Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Watching & Waiting

Part One

Adjusting her sunglasses, she locked her eyes onto the large ship. Two smaller ones were sailing right along with it. They were heading for the docks. Seeing the whale like design of Whitebeard’s ship in the moonlight made her smile. It suited the name of the ship, Moby Dick, despite how she thought it was a stupid name for a ship. But she wasn’t the captain of it, the great Whitebeard was. So she had no right to name it or rename it. It was also the ship that held what she was seeking. And Whitebeard was the man she was going to have to get passed if she as going to reclaim what is hers.

The wind blew, blowing her hair behind her. It brushed like silk across her arms when it laid back against her. She waited until the ships had pulled into the docks before turning and headed down the hill. Her only company out here were the crickets. Soon their songs faded. The chatter of the islanders took its place when she reached the edge of the town. The lights pushed back the darkness as a lot of the people ran towards the docks to greet the pirates. The excitement if the arrival of the Whitebeard Pirates crackled in the air. This island was one of many that were under Whitebeard’s protection. She wasn't surprised at the reception.

She had to admit she was looking forward to it, too. But her excitement was coming from a different source. She would finally be able to get her hands on her treasure, her treasure that she has been hunting for over a year. It was finally within her gasp. That is if she could only get to it and not get killed.

The cheering of the crowd made her look up. The Whitebeard Pirates had left their ships and was walking towards the town like a parade. The captain was massive. He towered over everyone there. She could feel a trickle of intimidation running up and down her spine. It was the first time she was seeing him in person. She now could see why so many feared this man. He looked as if he could squash this entire island. He might be able to with the devil fruit that he had. Strike that. He looked like he could squash this island without a devil fruit.

Her eyes trailed off of the large man and down to another. This one was a lot smaller than Whitebeard, a whole lot smaller. And she could feel the blaze burning inside of him from his own devil fruit he had. Her mind ran over the information she knew about him. It was Fire Fist Ace. He looked to be somewhere around her own age. She was sixteen. He was still new to the Whitebeard Pirates but he was very powerful himself with his devil fruit. He used to have his own pirate crew then joined up with Whitebeard, for reasons she was unclear about. And despite not wanting her mind to go there, she found him rather cute. He had a boyish charm with those freckles splattered across his face despite his reputation. It made her wonder what he was like. Was he nice?

The pirates continued on in towards the town.

Blending in with the excited crowd, she followed them to one of the locate taverns, Marla’s Party Tavern. Having been here for a week, she knew exactly where they would eat, drink, and sleep. The islanders did nothing but talk about the pirates' arrival. Keeping her distance, she watched as they entered into the tavern. More cheers sounded out as the celebration had started inside the building. She took her leave at that point. She wasn’t a drinker so there was no point in going after them. There were plenty of other things she had to take care. After that she would introduce herself to the Whitebeard Pirates.

“Did you hear?! The Whitebeard Pirates have arrived!” a man said to a group of other men.

“What?! Serious?!”

“Yeah! They’re at Marla’s Party tavern right now!”

“What are we waiting for?! Let’s go see them!”

She rolled her eyes. Grown ups shouldn't act like children. And speaking of children.

“I’m am Whitebeard! The greatest pirate of all!” a child cried out.

“And I am Fire Fist Ace!” another child said as their group ran around acting like pirates and Navy soldiers.

“I will be Marco the Phoenix!” a third one cried. “Fear us!”

She shook her head, remembering when she was young and played such games. Such a nice time it was being a child, so young and naïve and impressionable. Sometimes she missed it. Other times she was glad to be over that stage of her life.

Having come upon the hotel she was staying at, she entered into the door.

“Hey! Fina!” a girl called out the second she stepped inside.

Fina turned her eyes to the girl who called out to her. It was Melena. Melena was the daughter of the couple who owned this hotel. Some how, at some point, she had made friends with the teenager without wanting or meaning to.

“Did you hear?!” Melena rushed over to her. Her blonde braid bouncing over her shoulder as she came closer. “The Whitebeard Pirates have arrived!”

“I know,” Fina said. “I was near the docks when they arrived. Quite the intimidating bunch they are.”

“What?!” Melena gasped, pressing her hands to her cheeks. “And you’re only now telling me this?!”

“Well, I just got here and it’s not that big of a deal,” Fina said.

“What?! What do you mean it’s no big deal?!” Melena grabbed her arms and shook her. “This is the Whitebeard Pirates we’re talking about?! Have you even seen Fire Fist Ace?! He’s hot, hot, hot! Literally!”

“Yeah, I think he’s cute, I guess,” Fina said with a shrug.

“You guess?!” Melena released her and crossed her arms.

“Well, I have yet to actually meet a guy that grabs my attention,” Fina said. “Besides you haven’t met Fire Fist Ace in person either.”

“The Whitebeard Pirates haven’t been here since Ace joined them. I get to meet him now. I’ve told you before I’m friends with the Whitebeard Pirates,” Melena said. “Girl, sometimes I get the impression you’re not into guys at all.”

“I am,” Fina said. “I’m on a journey. I don’t have time to deal with guys and relationships. That’s all.”

“I know,” Melena said with a sigh. “So you have told me. Still, I wish you didn’t have to leave so soon. You’ve only been here for a week. I could totally turn you into a guy magnet if you would stay longer. You’re a very beautiful girl.”

“Uh, thanks? And I’m sorry,” Fina said. “But this was a short stop to rest. I have to get going soon.”

“I know.” Melena nodded. “Could you at least go with me to see the Whitebeard Pirates?”

“I don’t think so,” Fina said. “I’m kind of tired. Besides they’re at the tavern. You know I don’t like going to places like that. The men treat women like objects there.”

“You’ll be fine,” Melena said. “The pirates won’t let anyone hurt you. You’re with me after all.”

“No thanks.” Fina shook her head and headed for the stairs. “I’m going to bed.”

“No you’re not,” Melena said.

“Hey!” Fina cried when Melena grabbed her arm and pulled her back out the door. “I don’t want to go!”

“Come on! Have a little fun!” Melena said smiling. “How often do you get to see an amazing pirate crew like the Whitebeards? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

Fina sighed, as she was drug out of the hotel and down the street. This wasn’t a once in a lifetime opportunity at all. She had been tracking them for quiet a while now. This was the first time she had finally caught up to them and got so close to them.

A loud crashing of broken glass lifted her eyes to the tavern. A man was laying on the ground with blood trickling down his skin. Glass from the tavern window scattered round him on the ground.

“And don’t you ever speak to a woman like that again!”

Fina looked up to see one of the Whitebeard Pirates standing outside of the tavern. If she remembered right it was Thatch, one of the commanders of the Whitebeard fleet. With his white posh outfit he looked more like a cook to her rather than a commander. She wondered if he was a cook.

“This is so great!” Melena shrieked. “I hope I can get close to Ace! Please take off those sunglasses! You’re face is too pretty for you to keep hiding behind them!”

“How would you know?” Fina smirked. “You haven’t seem me without them off.”

“I just know! I can tell,” Melena reached up to the sunglasses.

“Please don’t.” Fina grabbed her wrist to stop her friend. “I’ve told you I’m sensitive about my eyes.”

“Yeah, you’ve told me that. But you haven’t told me why,” Melena said, frowning.

“My eyes are different from everyone else’s,” Fina said, releasing Melena. “Often people make fun of them. I’m really tired of hearing jokes about my eyes.”

“Fine,” Melena said. Reaching up again, she started raking her fingers through Fina’s tangled hair. “At least let me fix your hair. It's a mess. You’re such a beautiful young woman. I don’t see why you can’t take care of yourself better. You’re hair is so black, thick, and full. The blackest I’ve ever seen, too. I bet you’d get a guy in a second if you took better care of it.”

“Yeah, because that’s what’s important in a relationship,” Fina said. “Hair care.”

“You could also wear a skirt once in a while,” Melena said. “I don’t think I’ve seen you once in a skirt or a dress.”

“I travel,” Fina said. “It doesn’t leave a lot of time for getting pretty.”

“That’s a lousy excuse.” Melena pulled back to examine her work. “You sail on a ship. You have plenty of time to do your hair and dress up.”

“I’m not interested,” Fina said, shoving her hands in the pockets of her cargo pants. “Pants are more comfortable.”

“Here,” Melena said, grabbing Fina’s shirttail. “Let me at least tie it up here so you can show some skin.”

Fina sighed. She allowed the young woman to tie a knot in her simple white shirt, revealing her scarred midriff. It was sometimes easier to let Melena do this than to argue with her. It was hard for her to tell at first, but the more time she spent with Melena the more she could tell her friend was lonely. The island wasn’t that big so it was easy for people that lived here to grow bored of their surroundings. Melena was happy that she had arrived. She gave the young woman something new to fuss over. Melena was very girly. She wasn’t. She needed and wanted comfortable and convenient clothes.

“There that’s better!” Melena clapped her hands. “You look amazing!”

Fina eyed her friend. If anyone looked amazing it was Melena, with her dark blue tank top with a short back mini skirt and enough makeup to highlight her natural beauty. Melena’s smile was making her dimples more pronounced. Fina knew her friend would attract the attention of at least some of the young men here. She herself wasn’t sure about getting this close right now. It wasn’t her plan.

“Let’s go,” Melena said. She took Fina’s arm and pulled her inside of the tavern.

Fina scanned the room. Tankards were being slammed together in toasts. Women from the tavern were flirting with the pirates in their revealing dresses. Men were laughing. A piano in the corner of the room was being played by a man who worked there. It was such a happy looking scene. All in all a place that made her very uncomfortable despite all the jollies. She wiped her free hand on her pants to get rid of the sweat gathering there.

Forcing past the smell of booze and unwashed men, Fina scanned her eyes around the room again. Not a single table was empty. The Whitebeards were sitting in the middle of the room, a few sitting at the bar. She noticed some had their jolly roger on their clothes while a few had tattoos of it.

“There he is!” Melena squealed, making Fina jump. “It’s Fire Fist Ace!”

Fina looked at the black haired, freckled faced man. Her heart sped up in her chest. Her head became light. She didn’t want to get any closer. But before she knew it Melena was dragging her across the room and right over to the Whitebeard Pirates. She stood right beside her targets. A chill settled over her body.

“Hello,” Melena said flipping her braid over her shoulder. “It’s nice to see you all again.”

Fina lifted an eyebrow at her friend. Desperation was dripping off her sweet words.

“Hey! It’s Melena!” Thatch said. “It’s good to see you well!” His eyes turned to Fina. “Oh, hello. I haven’t seen you here before.”

Fina shifted on her feet when the man’s eyebrows drew together as he looked at her. With a small wave she said, “Uh, hi.”

“Guys, this is my friend, Fina,” Melena said slipping her arm around Fina’s shoulders. “Be nice to her. She’s not use to so much attention.”

“Melena,” Whitebeard said. “It’s been a while since we’ve last seen you. You’ve grown up into such a beautiful young woman.”

Melena spun around, showing them her body. “I guess I have grown up.”

“And you’re as pretty as ever,” Thatch said. "A sparkling jewel on the sea."

“Thank you, Thatch,” Melena said. “You’re as charming as ever.” Her eyes went to Ace and sparkled brighter than the sun. “So this is the new guy.”

Fina rolled her eyes at Melena’s blatant determination to get to know Ace better.

“Yup.” Thatch ruffled Ace’s hair. “He’s the new guy.”

“Hey!” Ace smacked Thatch’s hand from his hair. “Stop that!”

Thatch laughed. “Ace this is Melena. She’s been a fan of ours since she was a kid.”

“Oh really?” Ace looked at the girls, his eyes drawing towards Fina. “You’re wearing sunglasses at night and inside?”

Fina crossed her arms. “There’s no law against it.”

“Sorry,” Ace said. “I didn’t mean anything by that.”

“As I said before this is my friend, Fina,” Melena said. “She’s only here for a little while longer.”

“Fina, huh?” Thatch asked. “That’s an odd name.”

“It’s short for Serafina,” Fina said.

“That makes sense then,” Thatch said with a nod.

“I guess.” Fina shrugged. Behind her sunglasses she watched Whitebeard. She couldn’t help but noticed the man was watching her as well. She swallowed, wondering if he sensed her secrets, her plans. It wouldn’t surprise her one bit if he did. The man was strong. His strength radiated off him with no signs of stopping. She wondered how that could be possible when everyone seemed to be so relaxed in here. She was the only one who wasn't relaxed. Her muscles were coiling so tight she knew if anyone else touched her she would bounce around the room like a rubber ball.

“So how’s the hotel business?” Thatch asked, bring Fina’s eyes back to him. She found that the man had pushed back a chair for her friend to sit down on.

“It’s all right,” Melena said, crossing her legs.

“Here,” Ace said.

Fina turned her eyes to him to find he had brought over another chair for her. “No thanks. I don’t like bar scenes. So I’m going to-Ack!” She gasped when Melena jerked her down into the chair. “Hey!”

“Sit down and learn to have some fun!” Melena said.

“Are you nervous about being in a bar?” Ace asked.

“Of course not!” Fina snapped. “I'm not a fan of the way men treat women in them!”

Whitebeard laughed. “Girl, if you hate that then you must hate men all over the world.”

“I never said that,” Fina said. “It’s not about men strictly, it’s about men thinking they have the right to treat women as they please. And that often happens when they’re drunk.”

“You sound very naïve of the world, Girl,” Whitebeard said.

“I’m not,” Fina said kneading her eyebrows. “So shut up! And my name is Fina!”

Whitebeard laughed again. “Girl, you are over a hundred years too young to tell me what to do!”

“My name is Fina! Not Girl!” Fina said. Anger flared up inside of her. She gripped her hands into two tight fists.

“Oh?” Whitebeard leaned forward, pressing his arm onto the table. “Did I upset you, Girl? Are you willing to fight me and my crew?”

“I’m done here,” Fina said, standing up she knocked her chair over.

“Wait! Don’t go!” Melena said.

“I didn’t even want to come here to begin with, Melena,” Fina said. “I’ll see you later.”

“Oh, okay then,” Melena said.

Fina turned and left the bar. The joyful sounds faded away from her with each step she took. If only she could get the smell of all the booze out of her nose. A huge amount of tension left her that she didn’t even know was there. Anger then filled her when the old man’s words came flooding back to her. What was his deal anyway? He couldn’t even say her name? What a jerk! She was more determined than ever to get on his ship and steal her treasure back from him.

