

'I wouldn't hurt her, not intentionally.'

She nodded to the dismay of her colleagues, in a way she understood that their relationship was quite complicated, 'follow me.'

The five of them trailed behind her as she led them to a small cove. The ship was tucked in. The sails containing Isuka's epithet were taken in; the usually busy ship had an uneasy quietness.

'Many of us are scattered around the island, looking for supplies, some have remained for security.'

As they stepped up onto the boat, Ace's appearance caused a couple of marines to turn to him in alarm, guns raised. The marine leading them waved them down, 'he's trying to help!'

They didn't seem all that convinced but turned back around, keeping up their posts.

Deuce seemed slightly impressed at the ship's sheer size, 'how'd she get hurt?'

'We we're called as support along with another ship, they needed some help bringing in some other pirates,' she opened a door leading them downstairs, 'with the ensign it would be easy work, she may struggle to bring you in, but she's very strong.'

'I don't doubt it,' despite having the powers of a logia-type devil fruit, he still dodged her attacks out of reflex.

'We replied to the call, they were nearby and Isuka would never say no to helping someone, and everything did go to plan apart from one thing.'

She opened another door; this time, it was the door to the infirmary. The ship's doctor and the village doctor were sitting by her bedside, monitoring her condition and discussing other medical things.

The marine nodded at them, signalling them to step outside, and they complied. Ace stood by the door for a while before deciding to sit by her; she looked awful. Deuce checked the wound on her arm, the blue bruise-like colour spreading from the injury and up her arm.

'One of the pirates had hidden and held Isuka with a knife to her throat, he didn't realise she was the ensign. So she did what she did best, fight, she brought him down, but he managed to nick her arm. Things were okay for a day or two, but she suddenly collapsed two days ago, so we stopped at the nearest island.'

Deuce checked her temperature, gently checking the neckline of her uniform to see how far the colour had spread. 'I think the antidote is working, the poison hasn't spread far enough to be of extreme danger to her life, but things can still go wrong. Tonight will be very important, it may determine whether she'll be able to use her arm or not.'

'Yes, that's what the other doctors have said, it was lucky we carried many types of antidote,' the marine sighed, 'Isuka made sure of that.' 

With that, she left the room, nodding at Deuce. Ace, on the other hand, had barely registered what had happened, his thoughts consumed by the girl before him. 

Isuka was usually full of life, her strong voice yelling at him from her ship. That was not who he saw now; the girl lying on the infirmary bed was soulless. Her skin was pale, and her breathing laboured; she was not the picture of health she'd always been. Ace leant forward, inspecting her poisoned arm, it may be on her non-dominant arm, but she fought with both. She used her athletic abilities to leap over things, usually using her arm for stability. He knew her fighting style was aggressive and powerful; he was scared that if she lost her arm, she'd give up on being a marine or, at the very least, stop chasing him. Either way, he wouldn't see her again; he would have no reason to tease her and watch her turn red when he threw a flirty comment her way. Losing her and her presence would leave an ugly mark on his heart. 

As she began coughing, she rolled onto her side, bringing her knees closer to her chest. Deuce poured her a glass of water before handing it to Ace, who waited for her to calm down. As the violent coughing fit came to an end, she opened her eyes slowly, her good arm coming up to wipe the tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes. She made a grabbing motion in the direction of the side table.

'Here,' Ace gently moved the cup to her hand, allowing her to grab it, she tried getting up, but without being able to put any pressure on her other arm, she struggled. Ace got up from the chair to help her; when she sat up, she took a long drink from the glass, and Ace settled back into his chair.

'Fire fist, what are you doing here?' Her voice was groggy and weak; her vision had finally cleared up, and she'd finally noticed who he was. He thought she'd be more shocked, but perhaps she was too tired for that.

'Couldn't leave without seeing my favourite ensign, now could I?' He chuckled when Isuka made what he could only guess was a flustered expression. Deuce looked at Skull; there was an unspoken agreement between the both of them that they should leave them alone. He tapped Ace's shoulder reassuringly before exiting the infirmary.

'You know, Isuka. I missed you at our previous island; it isn't the same without you shouting at me,' she smiled at that, lying back down, 'it's not the same when I'm not fighting you.'

'I've got other battles to fight, Fire Fist; I can't chase you all the time,' she whispered as she dragged the sheets back over her.

'I wish you could, wouldn't it be fun seeing each other everyday?'

'I think we have very different ideas of fun.'

'You wouldn't have to get hurt fighting some other prick,' she stayed silent for a while, unable to bring herself to look him in the eyes, 'you worried me when I walked in here I thought I was going to lose you.'