“Hey! Hey, wait!” Ace’s voice called out.

In her confusion, she stopped and turned around.

“I’m sorry about what Pops said,” Ace said once he was by her side. “That's how he is. He didn’t mean any harm.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Fina said.

“Are you sure?” Ace asked. “You look upset.”

“Not really.” Fina shoved her hands into her pockets. Her eyes dropped down to his bare chest. She stared at it for a few seconds before noticing what she was doing. She forced her eyes off of it, glad to be wearing her sunglasses. “I don’t care much for bars. They get me upset.”

“Have you had a bad experience in them or something?” Ace said.

Fina flinched. How could he have possible made a guess like that so quickly?

“I’m sorry,” Ace said. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” Fina said.

“Sorry,” Ace said.

“Why did you even come after me? You don’t know me,” Fina said.

“Uh…I don’t know,” Ace replied. He scratched the back of his head and added, “I did it without thinking. You sort of remind me of someone. I guess.”

“Then go back.” Fina turned around and walked off. Stalking up to the door of the hotel and reached for the doorknob, she felt like turning around. She had to force herself not to. It didn’t make sense for that guy to have come after her. Her stomach turned. Did Whitebeard send him? Was he looking to figure out where she was staying? No, that couldn’t be right. Melena would have already told them by now that she was staying at her family’s hotel. Shaking it from her mind she opened the door and rushed up the stairs.

Luckily, no one seemed to be around. She was free to run all the way to her room. She all but slammed her door to her room as she rushed over to the window. Without knowing why, she pulled back the curtain and found that Fire Fist Ace was nowhere in sight. He must have gone back to the bar. Disappointment settled into her chest. Letting the curtain fall back into place, she headed for the bathroom. Flipping on the light, she removed her sunglasses and stared at her reflection.

“Okay, Serafina,” she said. “It’s time to put your plan into action. The Whitebeard Pirates are finally within your grasp. It’s now or never.”

Placing her sunglasses down on the sink, she reached for the scissors that was waiting for her. Her eyes locked onto her hair. For years she had let her hair grow out. It was the closest thing to thing she had to being girly. She had no idea why she always let her hair grow. It was a fact that short hair was easier to deal with than long hair, especially with all the traveling that she did.

Taking a strain of her black hair in her hand, she lifted the scissors and cut it. The snipping of the scissors filled the room as strand after strand of her hair fell to the floor. Her head grew lighter with each strain she cut until her knee length hair was a messy boy look. Turning her head this way and that, she inspected how much it made her look different. She thought she looked different enough. She thought she had reached her goal of looking more like a boy.

Her eyes dropped down to her chest. Her breasts were a lot smaller than other females she has met. At least she wouldn’t have trouble hiding those behind her shirts. She didn’t mind. She never had. Her smaller size would help her blend in with the boys. That’s what she needed now.

Placing the scissors back down on the counter, she gathered up her hair. She placed the strands in a sack that she had prepared for this step of her plan and exited the bathroom. Tossing the bag on the bed, she sat down and pulled out another set of clothes. This time her shirt was a black hooded vest and baggy dark green pants with three pockets on each leg. And they were boys’ clothes of course. After putting them and her sunglasses on she left the hotel. On her way down the street she passed the Marla Party Tavern. She could hear the Whitebeard Pirates laughing. Through the window she could see Melena was still sitting with Whitebeard and Thatch. She couldn’t see Fire Fist Ace inside. It made her wonder if he was in there or if he went somewhere else after he left her. She moved on.

Making her way through the town she came upon the Whitebeard ships. A few of their crewmembers were on the deck of the main ship. She sighed. If only they left the ship unguarded she could get what she needed and run, but nope. The ship wasn’t left unguarded despite this being Whitebeard’s territory. So she turned to her right and headed down the beach. The moon rose higher in the sky, lighting her path. The sand crunched under her boots. The waves slipped upon the beach, threatening to damp her boots before pulling back. A dark spot in the cliff then caught her eye. She walked over to it.

Holding up her hand, fire sprung to life in her palm. The light rushed over the cave walls. A few cave creatures scattered at the light in an attempt to disappear back into what darkness was left. Tossing the bag of hair into the air, she shot out a ball of fire at it from her hand. The bag and hair flared up. It fell. The fire fizzled out before it even landed on the rocky ground below her.

Step one was complete.

She left the cave and headed back into the town. This time she passed the street that the Marla Party Tavern was on and went two streets over. There she found another tavern, a less popular one that the scum of the island hung at. Stepping inside the broken down building, she found the smell here was worse than in the other tavern. It smelled like no one ever had cleaned it before. Dark stains on the floor suggested that was true. She tried not to think what caused those stains. She didn’t want to know.

“What can I get for you?” a waitress asked.

“Beer,” Fina replied. Sitting down she placed her feet on top of the table and tried to look as much like a guy as she possible could. A minute later the waitress walked back over and placed the bottle on the table. She handed her the money she had and picked up the bottle. She placed it to her lips and tilted it but didn’t actually drink it. Relaxing back she started listening into everyone’s conversations.

“Curse those blast Whitebeard Pirates,” a man slurred. “If it wasn’t for them we could run this island.”

“Shut up,” another man said. “Do you want them to find out you’re talking about taking over the island?”

“I don’t care,” the first man said. “I’ll kill them all.”

“More like they’d kill you,” the other man said.

Fina sighed. These men wouldn’t do at all. She moved on to another conversation to her left.

“Boss, are you sure?”

“Of course I am. The timing is perfect.”

“But the Whitebeards have three ships here.”

“So?”

“This is suicide.”

“If you’re scared them don’t fight.”

Fina’s ears perched up. This sounded like something.

“This is our chance to take out the Whitebeard Pirates.”

“Boss, you’re so insane. But I have to agree that we are very strong right now. If we can eliminate the old man then we can easily take his place. And with my water water devil fruit powers I can easily handle Fire Fist Ace. Not that I'd need to.” He chuckled.

Fina lifted an eyebrow at the man’s words. Carefully looking around, she found the group that was talking was a group of six members. She wondered if they were pirates but figured they weren’t. What pirates in their right mind would come to Whitebeard’s territory like this? Then she could be wrong. She didn’t know all that much about pirates after all. But they looked like a descent size men. They might be able to give the Whitebeard Pirates a good enough fight, as long as Whitebeard didn’t get involved.

“We still have to be careful. We should target only a couple of the Whitebeard Pirates then kill them.”

“I agree. We can use sea prism stone on Fire Fist Ace. That’ll slow him down. He usually hangs around with others that are normal humans.”

“Not all of them. Marco is also a devil fruit user. We’ll have to use sea prism stone on him as well.”

“That’ll be easy. There’s a young girl here that’s good friends with the Whitebeard Pirates.”

Fina gritted her teeth. Her heart hammered against her chest. Surely they weren’t talking about Melena. They couldn’t be talking about her. Many people here are friends with the Whitebeard Pirates. They had to be talking about someone else.

“Her name is Melena.”

Fina’s stomach dropped. It was Melena.

“We can grab her and leave a note for Fire Fist Ace and Marco.”

“That’s sound like a good plan. When should we attack?”

“Tomorrow.”

“That soon?”

“They won’t be expecting an attack so soon. Besides we have no idea how long they’re going to stay here. We’ll take the girl tonight when everyone’s asleep. We can easily break into the hotel. Her room is on the ground floor.”

Fina jumped up. Taking the bottle with her, she ran out of the tavern and through the dirt paths that made up the roads in this town. She ignored the people giving her odd looks as she passed them. Reaching the forest, the jolly sounds of the party had been taken over by crickets. She found herself back on the cliff over looking the docks. She could see their ships. Tiny black dots scurried around on the water. She turned away.

Lifting up the bottle in her hand, she poured its contents out onto the ground then let the bottle fall from her hand. She hated herself. Despite only have been here for a week, she had grown to like Melena a lot. She didn’t want to see her new friend get hurt or taken by those men. But what could she do? She needed to get close to the Whitebeard Pirates. She needed to get onto their ship.

She paced back and forth over the cliff, going over and over what the men had said. She found no way out of it. She had to let Melena be taken. But would they hurt her? Melena was only going to be there hostage. Wasn’t she? Surely they wouldn’t hurt her. Or would they? Should she really risk Melena’s life? Would those pirates, or whoever, try to take advantage of her friend like…?

“Calm down,” Fina told herself. “They are only going to use her as a hostage. They’ll just take her, tie her up, and wait for Marco and Fire Fist to come save her.”

Fina stopped passing. Breathing in the salty sea air, she exhaled it. “Besides I won’t be far behind. I won’t let her get hurt. She’ll be fine. She will be fine.”

Fina forced herself to stop pacing two hours later. Unable to get herself to go back to the hotel, she laid down on the ground and stared up at stars. Guilt plagued her for hours after that as she pluck blaze of grass from the ground. She hoped and prayed that the pirates, or whoever they were, wouldn’t hurt Melena.

Unable to sleep, she remained there for a couple more hours. Then she decided she needed to go back and watch the hotel. She wanted to be there when Melena was taken so she could follow them and make sure they didn’t do anything to her.

Pushing herself up to her feet, she wondered back down through the forest and to the edge of the town. Remembering that Melena’s bed was on the ground at the back of the hotel, she headed to the closest alleyway. Tucking into the shadows, she was glad she had chosen dark colored clothes to help hide her. Quietly she stared at Melena’s opened window. She hated being this close to her friend. She hated herself for not marching over there, for not demanding her to go straight to Whitebeard, and tell him what was going to happen. But this had to be done. It had to be. She had to get it back. She had no choice.

An hour later, she saw three dark figures making their way through the darkness. She held her breath and took a step back into the shadows. She watched as each one of the men climbed through the open window. Seconds dragged on once all three were inside. An eternity seemed to pass by when they finally started to come back out of the room. One climbed out first. He turned back and lifted an object out of the window.

Fina’s heart raced, her head pounded. It was Melena. She knew it was. Through the moonlight she could see Melena wrapped up in her blanket, her mouth bound with something white. Once other man came out of the window. It caused her to knead her eyebrows together. Where was the third man? Then she remembered. They had to get a note to Marco and Fire Fist Ace. The Whitebeard Pirates, or some of them, must have taken rooms at Melena’s hotel. The third man must be going to their room to leave a letter about the kidnapping.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the third man exited the window and they took off. Fina followed after them. She kept back several yards to make sure they didn’t see her or hear her. Luck was on her side. The trail they were on had plenty of places for her to hide if needed. She made sure to walk along the shadows so she could blend in with her surroundings. When they started to turn, she froze until they started walking again.

Fifteen minutes later, the cave they were heading to finally came into view. A small orange glow was coming from the cave. From the shadows dancing on the cave walls she could tell a lot of people were inside, she assumed the entire group. Were they really going to jump two men with their entire crew? After putting sea prism stone on the devil fruit users? These guys deserved Whitebeard’s wrath.

Slipping into the woods, she moved closer to the cave until she found a tree she deemed good enough to hide in. It also gave her a good view of the cave. Jumping up to the lowest branch, she grabbed on and hauled herself up. She climbed up a few more branches until she got a good view of the path they walked and the cave entrance. Then she waited for sunrise.

She lost track of time while waiting and worrying over her friend. Anything could be happening to her inside of the cave. But eventually the sun started rising over the horizon. The shadows of the night were pushed away and replaced with the golden rays of the sun. The crickets were long gone as the chirping of birds starting ringing through the leaves. Looking down the forest path she could see two figures walking up towards the cave. It was Marco and Fire Fist Ace. She gulped. There was no turning back now. Her plan was in full action. And she was ready for this to finally get started.

Chapter Text

Watching & Waiting

Part Two

Fina gulped as she watched Marco and Ace walk closer and closer to the cave entrance. In the back of her mind she wondered why these stupid idiots came here. Weren’t they smart enough to know that this was a set up? What exactly did those other people put in the ransom note? Were all the Whitebeard Pirates going to come as well? Or did Fire Fist Ace and Marco the Phoenix really come alone?

A sharp snapped caused her to jump. She looked everywhere for the source of the noise. Her heart pounded in her chest and head. She knew someone had found her. That was until she noticed her hand was holding a broken branch. In her anxiety over the situation she had snapped a thin branch. She didn’t even notice she had grabbed it. With a sigh she let it fall to the ground and looked around to see if anyone noticed. No one came out of the cave and the two Whitebeard Pirates didn’t even stop walking. “Calm down, you idiot. What’s wrong with you?”

Drawing in a deep breath she exhaled just as the two pirates stepped up to the cave. She watched them pause before they entered into it. She cursed upon noticing her mistake. She should have gotten closer so she could hear what they were saying. Way back here she would have no idea when she should jump in to the fight and save the two pirates. But then it all became clear. The orange flames from Ace’s devil fruit and the blue one’s from Marco’s soon flared up. The flames lapped out of the entrance of the cave before they went dark.

Cursing again she quickly made her way down the tree. Dropping to her shoes with a thud, she ran as quietly as she could over to the cave entrance. The closer she got the more she could hear laughter from inside of it. Slipping up to the entrance, she looked inside. Ace and Marco were laying on the ground with sea prism cuffs on their wrists and ankles. The others had succeeded.

“You just wait until Pops learns about what you did!” Ace was saying.

“He’s going to kill you for doing this to us!” Marco added.

Fina about slapped herself in the face. These two idiots really did come alone. She turned her eyes to Melena. The poor girl’s usually pretty face was drenched in tears. Her skin was red from crying and probably from the gag in her mouth, too. A man was holding a blade to her throat.

Fina’s heart sank. She despised herself for letting her friend go through this pain. If only there was something she could do to make up for it. Maybe she could one day after she had completed her mission.

“So this is all the great Whitebeard Pirates have to offer,” the man from the bar said.

Fina recognized him as the leader of the group, the devil fruit user. The smug look he had on his face made her want to punch him. He only won this little battle because he had set up and ambush and used a hostage to get them here.

“If you hadn’t tricked us and trapped us with sea prism stone-” Ace started.

“That’s your own fault, boy,” the man said. “You should be more careful. You have a great weakness that everyone knows about. It’s your own fault for coming here without someone who wields a devil fruit.”

“Who said we came alone?” Ace asked.

“You did,” the man said. “If you didn’t then you know we would have instantly killed this girl. We set it up so she would die if you two tried anything funny.”

Fina heard the two pirates growling. So they did come alone all because Melena’s life was being threatened. Her nails cut into her skin. She relaxed her hands. This is what she wanted. She was free to make her move now. Her eyes went back over to Melena. She bit her lip and thought how she could free her friend without getting her hurt. Her eyes then landed on the fire in the middle of the cave. That would work. She stared into the blaze. It flickered a few times before roaring into a huge flame that filled the cave with its warmth. It was so hot it warmed her skin.

The men gasped and backed up from the blaze.

“What the heck?!”

“What happened?!” “What did you two do?!” The leader turned back to the two pirates. “Stop it!”

“It’s not us,” Marco said.

“You are the only two here that can do something like that!” he said. “So stop it! Stop it right now or your friend will die!”

“I’m telling you it’s not us!” Marco shouted.

“Don’t kill her for something that’s not our doing!” Ace added.

“Kill her!” he said.

“No!” Marco and Ace shouted.

Fina dashed into the cave. Throwing out her hand, she sent a small fireball towards the man holding the knife to Melena’s throat. The blade grew closer and closer to the thin flesh of Melena’s until the fire hit the man on the hand. He screamed and jerked back.

“Who the heck are you?!” The leader turned to Fina.

Lowering her voice, she said, “I was just passing by and noticed what was going on in here. I thought I’d stop and lend a hand.”

“Don’t tell me you’re a pirate as well,” the man said.

“Nope,” Fina said while noticing a couple men to her right holding up some chains. She couldn’t tell if they were sea prism stone or not but it didn’t really matter.

“So it was you who messed with the fire,” the man said.

“Messed with the fire?” Fina gave them a dumbfounded look. “What are you talking about? I did no such thing. And I’m not a devil fruit user.”

“Are you crazy?!” Ace yelled out. “Get out of here! You can’t handle them!”

Fina scoffed. “Says the one who’s down on the ground.”

“There’s ten of them and only one of you,” Marco said. “What chance does a little squirt like you have against them?”

“Hey! I’m not a squirt!” Fina protested. “And I’m stronger than I look!”

The men charged at her with their knifes and swords.

“Never mind! Just run!” Marco said.

Fina smiled and launched herself into the air with a small kick. She landed on the shoulders of a man. Swinging her foot out, she kicked another one in the face before launching herself into the air again. Dropping back to the ground she roundhouse kicked two more guys. She then kicked the knife from the man's hand. The man groaned and collapsed to the ground. She spun around and jerked to the left before a sword ran her through. Bringing up her knee she nailed the guy in the groin before pushing him away from her.

“Stop her!” the leader said.

Fina grabbed a sword off the ground and charged back at the men coming after her. The fire flashed off a sword coming for her. She dodged it but not quick enough. The blade sliced through her left cheek. She winced but kicked up her foot, knocking the sword from her the man’s hand before planting her food into his chest. One by one she picked the men off.

“How is this possible?!” the leader asked. “How can a group of men get beat by one little brat?!”

“I guess they’re a lot weaker than you thought,” Fina said just as the last man fell to the ground. “Would you like to try your hand?”

The man gritted his teeth. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the keys to the sea prism stone then ran off without a word.

“Wow,” Fina said. “He didn’t even wait for his men to wake up. What a wonderful leader he is.”

“Can you just get us out of here?” Marco asked.

“Right.” Fina picked up the keys and walked over to the pirates and freed them. She tossed the chains away from them. They clanked onto the ground from the treatment.

Macro immediately got up and ran over to Melena to help free her. “You okay?” “Marco!” Free of ropes and gags, Melena threw herself into Marco’s chest. “I was so scared!”

“I know.” Marco stroked her hair. “I’m sorry we couldn’t free you.”

Fina bit her cheek to keep herself from apologizing for putting them in this mess in the first place. A hand came down on her shoulder, causing her to jump. Her heart skipped a beat when she found it was Ace.

“But thanks to this guy at least you didn’t get hurt,” Ace said. “Thanks, man. You really saved us.”

“Uh, sure thing.” Fina looked down at his hand. The warmth of his skin pushed through her skin and the fabric of her shirt. It set her head spinning. She wanted his hand to remain there but she found herself brushing him off of her. “Like I said I was just passing by and saw what was going on.”

“It’s a good thing that you did,” Marco said as he helped Melena to her feet.

“Did you two really come here alone?” Fina asked. “Why didn’t you bring others with you?”

“Because they said they’d kill our friend here if we brought anyone else with us,” Marco said. “We knew we were probably walking into a trap but we really had no choice.”

“Not that it matters,” Ace said. “We left the note where it could be found. Our crew would have come soon enough. I’m Portgas D. Ace…”

Fina’s heart thundered when his voice trailed off. She wondered if he recognized her from the tavern last night.

“Your eyes are just so strange,” Ace said. “I’ve never seen someone with orange and red eyes before.”

“Oh, yeah. I was born that way. Can’t tell you why though,” Fina said feeling relieved he didn’t recognize her. Her eyes were the reason she always wore sunglasses. Her eyes were far too recognizable. Her irises were flame orange with a light yellowish orange color at the edges and her pupils were flame red.

“I’m sorry.” He jerked his thumb over at Marco. “He’s Marco. And that’s Melena. Who are you?”

“You can call me Fino,” Fina said. “Nice to meet you all. So how’s your friend doing there? She looks really shaken up.”

“Wow! You’re hot!” Melena said.

Fina chuckled. Melena was fine.

“She’s okay,” Marco said. “We should get out of here before our crew comes looking for us.”

“Sounds good to me,” Fina said. She turned and headed for the cave entrance. “See you all around.”

“Hey, wait,” Marco said.

“Huh?” Fina turned around, hoping they were going to invite her to see their captain.

“Our captain will want to meet you,” Marco said.

“Why?” Fina asked.

“You saved us,” Ace said. “He’ll want to meet the person who did that. We’re his sons after all.”

“His sons?” Fina asked. She’s heard rumors about Whitebeard calling his crew his family but she never was sure about it.

“That’s right,” Melena said walking up to Fina.

Fina took a nervous step back when Melena got far too close. Though she had never shown Melena her eyes she thought the girl would still recognize her.

“I have to thank you as well,” Melena said. “You saved my life. I’m a complete stranger to you.” She leaned in towards Fina's lips.

“It’s really no big deal,” Fina said. She pushed Melena away from her.

“Fino,” Melena said. “That’s odd. I have a friend who’s named Fina. Though it’s short for Serafina. Is your name short for something?”

“No, it’s just Fino,” Fina said wish she had picked a different name for herself. She jumped when Melena slipped her arm through hers and nuzzled her shoulder.

“You must come with us,” Melena said. “Whitebeard is the great pirate ever. He might even let you on his crew.”

“Wait a second,” Fina said. “I’m not interested in joining a pirate crew.”

“Maybe you should consider it,” Ace said. “You’ve got some serious skills. How did you manage to take all of them down by yourself without any devil fruit powers?”

“I’m more interested in how the fire flared up like it did,” Marco said as he squatted down by the now back to normal blaze. He then looked up at Fina. “Or do you have devil fruit powers and was lying about it?”

“I can honestly say I do not have devil fruit powers,” Fina said. “I took the sea prism stone off of you, remember?” Marco nodded slowly.

“How can you question him after he saved you?” Melena asked. “Whitebeard wouldn’t be like that.”

“Fine.” Marco stood up and headed for the exit. “Let’s get back into town before the rest of the crew comes after us.”

Fina mentally sighed when they were finally on their way back to town. If only she could get free of Melena. She should have seen this coming. Melena seemed to fall for any guy in seconds if she deemed them cute enough. Never in an eternity did she guess Melena would act like this with her. Did she really look that much like a guy with her hair cut and clothes the way they were? “What have I gotten myself into?”

“What did you say?” Melena asked.

“Nothing. I was just noticing how nice it was this morning,” Fina said.

“It sure is,” Melena said. “Maybe we could go for a walk later?” “I don’t think so,” Fina said.

“Sounds like he’s shy,” Ace said with a laugh.

“That’s so cute!” Melena squealed and rested her head on Fina’s shoulder. "Shy guys are always the cutest!"

Fina growled inside of her head, wondering how this happened and how she could get out of it.

“Hey!”

Fina looked up to see Mister Looks Like A Cook running towards them with a few other crewmates tagging along.

“I went to your room and found the note!”

“We’re fine, Thatch,” Ace said.

“That’s good,” Thatch said. His eyes landed on Fina. “Who’s your friend here?”

“Fino,” Melena said. “He saved my life.”

“He actually saved us all,” Ace said. “We were ambushed upon entering into the cave.”

“Figures,” Thatch said. “But don’t scare me like that. Next time tell us what’s going on and we’ll help.”

“Sorry,” Ace said. “I guess we panicked a little.”

“All well,” Thatch said. “You’re all safe and sound now. That’s what matters.”

Fina remained quiet as the pirates and Melena told their friends what happened in the cave.

“I should returned to the hotel and get changed,” Melena said.

“We’ll walk you there,” Marco said. “Just in case your kidnapper decides to come back.”

“I don’t think that will happen since I have Fino here with me.” Melena batted her at Fina.

“I’m sorry,” Fina said. “I’d love to escort you but I really need to get back to my own hotel as well.”

“Oh.” Melena pouted. “I guess your parents will be worried about you.”

“I’m not with my parents,” Fina said then cursed herself.

“Good! Then you can come!” Melena pulled her towards the hotel.

“So where are your parents if you don’t mine me asking?” Thatch asked.

“Back on my home island,” Fina said.

“Then what are you doing all the way out here by yourself?” Ace asked.

“I’m kind of on a journey of…well, I’m not sure exactly how to explain it,” Fina said. “It’s kind of a coming of age type thing.”

“Your family sends kids out into the world by themselves?” Marco asked.

“Yeah.” Fina nodded. “My family has been doing it for years. It’s tradition you can say.”

“That must be rough,” Ace said. “You’re so small. I’m surprised you’ve managed to make it this far.”

“He’s not weak, Ace,” Melena said. “He took down all those guys in the cave.”

“And that in itself is a bit suspicious considering his small stature,” Marco said.

“I guess so,” Fina said. “But our family has always been tougher than we look.”

“Maybe so but you’re smaller than my brother,” Ace said.

“Says the one who left to become a pirate all on his own.” Thatch laughed and slapped Ace on his back. “You have no room to judge her.”

“I’m not judging,” Ace said.

“Well, here we are,” Melena said as they arrived at the hotel.

“Pops is waiting for us at the tavern,” Thatch said.

“We should head on over there and tell him what happened,” Marco said. “Fino, come with us.”

“Oh, but I wanted him to stay with me.” Melena pouted.

“We’ll leave a few crewmates with you to escort you over to the tavern.” Marco nodded at the six pirates who had been quite. They nodded back in understanding of the order. “If your parents will let you out that is after you tell them what happened.”

“You mean if I tell them,” Melena said.

“You will tell them,” Marco said. “What happened could have cost you your life.”

“I know,” Melena said.

“Then get inside,” Marco said.

With a sigh, Melena released Fina. She then headed inside with her assigned bodyguards following her.

Relief washed over Fina.

“Melena might be a boy crazy nut but she means well,” Thatch said.

“Huh?” Fina looked at him.

“It’s hard not to notice when she has a crush on someone,” Thatch said. “She was drooling all over Ace last night in the tavern.”

“I noti-I mean, I see,” Fina said.

“Come on,” Ace said. “Let’s introduce Fino to the captain.”

Fina nodded and followed the pirates like she didn’t know where they were going. Stepping inside she instantly located the Whitebeard Pirates. Still, she said, “So are they all your crewmates?”

“No, not all of them,” Ace said. He then pointed at his back and showed her his tattoo of their jolly roger. “Only those of us wearing this jolly roger belong to the Whitebeard Pirates.”

“I see.” Fina nodded.

“Hey, Pops,” Marco said as he walked over to Whitebeard.

Fina swallowed. This was it. She’ll know soon enough if she managed to get herself on the Moby Dick or not. She waited while Ace and Marco spoke with Whitebeard. Occasionally, the pirates would look over at her before speaking to each other again. Then Ace waved her over. With a deep breath she walked over to them with her head held high.

“So you’re the one who saved my reckless sons,” Whitebeard said as he ran his eyes up and down Fina’s body.

“Yes, sir,” Fina said. “As I told your, um, sons, I was just passing through and happened to notice what was happening.”

“I see,” Whitebeard said. “Interesting.”

Fina bit her cheek. Her heart raced so hard it made her lightheaded. Whitebeard must have seen through her disguise. She knew this was a long shot. Whitebeard wasn’t one to easily be fooled. How could someone like her manage to pull this off?

“You have my gratitude,” Whitebeard said with a bright smile.

“Huh?” Fina’s shoulders dropped.

“I’m impressed someone of your size was able to do what you did!” Whitebeard said. “Not only did you save my sons you also saved a good friend of ours! You are more than welcome among our crew!”

“Well, thanks,” Fina said.

“Sit down!” Whitebeard kicked a chair out for her.

She sat down.

“Bring another round of drinks!” Whitebeard shouted out, causing his crew to cheer. “What would you like to drink, son?”

“I’d rather just have some breakfast,” Fina said. “I haven’t eaten yet.”

“Of course,” Whitebeard said. “We were about to eat ourselves. Join us in our celebration.”

“Thanks,” Fina said.

“My sons also told me about how you’re travel around due to a family tradition,” Whitebeard said.

“That’s right,” Fina said. “It’s just something we’ve always done. I guess you could call it a right of passage. As I told your sons, I’m not really sure how to describe it.”

“You’ve described it well enough,” Whitebeard said. “And you are welcome on our ship and crew.”

“Excuse me?” Fina forced her heart not to jump for joy. Somehow her plan had worked. She had actually gotten an invitation onto Whitebeard’s crew and his ship.

“I want you to join my crew,” Whitebeard said. “You’ve got a wild fire inside of your eyes.”

Fina bit back a nervous chuckle.

“Join us and run wild over this sea!” Whitebeard said. “With the skills my sons have told me that you have you’d make a great pirate!”

“I don’t know,” Fina replied. “I have my own journey to think about.”