She lifted her arm, hesitating before placing her hand on his cheek, 'it's part of the job, you know that.'

At first, it took him by surprise; they weren't close like that. At most, there were accidental brushes of skin that left her flustered. He placed his hand on hers; she felt comfortable with him, and for now, that was enough. For once, she wasn't wearing her leather gloves; her hand was warm as he stroked it gently, 'I know,' but he couldn't help hating the thought. He moved her hand to his mouth, placing a small kiss on the palm of her hand before releasing it.

She smiled at him, grabbing hold of his hand again, 'I know it isn't much, but I'm here now. You know that I'm safe,' she gently squeezed his hand before closing her eyes. She didn't know who he had lost in the past to react like that, but she understood loss and the pain it brought.

~ ♡ ~

He had completely lost track of time, sitting there holding her hand, stroking the back of it, tracing the lines on her palm. It was completely dark when Deuce returned to the room carrying two plates of food and a bowl of soup for Isuka.

'Skull went back to the rest of the crew to explain,' he placed the soup down first before handing Ace his plate, 'I'm guessing you don't want to leave.'

'I don't know. I don't want to leave her like this.'

'Don't worry about it, the crew will understand.'

Ace gently shook Isuka awake, so she could try to eat something. He helped her sit up again, handing her the bowl of soup before picking up his plate and starting to eat. Deuce had begun to explain their adventures at their previous island, what had happened when she wasn't there. She laughed when he explained how Ace had fallen into the lake trying to chase Kotatsu, who had been chasing a butterfly. At some point during the conversation, Ace had finished his plate and noticed Isuka had been struggling to eat. He took the bowl from her and began feeding her as she listened to Deuce's rambling. At first, she'd been a little embarrassed, but soon she came to enjoy it a little, the power she had over him always amused Deuce. He knew of Ace's tendencies when caring for people, but feeding them was not one of them. Isuka, however, was an exception; they shared something special, even if they didn't quite notice it yet.

After dinner, Isuka had laid back down, drowsiness taking over; Ace remained by her side as Deuce got some pillows and blankets. Ace was still in the same spot when he returned, watching over her. Deuce set up the little sofa in the room for him to sleep on, leaving the other bed in the infirmary to Ace if he wanted to sleep.

'Deuce, take the bed, I don't need it.'

'You should try to get some sleep too.'

'If need be I can sleep on the sofa, you can take the bed.'

Deuce didn't bother arguing back; Ace was stubborn when it came to certain things, so there was no point trying to get his way.

The night was cold; Ace watched as Isuka shivered under her blanket. He got up and grabbed the blanket Deuce left on the table to cover her with. Taking the pillow, he placed it on the bed; he leant forward to rest his head. He must have eventually nodded off because sunlight was filtering through the blinds on the window when he woke up. Sometime in her sleep, Isuka must have found his head as he could feel her soothingly running her hand through his hair. It felt weird; the last time someone had done that was probably 6 or 7 years ago. When he'd fall asleep around Makino, she'd take care of him, gently patting his back or running her hand through his hair. It was comforting; if his mother was alive, he imagined she would do the same.

It was a while longer before either of the others stirred; Isuka was up first, woken up again by a coughing fit. Ace did the same thing as before, handing her a glass of water and helping her sit up. Being a light sleeper, Deuce had also woken up; he checked up on Isuka first. Her temperature had decreased slightly, and the marks on her arm had begun to fade - which was very promising. He left to share the information with the rest of her crew.

'Thank you, Fire Fist, I think your presence really helped.'

'I didn't do much,' he smiled, slightly shy at the compliment.

'I know, but still, you make me stronger.'

Ace didn't know what to say; Isuka kept him on his toes, kept him guessing what her next move would be. She'd made her way into his life, and in a way, she pushed him to be stronger too. Before he could try to formulate a reply, Deuce returned.

'We should probably get back to the ship, the currents are getting better and we can leave soon,' Ace made an expression. Before he could ask, Deuce replied, 'I imagine Isuka will be leaving soon too, she's getting better and it would be beneficial to be heading to a more accessible island.'

'He's right, if things go well we'll probably be leaving by the end of the day,' she smiled reassuringly at Ace, 'back on your trail of course.'

'Wouldn't expect anything different.'

~ ♡ ~

i just read the one piece light novel in 4 something hours

anyways, im in love with isuka, deuce and ace are the best things to ever exist and they’re in love, thatch >, izou showed up for like 2 seconds at the very end but i almost started crying nontheless, and i adore whitebeard sm

everyone leave me be, i have Spade and Whitebeard pirates brainrot to address