“Come on, Fino,” Ace said. “It’s no fun traveling alone. Or doesn’t your little family tradition forbid help from outsiders?”

“No, there’s no rules like that,” Fina said. “Actually, there’s no actual rules for it. We just have to survive and make it back home to pass the test.”

“Then join us,” Ace said. “At least for a while.”

“Well, I suppose I could,” Fina said. “It might be fun being on a pirate crew for a while.”

“Yeah!” Ace cheered.

“Welcome to the crew!” Thatch added while raising his tankard. The Whitebeard Pirates cheered. They lifted their own tankards in celebration as the food was brought out into the room.

…

Fina wrapped a towel around her head. She picked her sunglasses off the dresser, put them on, and walked over to the door. She knew Melena was behind it.

“Fina! Where have you been?!” Melena stepped into the room. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”

“Sorry,” Fina said closing the door. “Something unexpected came up and I-”

“Never mind that!” Melena said. “You’re not going to believe what happened! I got kidnapped!”

“What?!” Fina grabbed her friend’s arm and pulled her over to the bed. They sat down. “What do you mean?!”

“These guys kidnapped me and took me to a cave! They were using me to get to the Whitebeard Pirates!” Melena said.

“Seriously?!” Fina gasped.

“Marco and Ace came to save me but they got ambushed with sea prism stone! It was horrible! I was tied up and gagged! I couldn’t do anything!” Tears poured down the girl’s cheeks. "I was so scared!"

Guilt stabbed Fina in the chest. She forced it aside, reminding herself that Melena was all right.

“But then this major hottie came by and saved us all!” Melena sighed dramatically. “I know I’m in love with him!”

“You can’t be serious,” Fina said. “You just met this guy. It’s the trauma talking.”

“If only,” Melena said with another sigh. “I really am in love with.”

Fina cringed. She might have to tell Melena that’s she’s really Fino.

“But sadly he’s on a journey of self discovery,” Melena said. “And he’s joined the Whitebeard Pirates. They’re leaving tomorrow.”

“I see,” Fina said relief washing over her. “Well, maybe the next guy.”

“You have to meet him before he goes,” Melena said. “He’s absolutely amazing.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Fina said.

“What? Why not? Oh, no! Don’t tell me you’re leaving tomorrow, too!” Melena pouted.

“I have to,” Fina said. “It’s time for me to move on.”

“I know,” Melena said. “But I’ll miss you.”

“I know you will,” Fina said. “Maybe I’ll be able to come back some day.”

“I sure hope so,” Melena said. “Can’t you come to docks and see the pirates off?”

“No.” Fina shook her head. “I have to leave as soon as it’s light enough.”

“So that means we’ll have to say goodbye here and now,” Melena said.

“Well, this was just a short stop,” Fina said.

“So you’ve said.” Melena nodded then leaned into Fina for a hug. “I’ll miss you.”

“And I’ll miss you,” Fina said. She wrapped her arms around Melena, feeling the loss of her friend’s sunny spirit already.

Chapter Text

Moby Dick

            Fina stood and gaped up at the large ship before her. Her bag slid off her shoulder and thumped onto the deck. The vessel from afar was huge enough but now that she was standing before it, engulfed in its shade, it far beyond enormous. She was just an insignificant speck of dust compared to this ship. And she wasn’t sure which was most intimidating the size of the ship itself or all of the cannons that were on the sides of the ship. It was almost a wonder as to why someone would need a ship of this size. But then she remembered how big Whitebeard was. The size of the ship made sense. A man like Whitebeard wouldn’t be able to go through doors of normal size.

            Then she felt it. The item she was searching for was inside of this ship. It called out to her, threatening to make her flames flare up. But she forced them down. They didn’t need to be revealed right now.

            “It’s magnificent, isn’t is?”

            Fina torn her eyes away from the ship and found Thatch standing right beside her with his hands on his hips and a proud smile on his lips. “I’m not sure magnificent is a strong enough word.”

            Thatch laughed. “Maybe you’re right.”

            “So how much longer until we leave?” Fina asked.

            “The crew’s loading up the last of the supplies right now.” Thatch jerked his thumb over to the crew that was carrying crates up the stairs while others were throwing crates to the deck.

            “I think I might be in over my head here,” Fina said as another crate was thrown into the air. The pirate on the deck easily caught it just before another crate went sailing through the air.

            “Try not to let it get to you,” Thatch said. “You’ll get use to it soon enough.”

            “I guess so,” Fina mumbled.

            “Yeah.” Ace appeared beside them. “You’ll get use to the crew soon enough, too.”

            Fina’s heart flipped at the sight of the freckled faced young man. Heat flared up inside of her chest. She jumped when his eyes locked onto hers.

            “You seem kind of jumpy,” Ace said. “Are you sure you want to come?”

            “Yes!” Fina squeaked. She cleared her throat then said, “I mean, yes, I’m ready. Just a bit more nervous than I thought I’d be.”

            “Do you have all of your stuff?” Marco asked walking over to them. He eyed the bag lying at her feet. “Doesn’t look like much will fit into that thing.”

            “I didn’t really bring much with me in the first place,” Fina said. “I figured I could get what I need somewhere along the way. Or at least work odd jobs to buy stuff.”

            “Makes sense,” Ace said. “I didn’t take much with me either once I set sail as a pirate.”

            “What about your ship?” Marco crossed his arms. “Aren’t you bringing it along?”

            “Do I need it?” Fina asked. Though she wasn’t sure she got the feeling that Marco didn’t care much for her. She felt like he was trying to trip her up, catch her in a lie about something. But that couldn’t happen. Right?

            “No,” Marco said. “We’ve had crewmates leave their ships behind.”

            “We can bring it if you want,” Thatch said. “It’s no trouble tying it up to the back of the Moby Dick.”

            “No point,” Fina replied with a wave of her hand. “I already got rid of it. What’s the use of that ship when I’m on a pirate crew now?”

            “He’s got a point,” Ace said.

            “All right!” Whitebeard yelled out. “We’re ready to set sail! Everyone on board!”

            The pirates cheered. Those still remaining on the docks made their way up the stairs and scattered about the deck.

            Fina took a deep breath, picked up her bag, and followed the pirates up the stairs, which turned out to be steeper than they looked. The flames inside of her threated to flare up once she was on the deck. It was calling out for her again, beckoning her to come and claim it as her own. And soon it would be hers. She just had to find it. It was close, probably down a couple floors. Her fingers twitched. Her hand ached to wrap around it.

            “So what do you think, my boy?” Whitebeard asked.

            “Huh?” Fina looked up at the man towering over her.

            “The ship,” Whitebeard said.

            “It’s amazing,” Fina said. “I’ve heard people talk about it before but their descriptions don’t do it justice.”

            Whitebeard laughed. “Words often fail to describe how incredible something is. I’ll leave it to the crew to show you around. I have to get this ship moving.”

            “Of course, um, Captain,” Fina said.

            “That word sounds foreign coming out of your mouth. But don’t worry. You’ll get it soon enough,” Whitebeard said before walking away from her.

            “It feels foreign coming out of my mouth as well,” Fina said to herself. She watched Whitebeard walk up the stairs to the next level where the helm was set.

            “Fino,” Thatch called out.

            Fina kept staring up at Whitebeard.

            “Hey, Fino,” Thatch said again. He tapped her on the head. “Thatch calling Fino. Are you awake in there?”

            “Oh! Me! I’m sorry!” Fina turned to him. “What did you want?” Her eyes landed on his clothes. Her tongue itched to call him Mr. Cook.

            “Ace and I were going to offer to show you around the ship,” Thatch said. “If you’re interested.”

            “Really?” Fina looked at Ace.

            “You want to know your way around, don’t you?” Ace asked.

            “Of course I do,” Fina said shifting her bag on her shoulder. “Show the way.”

            “This way.” Thatch waved his hand.

            Fina followed them to an opening in the deck of the ship where stairs were waiting for them. Walking down the stairs she found herself concerned about the space she was going into. If her secrets were to be discovered there would be very little chance she could escape from inside of the ship. It was safer for her to remain outside. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants and tried to calm herself with slow breaths.

            “You coming or you going to stand up there all day?” Ace asked.

            Fina came back to her senses. Looking down she found Ace and Thatch was already waiting for her on the next level. She rushed down the stairs, her eyes adjusting to the dimmer light. “I’m sorry. I just got lost in thought there for a moment.” She reached the bottom. “So what floor is this?”

            “This floor holds the dinning hall, a few storage rooms, and a couple of sleeping quarters as well as the rooms where the cannons are located,” Ace said.

            “Though we don’t often use the dinning hall much,” Thatch said. “Most of the time we eat out on the deck of the ship. We’ll eat down here if the weather is bad.”

            “Sounds nice,” Fina said. “So who from the crew rooms up here?”

            “The rooms up here are for the older members of the crew since they were here first,” Thatch said.

            “So do you two sleep here?” Fina asked.

            “I am a division commander of one of the other ships we’re sailing with right now,” Thatch said. “So I sleep there. But I occasionally sleep over here.”

            “Division commander?” Fina asked.

            “Our crew is rather big. And since we all can’t be on the same ship we’re divided up into divisions so we can keep a better eye on the captain’s territory. We currently have fifteen division commanders,” Thatch said. “Only two of us are here currently. But you’ll meet the others in time.”

            “That’s nice,” Fina said. “So what about you, Ace?”
            “I sleep on the next floor,” Ace said. “That’ll also be where you’re going to sleep.” He headed down a set of stairs that was behind the one they had just came down. “We’ll show you where so you can store your bag.”

            “Can’t wait.” Fina sighed and followed after them. The hall was lined with doors. Most she figured were storage since they didn’t stop to look inside.

            “So, Fino, do you have any siblings?” Thatch asked.

            “I’ve a younger brother,” Fina said. “What about you two?”

            “I’m an only child,” Thatch said. “But Ace here as a younger brother. He’s a pirate, too.”

            “Really? Is he on this crew as well?” Fina asked.

            “No, he’s not on a pirate crew yet,” Ace said. “He’s waiting until he turns seventeen before setting out to sea to find his own crew.”

            “Why wait until he’s seventeen?” Fina asked.

            “It’s a pact us three brothers made when we were kid,” Ace said.

            “You have another brother?” Fina asked.

            “His name was Sabo,” Ace said. “He was killed when he was a kid. It’s a long story.”

            “I see.” Fina turned her attention to the wood walls and noticed they were standing beside a door.

            “This is the room I sleep in,” Ace said. “You’ll be bunking with me.”

            Fina’s heart fluttered though she wasn’t sure if she was excited about sharing a room with him or if she was completely and utterly terrified of sharing a room with him. Her hands trembled as she followed them into the room. The mixed smell of sweat and unwashed socks hammered her nose. “Geez. It stinks in here.”

            “Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve cleaned up,” Ace said.

            Forcing her nose past the smell, she looked around to find hammocks tied up between poles instead of beds. On the far side of the room were pale colored lockers and three porthole giving them light from outside. She scanned her eyes over the wall to find a couple lamps on the poles and walls. “Great use of space using hammocks. I’m impressed.”

            “The locker on the end is empty,” Ace said pointing to it. “You can use that one. And you can use this hammock.” He pointed to the hammock he was standing by then to the lantern above it. “This is also your lamp. You can use it all night if you want to read or something. None of us have issues sleeping with a light on. You’ll find the oil for it three doors down.”

            “Great.” Fina looked to the hammock he was pointing at. It was one of the closer one to the door. She would only have to sneak past three people to get out. She shrugged and dropped her bag on it. “Works for me. So where does the captain sleep?”

            “He has a room on the deck,” Ace said. “You saw those two rooms under the helm, right?”

            Fina nodded.

            “The one on top is the captain’s quarters. He wanted to be close to the deck when enemies attacked,” Ace said. “The one below it is where the medical team sleeps.”

            “Medical team?” Fina asked.

            “Well, it’s where the nurses sleep,” Thatch said. “Our medics and doctors sleep down here with the rest of us.” They stepped back out in the hall. “The bathroom is down the hall there. It falls upon us all to keep it clean. That means you’ll have to put in your fair share of cleaning it.”

            “You have got to be kidding,” Fina said realizing at that moment she didn’t think her plan all the way through. “There’s only one bathroom?”
            “Actually there’s another one down on the next floor,” Thatch said. “And the nurses have their own shower and bathroom away from us men or obvious reasons.”

            Fina gritted her teeth, wondering if it was at all possible for her to sneak into the nurses’ shower and use it instead. But since their room was in another part of the ship she highly doubted she would be able to, especially with guards keeping an eye on things at night. She shook it from her head. If she were lucky enough she would be able to get her gem and get out of here before having to take a shower.

            “Yo! Guys, is this the new recruit?!” a voice called out.

            Fina looked down the hall. Heat rushed over her face when she noticed the man who spoke was completely naked. The air in her lungs vanished. Her stomach lurched. Her eyes dropped down between his legs, seeing him in all his nakedness.

            “What’s up with you?” he asked walking closer to them. “Can’t you speak?”

            “Ah!” Fina screamed and turned around, hiding her hot face in her hands. “Put some clothes on! What’s wrong with you?!”

            “What’s wrong with you?” Macro’s asked somewhere on the other side of her hands. “It’s not like he has anything different for you.”

            “Yeah,” Ace agreed. “We’re all guys here.”

            “I’m not!” Fina said.

            “What?” they all asked.

            “I-I mean that I’m not use to this kind of thing!” Fina said hoping her nose didn’t start bleeding. “I like my privacy and I don’t want to see other’s private parts! Just put a towel on or something!”

            Ace laughed. “You’re funny! I’ve never heard of a guy thinking like that before. My brothers and I bathed all the time together growing up. And we do the same here on the ship.”

            “Not all guys were raised in the wild like you and your brothers were,” Thatch said. “Give the kid a break. He only has one brother.”

            “Then surely he would have seen his brother naked at some point in time,” the naked pirate said.

            “You’ll have to excuse Cadmar,” Thatch said. “He’s very low on manners.”

            “There’s nothing wrong with showing off our bodies,” Cadmar said. “As Ace just said we do this all the time.”

            “Okay. I’m leaving now,” Marco said.

            Fina listened to his footsteps moving farther and farther away, wishing she could go with him.

            “You wouldn’t do it if the nurses came down here,” Thatch said.

            “Don’t be so sure,” Cadmar said in a tone that gave Fina the impression he was wiggling his eyes suggestively.

            “Just get into our room and get some clothes on,” Ace said.

            Fina groaned. She was going to have to share a room with this pervert. There was no way this was happening. Why was this happening? She had to get her gem and get out of here as soon as she possibly could.

            “Let’s continue on with the tour,” Thatch said.

            Fina allowed him to place his hand on her shoulder and lead her away from the area. Next thing she knew she was walking down another set of stairs. She dropped her hand from her face so she could see where she was going.

            “And this floor is where we keep our treasure along with other supplies,” Thatch said.

            “Treasure,” Fina said. The presence of her gem was stronger here. She had to be in complete control of herself if she wasn’t going to reveal her connection to it or her magic.

            “Below this floor is the brig,” Ace said. “But there’s no reason to go there unless you really want to see it. We don’t have any prisoners at this time.”

            “That’s okay. I’m sure I’ll see it later,” Fina said. Her eyes wandered down the hall to each door until she found the one her gem was in. She could feel its magic radiating from behind it. It stirred her own magic, igniting the fame inside of her. She wanted it. She needed it. It was just within her reach and yet just outside of her reach.

            “Well, that’s it for the tour. We should head back upstairs now,” Ace said.

            Fina licked her lips, unable to move her eyes from the door.

            “You coming, Fino?” Thatch asked.

            “Yeah.” Fina continued to stare at the door for several more seconds before finally forcing herself away from it. One step at a time, she told herself. It would soon be in her hands. Then she could move on to the next one. She followed the two men back to the deck while wondering where Marco had disappeared to and why he was checking on them in the first place. A warm gust of salty wind teased her hair the second she stepped out onto the deck. She remained standing in place while Ace and Thatch walked over to a group of pirates sitting around on the deck. Feel like she wasn’t welcome she walked over to the side of the ship and leaned against the railing to observe them.

            While she was making observations of the crew three women appeared on the deck. She instantly knew they were the nurses. They were all wearing the typical white nurse’s outfit. Their top button was undone, revealing their ample breasts to the men, though most of them didn’t seem to notice or cared. Or maybe they were just used to seeing the nurses around. Maybe they even thought of them as their sisters. She watched them interact with the pirates and memorized their features. One had long black hair with dark green eyes, one short black hair with bangs and hazel eyes, and the third was a wavy blonde with light blue eyes.

            As she watched the crew a familiar face appeared. Heat rushed to her face once more at the memory of him naked. She whipped around to hide her blushing but wasn’t quick enough. His laughter penetrated her ears as his presence appeared beside her.

            “You don’t have to be embarrassed,” he said crossing his arms over the railing.

            “Just shut up and go away,” Fina said. She stared out at the island as they passed by it. “I do not want to talk to you.”

            “Or see me,” he said with a chuckled. “Are you really that embarrassed to see another man naked?”

            Fina growled in response.

            “Fine,” Cadmar said. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to respect your feelings more in the future.”

            “Don’t bother,” Fina said. “This is your ship after all. I’m the new one here.”

            “You do have a point,” Cadmar said. “But I’ll still try to be more respectful until you get settled in.”

            Fina turned her eyes to him. She wanted to believe him but since he was a stranger she had no way of knowing if he was telling the truth or not. Still, she gave him the benefit of the doubt. “Fine.”

            “I’m Cadmar since we weren’t properly introduced before.” He held out his hand.

            “Call me Fino.” Fina took his hand shook it.

            “I have to thank you for saving my brothers,” Cadmar said.

            “It wasn’t that big of a deal,” Fina said. “I did what anyone else would.”

            Cadmar laughed.

            “What’s so funny?” Fina asked.

            “You’re wrong about that,” Cadmar said. “Not everyone would do what you did.”

            “Am I sensing you have some experience in that?” Fina asked.

            “It’s nothing,” he said with a shrug.

            Fina watched as the man’s expression lost some of its brightness, though it wasn’t enough for her to tell if she had guessed right or not. And since he was now clothed she finally was able to notice his eyes were a deep purple and his hair was bleached blonde. He was obvious one of the youngest of the crew. He had a boyish charm to his face just like Ace but without the freckles.

            “Hey, you,” a man said. “Stop bringing up the past.”

            Fina looked up to find one of the pirates glaring at her. He had a darker blonde hair than Cadmar and deeper blue eyes, but shared a similar boyish look. She wondered if they were related. “Excuse me?”

            “It’s fine, Kato,” Cadmar said. “No big deal.”

            Fina stiffened when Kato’s harsh glare didn’t leave her. “What?”

            “Nothing,” Kato said before turning his back on her.

            “Just ignore him,” Cadmar said. “He’s always a bit grumpy.”

            Fina just nodded. “He looks a lot like you only older. Are you related?”

            “We’re cousins,” Cadmar said. “We grew up together so he’s always been protective of me.”

            “If you don’t mine me asking,” Cadmar said, “how old are you?”

            “Sixteen,” Fina said. “How about you?”

            “I’m nineteen,” Cadmar said.

            “I thought you looked young,” Fina said.

            “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Cadmar said.

            “So what exactly do we do now?” Fina asked.

            “Whatever you want,” Cadmar said. “The crew just mostly spars, sleeps, or fish when we don’t have to fight an enemy or whatever. It can actually get kind of boring at times.”

            “I see,” Fina said. She scanned her eyes over the crew again. They were doing just as Cadmar had said. Some were talking, a few were sparring, and a couple had fishing poles in hand. She had never felt more out of place than she did in this moment. They all knew each other. She had no idea what to do with herself.

            She ended up just watching the crew for the rest of the day. Like Cadmar had said, nothing of interest happened. Finally, night had fallen and most of the pirates had entered into the ship for the night. She decided it was time to go to bed herself, especially since she wasn’t doing anything.

            “Heading off to bed?” Ace asked as she stood up.

            “Yeah.” Fina nodded.

            “I’m heading that way myself,” Ace said. “I’ll walk with you.”

            Their walk was a quiet one. She had no idea what to say to him and kept stealing glances over at him. His freckles were so cute. She wondered if he got them from his mother or his father. Jamming her thumbnail into her thigh she forced her eyes and mind off of him. Luckily, it was as short trip and they entered into their shared room.

            “Well, good night,” Ace said climbing into his hammock.

            “Night.” Fina walked up to her bed, or hammock, and pushed off her boots. She was unsure of the thing since she’s never been in one before. With a slow exhale she sat down on it. It swung a little. She lifted her legs. Which turned out to be a big mistake. The hammock flipped, dumping her onto the floor. Her elbow collided with the floor. “Ouch.”

            “You okay?” Ace asked through the darkness.

            “Fine.” Fina forced herself to her feet then rubbed her elbow. “Just my first time using one of these things.”

            “Ah, I see,” Ace said.

            Fina jumped when Ace appeared beside her in the darkness.

            “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you like that,” Ace said.

            “I-its fine,” Fina said.

            “Let me give you a hand. These things can be tricky if you’re not use to them,” Ace said.

            Fina wanted to turn him down but took his offer. “Fine.”

            “I’ll hold it still while you climb in,” Ace said.

            “Okay.” Fina squinted into the darkness and saw him holding the far side out as much as he could while holding the closest side to his body.

            “Go ahead and get in.”

            Fina placed her hand on the hammock and slowly climbed into it. She exhale when she didn’t flip out of it.

            “There that wasn’t so hard,” Ace said.

            “Only because you were holding it,” Fina said.

            “You’ll get the hang of it soon enough.” Ace went back to his own hammock.

            Fina sighed into the night. The hammock wasn’t the most comfortable thing she had laid in but it was better than the hard ground. She closed her eyes and waited for the ship to become deathly silent. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen as her new roommates were snoring. And that turned out to be after one in the morning. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep with them like this. So she decided to try for her gem. She sat up. When the hammock didn’t throw her, she placed one foot on the floor then the other one and quickly stood up. Relieved that she didn’t have to pick herself up off the floor she headed for the hall.

            She opened the door but paused before going out. When no one appeared to be in out in the hall she stepped out of the room. After closing the door she headed for the stairs. Pausing again she listened. No sound. She continued on. With each step she took she could feel her gem growing more and more aware of her presence just as she was of its presence. Reaching the correct door she licked her lips. This was going to be a lot easer than she thought. She could get the gem and get out of here before forming any real attachment to this place or to the pirates here. She lifted her hand.

            “What do you think you’re doing?”

            Fina jumped. She whipped around to find Kato frowning at her. “Where did you come from?”

            “I asked you a question. It’s very rude to answer a question with a question.” Kato crossed his arms over his chest. “Now, answer me.”

            “I was just out for a walk,” Fina said. “I’m a bit restless being on a pirate crew and whatnot.”

            “If you’re that nervous then you shouldn’t have joined,” Kato said.

            “It’s not that bad,” Fina said. “I just need a little time adjusting. Besides, I’ve never been good at falling asleep easily in new places. Is that a crime?”

            A line drew across the man’s forehead. His lips curled down into a frown.

            Fina’s heart took a minor jump. Her body tensed up. It was clear this man didn’t like or trust her. She wondered if it was possible he suspected she was lying to them.

            “Just go to bed.” Kato turned and walked away from her.

            Her body didn’t relax until he was completely out of her sight. Her eyes found the door once more. She really wanted to go in there but this encounter was too close for comfort. So she headed back up to her room. Before going in she walked down to the bathroom. Finding it empty, she went in to take relieve herself. She scanned her eyes over the room. It was rectangular. On her left were the showers, with no walls for cover, which caused her to frown deeply. On her right were a line of sinks, stalls with toilets and beyond them was the urinals. She was never gladder to be a girl than right now. She had no idea how men could stand up beside each other and pee. Taking care of her business she washed her hands then rushed to the sleep quarters before anyone could join her in the bathroom.

            But none of that didn’t meant she was excluded from their bodily functions. These pirates had no qualms about passing gas. That fact hit her when she got back to the room. It was filled with gas. Several rips and toots came from several of the pirates in just a few seconds of each other. It made her wonder if they were wake and having a farting contest. She waved her hand, trying to clear the air, before sitting down on the hammock. Once again the thing threw her to the floor. She sighed and wished Ace was awake to help her again. She tried getting into the hammock two more times before deciding to just sleep on the floor. Grabbing her pillow she laid down and closed her eyes. But sleep wouldn’t come to her from the gas that was being passed.

            “Disgusting,” Fina said as she scrambled off the floor when someone in the room ripped off a big one. In her desperation for fresh air, she tripped over a pair boots before finding the door. She hurried out of it and up the stairs. The cool night air greeted her and she drew in a deep breath. “So much better.”

            “Having trouble sleeping?”

            Fina turned to find Marco. “Uh, yeah. Your crewmates are rather gifted with the gift of gas.”

            “They can be like that,” Marco said. “You’re welcome to stay up here all you want. I’m on guard duty tonight.”

            “I’ll stay for a while then I might to back down,” Fina said. “Or I might stay up here and sleep instead.”

            “You can if you want to,” Marco said. “I wouldn’t mind the company.”    

            A moment of silence passed between them before she asked, “So you like being on this crew?”

            “It’s great,” Marco said. “Pops is the best.”

            “How long have you been on it?” Fina asked.

            “About twenty years,” Marco said.

            “Twenty years?!” Fina took a close look at him in the moonlight. “How old are you?”
            “Does it matter?” Marco asked.

            “I guess not,” Fina said. “But you don’t look that old.”

            “Thanks.” Marco smiled.

            “You have a devil fruit, right?” Fina said.

            “I do.” Marco nodded. “I have a rare zoan type. I’m a phoenix.”

            “Wow.” Fina placed her elbow on the railing and rested her chin in her palm. “I’d like to see that. I’ve always had a fascination with the phoenix. I’d like to compare notes.”

            “Compare notes?” Marco asked.

            “Oh, um, I mean from the legends of the phoenix to the devil fruit one,” Fina said. Her heart raced in her chest as her head became light. She spoke without thinking and cursed herself.

            “I see,” Marco said. “I’m sure there are some differences. I’m not all that familiar with the legend of the phoenix.”

            “Well, I’m getting tired,” Fina said. “I should get to bed.”

            “Already?” Marco asked.

            “Yeah.” Fina nodded. “The night air I guess.”

            “All right then,” Marco said.

            Fina moved away from the railing. “Good night.”

            “Good night, Fino,” Marco said.

            Fina forced herself not to run to the stairs. Her body was stiff until she was finally out of Marco’s sight. She didn’t think he noticed anything but she couldn’t be sure. She had no idea how smart he was. Or how good he was at picking up details. Opening the door to the sleeping quarters she found the stench was still present. Waving her hand in the air she walked over to the closest porthole and opened it before managing to crawl back into her hammock.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Caught

            Fina tapped her finger on her arm. Her eyes were watching the pirates. Scattered around the deck most of them was passed out. A few were still drinking while a couple was keeping an eye out for enemy ships. The smell of booze was thick but she had smelled it for so long it finally disappeared from her senses.

            “Coom on, Fnio,” Cadmar slurred. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “’ave a wittle druwnk wif me.”

            “I already told you multiple times that I don’t drink,” Fina said. Her nose hairs curled when he breathed in her face. “Disgusting.”

            “Aws, yous now fun,” Cadmar said. He dropped to his knees and hiccupped. “Werish me bad.”

            “I think you mean bed. And if being sober means I’ll remember this day tomorrow then yes I’m no fun at all. I like it that way,” Fina said planting her hands on her hips. “You guys drink way too much. I think you’ve had booze ever single meal since I’ve been here.”

            “Juz ‘aving um foon,” Cadmar said. He swayed before falling to the deck.

            Fina sighed. She never, and never would, understand why people want to get so drunk they pass out and remember nothing the next day. Right now she could do anything she wanted to the pirates and they wouldn’t be able to stop her. The corner of her mouth twitched. She had to admit that it was a fun idea. She could get a marker and draw all over their faces or put ribbons in their hair. The possibilities were limitless. If only she had a marker and some ribbons with her.

Her eyes flickered up to the upper deck. Marco was standing there, his eyes out at the horizon watching for trouble. She wondered if he would stop her. He didn’t strike her as the fun kind but he didn’t strike her as the stiff kind either. He was somewhere in the middle, maybe a hidden volcano on the verge of erupting into a fit of fun when he felt like it. If only she could stick around long enough to see if he would be like that. She shook her head.

Now was the perfect time to get her gem and get off the ship. Her eyes drifted to Whitebeard. He was sitting in his chair, a tankard in his hand, and his cheek resting on his other fist. Her eyes dropped down to Ace. The young man was leaning up against Whitebeard’s chair. He too was asleep but she had no idea if it was because of the sake or if he just fell asleep again.

            Either way she pushed off the railing, a twinge of regret flickered in her chest on the thought of leaving. She shoved it aside. She knew she wasn’t going to be staying here very long. Stepping around the crew she made her way downstairs. The wood creaked from the waves lifting and lowering the ship. The silence unnerved her. Something seemed to be out of place but she couldn’t figure out what it was. Still she proceeded down the stair and stepped off the staircase and went down the hall.

Reaching the door she paused and checked to make sure no one was around. She entered into the room. A warm glow spread out over the room the second she stepped inside. Her eyes locked onto it. Ironically, it was sitting on top of a pile of treasure like it placed itself there. Licking her lips she stepped over to it. The red glow flowed from the gem. It engulfed her body. She reached up for it. Her fingers clamped down on it. The heat vibrated over her skin. She pulled it back towards her. Suddenly a large hand grabbed her wrist. Her body flew through the air. She gasped. Her heart hammered against her chest. “Let go of me!”

            “What do you think you’re doing?” Whitebeard asked.

            “Taking back what’s mine,” Fina said. She kicked his arm but was unable to get enough leverage to do any damage. In fact, she hurt her toes. They throbbed from the treatment of his iron muscles. “Ouch. What are you made of?”

            Whitebeard laughed. “Settled down now, Girl.”

            “Don’t call me girl!” Fina snapped without thinking. “Crap! I mean I’m not a girl! Why would you call me that?!”

            “Sure you’re not a girl,” Whitebeard said. “Drop the façade, Fina. I knew it was you the whole time.”

            “What?! You knew the whole time I was a girl?!” Fina demanded.

            “I did,” Whitebeard said with a smirk.

            “Why didn’t you say anything before now?!” Fina demanded kicking her feet like she was running in the air.

            “You really don’t look that much different from before,” Whitebeard said. “Besides I checked all the ships at the docks on Marla. None of them were small enough for a single person to man.”

            “That’s not what I asked about!” Fina kicked his arm again. “Why didn’t you say anything?!”

            “Because I was curious.” Whitebeard grabbed the gem and pulled it from her fingers with ease.

            “Give that back!” Fina said kicking her boot at his face. “It’s mine!”

            “You should have knew something was up since I never allow women as fighters on my ship,” Whitebeard said. “Or did you really think that you were that convincing? You’re too reckless, Girl. You clearly didn’t think this plan through enough.”

            “Then why did you invite me if you knew I was a girl?” Fina asked.

            “I was curious about this.” Whitebeard held up the gem. “I feel an odd power coming from it. The same exact power I feel from you. I can also see your spirit with my observation haki. It’s different from everyone else’s. Yours changes from red, to orange, to yellow, to blue, to white, and back again.”

            “Whatever,” Fina said. “I never wanted to be a pirate anyway. Just give that gem back to me and I’ll leave. You’ll never see me again.”

            “I’m not letting you go until you answer me,” Whitebeard said. “What is this thing? Why do you want it so badly? Why is your spirit so different from everyone else’s?”

            “I’m not going to answer!” Fina growled and kicked at his face. “So give it to me!”

            “Very well then,” Whitebeard said. “If you wont speak up I’ll just have to have you locked up.” He turned and headed out the door. “You can still speak up if you want to.”

            Fina continued to struggle against Whitebeard’s hold. She knew it wouldn’t do any good but she was never one to back down from a challenge. Too soon they reached the brig. The old man slammed her into the wall. Her head hit it causing her ears to ring. Before she could react he had shackles on her wrists. She tugged on them. They were anchored well to the wall. She was stuck. “You won’t get away with this.”

            “If you haven’t noticed, Girl, you are on a pirate ship,” Whitebeard said. “Behave now. I don’t want to have to get rough with you.”

            “Don’t count on it,” Fina hissed. She kicked out at him. Her body jerked when his caught her boot. She tried to pull back from him but his grip was firm. Her heart hammered her chest. She knew the damage he could do to her if he wanted. But he wouldn’t. He wasn’t like that. Right? Suddenly she didn’t know anything about him. She shook her head. It didn’t matter. She could easily get away from him if she had to.

            “I’m being very patient with you because you’re a woman,” Whitebeard said.

            “Don’t patronize me!” Fina glared.

            “But if you keep up this reckless attitude you’re going to get hurt. I’ll be keeping this little jewel with me from now on. So if you really want it you’ll have to get through me first,” Whitebeard said shoving the gem inside of his pocket. He stood up and left the cell. The lock clicked into place as he shut it.

            Fina glared at his back until she couldn’t see him anymore. With one more jerk, she pulled at the chains. She yipped when the cup pressed against her hand and almost dislocated her wrist. She took a deep breath and released it. Sitting down on the floor, she rubbed her wrist as best she could. “Okay, so my plan was completely busted. No big deal. I can still get my gem. I just have to wait until the old man is fast asleep to get it. I can handle being in here for a few hours. No big deal at all.”

            The hours passed. Bored out of her mind she started tapping her head against the wall, occasionally stopping when she heard someone walk by the door or on the floor above her. No one came in. “Yeah. No big deal at all. Just completely boring.”

Her stomach rumbled reminding her she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. “This is so stupid and boring. I wonder if the old goat is asleep yet. I’m going to have to go to the kitchen first before I get my gem. I need something to eat.”

            The door to the brig creaked open. Fina shifted her body and plastered a glare on her face, figuring it was the old man coming back to taunt her some more or ask about her gem again. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw Ace’s bare chest. “What are you…?”

            “I thought you might be hungry,” Ace said holding a small loaf of bread, an apple, and a cup of what she assumed was water. Balancing the bread, apple, and cup in one hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled the key out. He entered and walked over to her. Sitting down in front of her, he handed her what he brought. “Here you should eat. Sorry this was all I could sneak out for you.”

            “So the old goat is going to starve me to get me to confess,” Fina said. She took the items from him, the chains rattling as she moved. She took a bite of bread, chewed, then swallowed it before adding, “Thanks, I guess. But why are you doing this? Won’t your captain get upset with you?”

            “No, Pops is a good guy,” Ace said.

            “Charming.” Fina lifted her arm, the chains jangled to the movement. “He sure knows how to show a girl a good time. This is the most romantic place I’ve ever had the pleasure of being trapped in.”

            “So why didn’t you just tell me who you really were?” Ace asked. “Why did you hide the fact you’re a girl?”

            “You don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Fina took another bite of the bread.

            “If you just came to us and told us what you were after we would have given it to you,” Ace said.

            Fina laughed. “That’s rich coming from you! You’re a pirate! Your whole crew is! Do you really thing that Whitebeard would just hand over a piece of treasure that for all he knew could cost millions?!”

            “I guess you have a point,” Ace said. “But if you told him why it’s important to you I know he would have handed it over.” He paused. “Will you tell me what’s so special about it?”

            “Let me guess, your old man sent you down here to try and get me to talk,” Fina said.

            “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you knew that,” Ace said. “He figured that I might be able to get your to talk because I’ve been treating you like I would Luffy. Well, to a degree. I haven’t hit you yet. But you did pull a stupid stunt just like he does.”

            “You haven’t treated me…” Fina trailed off when she realized he was right. He came after her that one time back on the island. “Well, I guess you do treat me a little differently from everyone else. Why is that? I know you said I reminded you of your brother, but how exactly?”

            “You seem to be carefree,” Ace said.

            “Well, I’m not,” Fina said. “What else do you have?”

            “You’re reckless,” Ace said.

            Fina flinched. “Fine. I’ll give you that one.”

            “You’re about the same size as him. And with that hair cut you even look like him.” Red appeared on his cheeks.

            Fina blinked her eyes a couple times, thinking she was seeing things. Why would he blush for saying her hair looked like his brother’s?

            “Well, only with the hair. Your eyes are definitely a lot prettier than his,” Ace said.

            “Um, thanks?” Fina said. Her heart fluttered against her ribs. She shook her head. She was letting her guard down around him. He was trying to trick her. That was it. He was saying nice things to soften her up. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you why I need that gem.”

            “I didn’t think you would. But I wasn’t trying to get you to talk with all of that,” Ace said. “I was being sincere.”

            “You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you,” Fina said.

            “This would be a lot easier if you’d just tell us why you need that…gem, you said?” Ace said.

            Taking another bite of the bread she closed her eyes.

            “Fine. But you’re stuck in here until you tell Pops what you want the gem for,” Ace said.

            Fina cracked open an eye. She watched him leave, wishing he wouldn’t. She growled at herself for thinking that. “Stupid. He’s not your friend. He’s your enemy. You shouldn’t have such thoughts of someone that’s your enemy and you’ll never see again after this.”

            She brought the bread back up to her lips. A sigh escaped her. Ace was being so nice to her. Sure most of it was because Whitebeard told him to come down here. But he brought this food of his own volition. He spoke the truth about that. She knew he did. With another sigh she continued to eat and drink what he brought to her and planned her escape.

…

            With the night quiet, Fina stood up. It had to be well after midnight by now. Most everyone should be asleep by this time. Closing her eyes her body engulfed into flames, pushing back the darkness that had surrounded her. The cuffs fell off her wrists and clanked to the floor. Pausing, she wanted to see if anyone would come because of the noise. No one came. She walked right through the bars. Banishing her flames she slipped up to the door and opened it a bit. No sound came so she peaked into the dark hall. No one was around.

Slipping out of the room she snuck up the stairs. She paused a few steps from the deck to listen for the guards. When she didn’t hear anything she figured they were at the front and the back of the boat. So she went up on the deck. Looking around she found that she was right. No guards were in sight. She slipped silently through the night and up to Whitebeard’s room. Grabbing the door handle she turned it and cracked the door open. Heavy snoring came from the room. She entered. Closing the door all she had was a little moonlight pouring in through a couple portholes. Her gem lit up to her presence. It was hanging loose in Whitebeard’s large fingers, ready for her to take. She reached for it. Her fingertip touched it before the man woke up and grabbed her again. “Dang it! I was so close!”

            “Stupid, Girl. You’ll never be able to get this from me.” He stood up from his bed and walked out to the deck. “How did you get out of those cuffs?”

            “Like I’d tell you,” Fina said.

            “Fine. Then get off my ship,” Whitebeard said.

            “What? I thought-” Fina was cut off when Whitebeard threw her out towards the sea. “What the heck?!” She growled looking down at the water. Her heart skipped a beat. It would be extremely bad if she fell in. She had to get back to the ship. Her fire flared up again and she shot back to the deck. She landed in front of him. “What the heck is wrong with you?! For all you know I have devil fruit powers! I could have died out there! I hate water!”

            “You already said you didn’t have devil fruit powers,” Whitebeard said. His eyes roamed up and down the fire that faded away from her body. “But you clearly have some abilities.” He lifted the gem to find it was glowing yet fading as well. “I’m starting to get the feeling you’re connected to this thing. And what do you mean you hate water? Are you scared of it?”

            Fina cursed under her breath. She revealed far too much to him.

            “You really don’t think things through,” Whitebeard said. “If you had you should have been smart enough to not come back to the ship like that. You should have taken a round about way to get here so I wouldn’t see you. Now I know you have control over fire and you are afraid of the water. I could use those against you.”

            “Shut up,” Fina growled through her clenched teeth. Heat rose up from her clenched fists. “Just shut up.”

            “So what am I going to do with you now?” Whitebeard asked shoving the gem back in his pocket.

            “Do whatever you want,” Fina said crossing her arms over her chest. Her heat faded away into the night. “But I’m not going anywhere until you give me what belongs to me.”

            “And I’m not giving it to you until you tell me what it is,” Whitebeard said.

            “And don’t bother trying to lock me up again,” Fina said. “I’ll just escape.”         

            “Clearly you’re good enough to do that. Chains are not going to work on you,” Whitebeard said. “Fine. You’re free to run about the ship. But I will not tolerate you causing trouble.”

            “Wait, I thought you didn’t allow women fighters on your ship.” Fina smirked at him.

            “I don’t. And you’re not going to be a fighter on my ship,” Whitebeard said. “That’s why you’re going to be a nurse.”

            “Excuse me?” Fina’s hands dropped to her side.

            “If you’re staying on my ship then you will obey my rules,” Whitebeard said.

            “That’s rich. A pirate has rules.” Fina shook her head.

            “These rules are specially for you. My crew has their own rules,” Whitebeard said. “So gather your things. You’re moving into the nurses’ cabin. It’s improper for you to sleep in the men’s quarters.”

            “And if I refuse?” Fina crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe I like sleeping with the men.”

            He leaned down to her. His scent, mixed with booze, wafted over her nose.

            Fina stiffened. This man wasn’t going to hurt her. She knew he wouldn’t. Or she hoped he wouldn’t. With all she had done she wasn’t so sure what he would or wouldn’t do. They weren’t friends or allies after all.

            “You don’t want to find out,” Whitebeard said.

            Fina growled. Jumping off the railing she stomped away from him. “Fine! I was sick of sleeping with the guys and their horrible bodily functions anyway!”

            “I’m sure you are with how you look at Ace,” Whitebeard said.

            Heat rose up on her cheeks and in her chest. She spun back around to face him with another glare. “I don’t look at him any different than another one else here!”

            “Keep trying to convince yourself of that,” Whitebeard said. “You’re always staring at his chest.”

Never before had she been so embarrassed and angry at the same time. With each step she took she stomped down the stairs, thinking of the steps as Whitebeard’s smug face. She didn’t look at Ace’s chest that often. Of course she has a couple of times, but that was normal. The man didn’t wear a shirt. And he was so muscular and handsome and…she growled. Her heart was a hammering mess. Maybe she was more attracted to Ace than she wanted to admit. “Stupid pirate jerk. You’re going to pay for this. Mark my words.”

            Reaching the crew’s quarters she found Ace standing out in the hall. Clearly he was waiting for her. She walked past him and entered into the room. He followed her. She walked over to the lockers and pulled out her stuff.

            “You’re not leaving, are you?” Ace asked.

            “I’m leaving this room,” Fina said. “Apparently your captain, the rotten old goat, thinks it’s improper for a girl to sleep in the same room as a bunch of boys.”

            “That’s understandable,” Ace said. “The captain is looking out for you. Our crew’s not the type to take advantage of a girl, but it’s better to be safe. We are still human after all.”

            “Oh, sure he’s looking out for me.” Fina tossed her bag over her shoulder and headed for the door. She felt Ace following behind her. Pausing in the hall she glanced back at him. “What?

            He opened his mouth then closed it.

            Fina watched him. Something was going on in his head but he seemed hesitant to say what it was. “Well? I don’t have all day to stand here.”

            “It’s nothing,” Ace said. He turned and disappeared back into the room.

            “Whatever.” Fina headed up the stairs, once again viewing the steps as Whitebeard’s face. Back on the deck she found the current bane of her existence standing on the deck with Minako. He must have woken her up to tell her what happened.

            “About time you got back up here,” Whitebeard said.

            “I was barely gone for three minutes,” Fina said.

            “The captain has informed me of what’s happened,” Minako said.

            “Lucky me.” Fina turned her eyes to the blonde. Minako was wearing a tight nightgown that hugged her form perfectly. And despite the late hour the woman didn’t appear like she had been sleeping at all.

            “If you come with me,” Minako said. “I’ll get you settled into your new room. I hope you doing mind sharing with us.”

            “Not a problem.” Fina shrugged.

            “This way then,” Minako said.

            Fina followed her without another glance back at Whitebeard. She hummed upon entering into the nurses’ quarters. It smelled of their perfume. And they had bunk beds with mattress. So that was a positive step up from a hammock. Two vanities were nestled on the back wall with a large closet and another room she figured was the bathroom.

            “I hope you don’t mind sleeping on the top bunk,” Minako said. She walked over to the only empty bed and patted the top mattress. “This one’s yours. I’m sleeping below you.”

            Fina walked over to her. She found each bed was equipped with a lantern and a curtain.

            “You can pull the curtain around you if you want to stay up late reading or whatever,” Minako said. “And it would be best for you to do that. Raye can’t sleep with the lights on.”

            “And which one is she again?” Fina looked over to the other two nurses.

            “Raye has the brown hair. Lita has the black hair,” Minako said.

            “Right.” Fina nodded. “I think I have it now.”

            “There’s plenty of room in the closet if you want to stash your stuff,” Minako said crawling into bed. “I’m going back to bed. Do you need anything?”
            “No, I’m fine,” Fina said. “You know, you don’t seem all that surprised that I’m actually a girl.”

            “Oh, I knew that already,” Minako said. “I wasn’t sure at first but then I knew it for sure when Ace brought you into the medical bay. I had to check your heart. Breasts, no matter how small, are hard to avoid when listening to a woman’s heartbeat. I also told the other nurses so they were aware of it in case of a medical emergency.”

            “You knew?” Fina asked.

            “I did. And I know a few of the men have noticed too,” Minako said. “I know for sure that the captain and Marco know about you.”

            “Marco knows,” Fina said. “I’m not surprised. I knew there was something off about him. Guess that’s why.”

            “Well, good night,” Minako said. “We’ll talk more in the morning.”

            “Sure.” Fina walked over to the closet with only the moonlight to guide her. Opening the door she tossed her bag inside and went back over to the bed. She’d take care of her stuff later when she could see better. Ditching her boots, she crawled up the ladder at the foot up the bed. The mattress was so soft she didn’t even bother with the cover. She just laid down on top of it and fell asleep surprisingly easy.

            Fina only slept a couple hours before waking up. Slipping out of bed, she entered into the bathroom. Her heart leaped with joy. There were two showers, both with a door giving them privacy despite still behind able to see the person’s head and legs. There was even a large tub that would easily fit them all but she knew she would never use it. “It’s so beautiful. I don’t ever have to see a naked man again.”

            After going through her morning routine she left the room. Looking down to the deck she found six pirates were already up in the early morning light. And one of them was Kota. She glared back when he glared up at her. When he headed for the stairs she turned and rushed back into the bedroom. She didn’t want to deal with him this early in the morning. She highly doubted he was going to the medical bay or coming up here to talk to the nurses. With nothing else to do she fixed her stuff in the closet before crawling back into bed and tried to figure out how to get her gem from Whitebeard. Her attention was broken an hour later when the nurses finally started waking up.

            “So how did you sleep, Fina?” Minako asked.

            “Just fine.” Fina rolled onto her side and propped up on her elbow. “It’s nice to have an actual bed. I hated that hammock. And I know it hated me.”

            “I’m not a fan of hammocks either,” Lita said as she crawled down from her own top bunk.

            “Unless Marco is in it,” Raye said. “She and Marco are a thing.”  

            “We are not,” Lita said. “We just kiss on occasion.”

            “You do more than just kiss,” Raye said with a smirk.

            “Okay, I don’t want to hear about sex stories,” Fina said. “I’ve heard the guys talk enough about that.”

            “They’re just perverts,” Lita said. “You’ll have more fun now that you’re with us.”

            “So why are you here?” Raye crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Fina. “I hate liars. At least now I know why Kota doesn’t trust you.”

            “Well, I don’t care about him. I have my reasons for doing what I did,” Fina said. “And I won’t be telling anyone what is it. All I want is my gem back. And I’m not leaving until I get it.”

            “That’s going to be impossible unless you tell the captain what it is,” Minako said.

            “I already told him that’s none of his business,” Fina said.

            “Suit yourself.” Minako shrugged.

            Fina remained in bed as she watched the women get ready for the day.

            “We have an outfit for you,” Minako said. She pulled a white nurses uniform from the closet. “This one should fit you.”

            “Why would she need one of those?” Raye asked.

            “Because she’s going to assist us,” Minako said.

            “You have got to be kidding!” Raye whipped her eyes to Fina then back to Minako. “She knows nothing about being a nurse! We can’t put her in control of anything! She’ll end up killing someone!”

            “Hey! I might have medical knowledge for all you know!” Fina said.

            “Do you?!” Raye asked.

            “Well, no. But you still shouldn’t assume,” Fina said.

            “Then I was right.” Raye turned back to the mirror and started brushing out her hair.

            “It’s the captain’s orders, girls,” Minako said. “And we’re not going to have her really do much of anything. We’ll only make it look like she’s working as a nurse. I doubt the captain actually wants her messing with all the medical supplies since she’s not trained.”

            “I guess I don’t have a choice,” Raye said. “But she better not mess with the medication or steal anything.”

            “I’m not a thief,” Fina said.

            “Right. You’re just a liar,” Raye said.

            Fina glared at the woman. Already she didn’t like her. And the feeling was clearly mutual.

            “All right, you two,” Minako said. “No fighting. Let’s not get off on the wrong foot.”

            “Too late,” Raye mumbled.

            Fina rolled her eyes. Choosing to ignore the brunette she crawled down from the bed, slipped on her boots, and headed out to the deck. More pirates had come outside. Breakfast was also being placed on the tables. Several of the pirates’ eyes looked up at her. She wondered what they would think of her now that they knew she was a girl. Ace had already shown that he didn’t care. She figured Cadmar wouldn’t mind. He seemed so easy going. Kota was just going to hate her more. But the others she had no idea how they would react. With a deep breath, and holding her head high, she walked down the stairs.

            “I can’t believe she’s actually a girl.”

            “I know. But it makes sense now. I thought there was something odd about her.”

            “I didn’t even notice. I feel so stupid.”

            “You are stupid.”      

            “Shut up!”

            Fina exhaled. They didn’t seem to mind much. Most seemed more surprised than anything. Then Cadmar met her at the end of the stairs.

            “You’re a girl!” Cadmar shrieked.

            “Yeah.” Fina nodded.

            “You saw me naked!” Cadmar’s cheeks flushed.

            “You’re embarrassed now?” Fina crossed her arms over her chest. “You had no problems before.”

            “So? I thought you were a boy then! But you’re not!” Cadmar said.

            “Geez. What’s wrong with you?” Fina said. “No, never mind. Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”

            “I was about to ask you the same question.”

            Fina cringed when Kota’s presence appeared beside her.

            “Why did you lie?” Kota asked.

            “What do you care?” Fina stepped onto the deck and faced him.

            “You lied to my crew, my family.” Kota took a step closer to her. “I don’t like it when people do that.”

            “I didn’t hurt anyone,” Fina said. “So back off.”

            “I will not,” Kota said. “You can’t be trusted. I’m not going to let you hurt my family.”

            “I have no intention of hurting anyone,” Fina said. “I just want my gem back.”

            “Why? What is it?” Kota asked.

            “That’s none of your business,” Fina said.

            “It brought you to this ship. You lied to us all. It is my business,” Kota said.

            “It is not. Look, we all know you don’t like me. So have your captain give me my gem and I’ll be out of your hair,” Fina said.

            “Believe me if I could give you the gem I would and personally would kick you off the ship,” Kota said.

            “Fine by me. Then do it,” Fina said.

            “Unfortunately, I can’t. The captain has already made up his mind about you and the gem,” Kota said. “So we’re stuck with you.” He leaned down to her face. “I’m only giving you this warning once. Don’t ever hurt my crew. If you do I will personally kill you.”

            “Like I said, I’m not here to hurt anyone,” Fina said.

            “Well, you better not, especially Ace,” Kota said.

            “What does he have to do with anything?” Fina asked.

            “I know you have feelings for him,” Kota whispered.

            Heat rushed to Fina’s cheeks. “I do not.”

            Kota smirked. “That’s a lie you’ll never be good at telling.”

            “What’s going on?” Ace then asked.

            “Nothing at all.” Kota stood up and walked away. “We were reaching an understand with each other. You know, ground rules and such.” He looked over his shoulder, his eyes flashing a warning at her. “Right, Fina?”

            “Yeah.” Fina nodded. “Ground rules.”

Chapter Text

Guards

Fina sat on the railing of the ship, kicking her legs back and forth while watching Ace spared with Marco. The boys were completely oblivious to the world around them as they threw kicks and punches at each other, both engulfed in their devil fruit flames.

Her eyes were on their flames. They were warm and inviting, beckoning her to reach out and touch them. Or it was until her eyes fell helpless onto Ace's chest. Several beads of sweat were running down his well-toned abs, his sun kissed skin.

Her heart pounded erratically in her chest to the point she thought she was going to crack a couple ribs. Blood started rushing to her head. If she kept this up she knew she was going to get a nosebleed, but she couldn't force her eyes away from him.

"Dang, girl," Cadmar said. "You really do have the hots for him."

"I do not!" Heat rushed to her face. She jerked her eyes away from Ace and glared at Cadmar for interrupting her.

"Why bother trying to deny it?" Thatch asked leaning against the rail beside her. "It's obvious now that we know you're a girl. You might as well wear a sign around your neck that you like Ace."

"Shut up, you stupid wanna be cook," Fina hissed.

Thatched laughed. "I'm not a wanna be cook. And what happened to Mr. Cook?"

"I'm still calling you that. For now you're just annoying me," Fina said.

"Why don't you tell Ace how you feel?" Cadmar said. "Get it over with."

"Why don't you bit your tongue and bleed to death?" Fina shot back.

"Someone's sassy today," Cadmar said.

"Get use to it," Fina said tossing her nose in the air and crossing her arms defiantly over her chest. "As long as I don't have my gem you're stuck with me. Sassy and any other way I feel like acting."

"Ace will be thrilled," Cadmar said.

"What?" Fina looked at him.

"He likes you to, you know?" Cadmar smirked.

Fina scoffed. "Don't be stupid. He only thinks of me as his little brother. Or like his little brother."

"Ace can be dense at times," Cadmar said. "Trust us when we tell you he's got a crush on you too."

"Whatever." Fina rolled her eyes.

"It's true," Thatch said. "We've seen Ace with women before."

Fina frowned. Her heart sank. Mentally she slapped herself. Ace was good looking. There's no reason he wouldn't be around other woman. Or even had sex with them. He was a pirate after all.

"Oh, I didn't mean that in a sexual way," Thatch said with a wave of his hand. "I mean that he's a bit more shy around you than anything. I think the only reason he can talk to you is because you're a lot like his brother. You put him at ease. So he's able to talk to you."

"That doesn't make any sense at all," Fina said. "You can't be nervous and calm at the same time."

"Give it a little bit longer," Thatch said. "Ace only sees you like Luffy right now but that'll pass and he'll start looking at you as the woman you are."

Cadmar nodded in agreement.

"Whatever." Her eyes wondered over the rest of the crew that was hanging out on the deck. Some weren't paying attention to her, but some were giving her dirty looks since they were still upset with her lying like she did. "So how long is the crew going to hate me?"

"They don't hate you," Thatch said.

"Ko-ta," Fina said pronouncing each syllable with force.

"Okay, so he might hate you," Thatch said. "But it's only him."

"And I'm sure Raye hates me as well," Fina said. "In fact, I know she does."

"Don't blame him," Cadmar said. "He has issues. Best to ignore him."

"Hard to do when we're sailing on the same ship," Fina said. "It might be a big ship but it's still not big enough to avoid him all the time. He also has a small habit of seeking me out."

"Well, you can get away from him once we dock," Thatch said.

"We're docking?" Fina asked.

"In a couple of days," Thatch said. "Pops wants to check on an island. They've been having trouble with some mountain bandits lately. Pops has been giving them the chance to leave the village alone but if they haven't by the time we get there he's going to eradicate them."

"Why bother killing them? Why not just set them out to sea?" Fina asked.

"You're kind of naive," Cadmar said.

Fina crossed her arms over her chest. "I am not."

"It's true. Do you really think that setting those bandits loose on the sea will keep them from coming back?" Cadmar said.

"Oh," Fina said. "I guess not."

"Besides, they have had plenty of chances to leave the village alone," Thatch said. "And they haven't done that. They're always starting fights with us when we arrive there anyway. So it's not like we're going to murder them or anything. I guarantee our fighting them will be in self defense."

"If you say so," Fina said.

"Looks like Ace and Marco are done sparring," Thatch said.

Fina's heart leaped. She turned her attention back to Ace. He and Marco had indeed stopped fighting. They both had a towel draped around their shoulders, dabbing sweat of with an end. Her heart sank a little. Ace looked so good in sweat. She wanted to lick it off of him. She shook her head at the thought and cursed herself. Taking casual glances around, she looked to see if anyone noticed her disappointment. No one did. She sighed with relief.

She was getting into this far too deep, and far too quickly. Drawing in a deep breath she reminded herself that she wasn't here to drool over Ace. She was here for Whitebeard and her gem. And the old man was currently inside of the ship somewhere. She couldn't attack him. Not that it would matter. She still had no idea how she could possible stand up to the man enough to get her gem back, even with her full powers it would be tough. And then there was the crew to worry about too. If she went too far in attempting to get her gem back the crew would come to their captain's defense. Her eyes lifted to Kota. The man was glaring at her still. She knew he would most likely take the opportunity to kill her if he got the chance. So how could she get her gem back?

"Hey, guys. What are you doing over here?" Ace asked walking over to them.

"We're talking about how Fina has a cru-Ouch!" Cadmar yipped when Fina's boot slammed into his thigh. "What was that for?!"

"Sorry." Fina smiled sweetly. "You had a bug on your leg. It's gone now."

"And you had to kick him to kill it?" Ace asked.

"I reacted without thinking." Fina shrugged. "I'm sorry, Caddy Baby."

"Very funny, Finny Kitty." Cadmar rubbed his leg.

"Anyway, you and Marco did great," Fina said. "I'd like to see how you two do against each other when you really go at it with your devil fruits."

"Maybe one day you'll see us in action with an enemy. We hold back when we're fighting each other. Besides, we have to be careful when using those," Ace said. "Don't want to burn down the ship."

"True. The threat of burning the ship would always be present with a fire wielder," Fina said.

"You would know," Kota said passing by them.

Fina shot a glare at his back as he disappeared down the stairs. "Stupid jerk."

"He'll get over it," Cadmar said.

Fina lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Well, maybe not," Cadmar said with a chuckle.

"Fina!" Raye called out. "Report to the medical bay! You have work to do!"

Fina looked up to the nurse. Raye was glaring down at her from the deck that held the medical bay. "Ugh. How much trouble would I get into if I just flat out refused?"
"Are they really going to have you do nurse work?" Thatch asked.

Fina looked around. Lowering her voice, she said, "Not really. They're only going to make it look like I'm going to be a nurse. I don't have any medical knowledge after all. I'm only an assistant of sorts."

"I'm glad to hear that," Ace said. "Some of that medical stuff can be dangerous if you don't know how to properly handle it."

"Awe, that's so sweet of you, Ace," Cadmar said. "You're worried about her." He smirked at Fina. "See?"

Fina growled at him.

"I can't help it," Ace said. "She looks so much like Luffy. It brings my protective instincts out."

"We know, we know," Cadmar said. "You've told us before."

"You sure there's not more to it, Ace?" Thatch asked.

Fina shot him a glare before punching him in the arm. "Shut up!"

"Ouch." Thatch rubbed his arm. "How can you hit so hard?"

"What was that for?" Ace asked.

"Nothing!" Fina said. "They're being stupid. Ignore them."

"Fina!" Raye snapped again. "Come right now! We don't have all day!"

Grumbling, Fina slid off the railing and walked towards the stairs. "Later guys."

"See ya," the boys said.

She all but stomped up the stairs. Reaching the upper deck Raye turned from her and went to the medical bay. Fina followed as slowly as she could. Being trapped in a room with this woman wasn't something she found of interest. She entered into the room and found the other two women were there as well. She figured they would be since they would ease the tension between herself and Raye, but she still wasn't looking forward to this at all. "I'm here. What lovely chore do you have for me?"

"Here you go." Lita handed her a broom.

"What?" Fina took the broom.

"It's a broom. You use it to sweep the floor," Raye said in a condescending tone while making sweeping motions with her hands. "Move the dirt around, pick it up, and then throw it outside?"

"I know that!" Fina said. "I was expecting something different!"

"You can sweep the floor for now," Minako said. She was pulling white packages from a box and placing them in a cabinet. "It's what we need for the moment."

"Fine." Fina started sweeping.

"So how's everything going? Are you settling into the crew?" Lita asked.

"Nope. And I have no intention of settling in," Fina said.

"Good," Raye said.

Fina ignored her.

"That's a shame. I think you'd fit in rather well here," Lita said.

"The crew would disagree," Fina said. "Or at least some of them would."

"They'll get over you lying to them," Minako said. "It's not like it's the first time they've been lied to."

"If you say so," Fina said. "You know them better than I do."

"Trust me," Minako said.

Fina sighed and continued sweeping.

…

Fina grumbled to herself as she placed painkillers on the shelf. It was her duty for the day and it was driving her insane with boredom. The cheers of the men out on the deck reached her ears. They were having fun through sparring and an arm wrestling contest. She would much rather be out there with them than in here where nothing of interest was going on. The door opened and closed but she didn't bother to look up.

"Fina, the captain wants to see you," Minako said.

"Huh?" Fina looked over at the blonde woman, her brain in a daze from the mundane work she was doing. Fake surprise and sweetness dripped from her tone. "Is it true? I get to get out of this room and see the sun? Thank the sweet Heavens above! I'm free! Fina's free!"

"It hasn't been that bad." Makino laughed.

"It might as well be," Fina said. "No offense, but I don't see how you can do this day in and day out. All the cleaning, the medicine smells, stacking more medical supplies, drawing blood…yuck."

"Being a nurse isn't an easy thing. That's a mistake a lot of women make. You have to really want to do this job to actually do it. The hours are long, the patients can be mean, and you have to deal with rude coworkers as well."

"Raye leaps to mind," Fina said.

"She might be difficult at times but she's a good nurse," Minako said. "You better get going."

"Okay." Fina placed one more bottle in the cabinet and left the room. Heat from the sun rushed over her skin upon stepping outside. She headed down to the deck where Whitebeard was sitting in his chair waiting for her. Surprisingly, not many of the crew was outside. In fact only Ace and Marco was. She looked at them. Ace seemed a bit uncomfortable and wouldn't meet her eyes while Marco looked normal. She pulled her eyes to the captain. "You wanted to see me?"

"I did," Whitebeard said. "We'll be landing soon and I wanted to go over some ground rules with you."

"You have got to be kidding. More rules?" Fina frowned.

"As I said, you're staying on my ship so you will do as I say," Whitebeard said. "And while you are sailing with us you will not leave this ship without Marco and Ace with you."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Fina stomped her foot. "You're going to force me to have body guards?! If you haven't noticed I can easily take care of myself!"

"Is that so?" Whitebeard leaned down to her face. His nose almost touched hers. "If you can then why don't you show us your full power?"

Fina flinched. She gripped her fists, shoving down the desire to punch this man in the face.

Whitebeard pulled back and laughed. "As I thought. You're still holding back because you don't want us to see what you can do. How do you think that will go over with our enemies? It won't. They'll do everything they can to kill you. So if you step foot off this ship Ace and Marco will be escorting you. The choice is yours."

"Like you've given me much of a choice," Fina grumbled.

"You do have two choices," Whitebeard said. "You can stay on the ship or get off the ship. The choice is yours. I've already spoken to Ace and Marco about this. And they have agreed to watch over you."

"I'm not a child!" She snapped before glaring at Ace and Marco for going a long with this. Marco didn't respond in anyway while Ace still refused to look at her. The coward.

"You are a child," Whitebeard said. "You are ignorant of how this world works."

Fina growled. She really couldn't argue with that. This was, after all, the first time she had set foot off her home island.

"So are you going to do as I say or are you going to force me to keep you on the ship?" Whitebeard said.

"Land ho!" someone shouted from above.

"Well?" Whitebeard said.

"Fine," Fina said. "I'll be a good little girl and stay with my babysitters."

"Good choice." Whitebeard stood up and walked away.

Seething, Fina stood in place.

"Fina," Ace said.

Fina stomped away from him. She didn't want to hear it. Instead she disappeared into the nurses' quarters, slamming the door behind her as she went. She paced the room, stomped on the floor before kicking the wall. "Okay, calm down. This isn't a big deal as you are making it out to be. You can deal with this fine. It's not like he's going to have this control over you all the time. It's only temporary." She took a deep breath and slowly released it. Her anger released. "I am calm now. I can handle this. And it's not all bad. I get to be closer to Ace even thought I want to rip his head off for agreeing with this. Stupid jerk."

A few minutes passed as she stood there thinking about how she was going to spend time with the fire wielder. She still wanted to deny her feelings but no longer could. It caused her heart to sink in her chest. Maybe getting to spend this time with Ace was a bad thing. She was going to have to keep as far away from him as possible. Then she felt the ship coming to a stop. "Okay, you can do this. All you have to do is act normal. Do nothing to get to know him. Keep the goal in mind. You're here for your gem and that's it."

With another deep breath she turned and headed back outside. Leaning her arms over the railing just outside of the room, she waited and watched the crew furl the sails then dropped the gangplank.

"Hey, Fina, let's go!" Ace waved to her.

One more breath and she walked down the stairs. Without stopping she stepped up on the stool they had placed out and walked down the gangplank. Her eyes scanned over the village before her. It was simple, an ordinary village with ordinary people. "Not exactly what I was expecting."

"What were you expecting?" Ace asked.

"Not sure," Fina said. "Something more…chaotic? This is pirate territory after all."

"Pops is right. You are naïve of this world," Marco said.

"Well, excuse me for my parents not being pirates," Fina said. "Next time I invent a time machine, go back in time, and force them to sail around the world instead."

"I didn't mean anything by that," Marco said.

"Liar," Fina said.

"Geez, you're snappy today," Marco said frowning.

Fina sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just not use to being treated like this."

"Did you have babysitters back home?" Ace asked.

"No," Fina said. "Not really. Everyone on my island kind of looks out for each other. They're rather close knit I guess you could say. Plus, my parents didn't really go anywhere for long. So having a babysitter wasn't necessary. I did at times watch over my brother, but that's nothing big."

"Well, that's how we are here," Marco said.

"I have a hard time believe that considering I'm the only one your captain is treating like this," Fina said.

"I'm sure there's a reason for it," Marco said.

"Yeah, to annoy me," Fina said.

"He can be like that," Ace said. "It wasn't all welcome hugs for me when I joined the crew."

"You were trying to take the crew down and kill the captain," Marco said.

"You did what?" Fina stopped and turned to Ace.

"Yeah, I was a bit hot headed back then," Ace said.

"Was? You still are." Marco elbowed Ace on the arm.

"Maybe," Ace said. He turned to Fina. "Trust the captain. He's a good man."

"You're captain is an idiot," Fina said. She turned and stomping her boots hard on the ground as they walked through the town. A few minutes later, when they didn't stop and no one said anything, she stopped walking and turned to them. "So what do we do now?"

"Anything we want," Ace said. "It doesn't look like the mountain bandits are around right now."

"Lucky them," Fina said.

"Well, do you need anything while we're here? New clothes or something? Do you even have money on you?" Ace asked.

"I have a little. But, no, I don't need anything," Fina said.

"How about we stop and get a drink?" Marco asked.

Fina looked to the tavern he was looking at. She frowned. "No thanks. I already told you all I don't like those places. You can go if you want. I'll find something to keep myself busy with."

"We can't do that," Marco said. "We have to stay with you."

"Why don't you go ahead and get a drink while I stay with Fina?" Ace asked.

"You sure about that?" Marco looked at his crewmate.

"I am." Ace nodded. "The captain never said we couldn't spilt up. As long as one of us is with her there shouldn't be a problem."

"No, that's fine," Fina said. "I can sit out here. You two go have a drink."

"That's not going to work. Either one or both of us stays with you," Marco said.

Fina wrinkled her nose at him.

"Really, Marco," Ace said. "You go have a drink. We'll meet up with you later."

Fina stared back at the birdman when he looked at her. She wanted him to refuse the drink and stay a barrier between her and Ace.

"Fine. I'll meet up with you in an hour." Macro walked into the tavern.

"Wonderful," Fina said.

"What was that?" Ace asked.

"Nothing." Fina turned and walked away from him. Seconds later Ace was walking beside her. Neither one of them spoke. Though she could feel his eyes on her a couple times.

"So," Ace then said. "Other than the obvious parts you hate, how are you liking riding on a pirate ship?"

"It's fine," Fina said.

A moment of silence.

"What do you think of the crew?" Ace asked.

"They're fine," Fina said. She looked to the shops, hoping to give the impression she wasn't interested in talking to him.

"Look, Fina, I'm sorry about what the captain did to you," Ace said.

"Which part?" Fina continued walk, unaware that he had stopped. When she noticed she turned back to him. "What? You're not going to follow me? I can escape?"

"You're upset with me," Ace said.

"Not at all." Fina turned and started walking again. She hoped he would walk away from her. But nope. The young man was hopelessly loyal to his captain. She kept walking and waiting for him to say something. Before long the town faded off into a small path, over grown with weeds that lead into an abandon park. She sat down on a swing. The chains squeaked when she rocked it.

Ace remained ten feet away from her.

Fina could tell he was in deep thought about something. It was only a matter of time before he would speak.

"Look, Fina, I'm sorry that you're trapped here like this," Ace said. "The captain's really not a bad…he's only doing this because he cares."

"Sure he does," Fina said.

"I don't think you realize how dangerous this world can be," Ace said.

Fina bit her cheek. He was right. She wasn't mentally prepared to deal with the world. She was only focused on her gems.

"I really am sorry," Ace said. "It's fine if you hate me."

Fina sighed. "I don't hate you. I'm only annoyed because my gem is so close to me and yet I can't even touch it."

"I know you won't do it, but would you consider telling me what's so important about that gem?" Ace said.

Fina lifted her eyes to him. His eyes were so pure and innocent, so trusting of her. She couldn't comprehend why he was a pirate. Dropping her eyes from him she sighed. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" Ace asked.

"Like you can trust me," Fina said. "I know you only think that because I remind you of Luffy."

"That's not true," Ace said. "I trust you because I know you won't hurt us."

"You're an idiot," Fina said.

"You will hurt us?" Ace asked with a smirk. "One who hasn't even landed a punch on Pops?"

"Hey! I haven't exactly attacked him!" Fina flushed.

Ace laughed.

"Oh! You really are an idiot!" Fina snapped.

"I'm sorry." Ace walked over and sat beside her. "I'm glad you're not upset with me. Right?"

"No, I'm not upset with you," Fina said. "But I still think it's stupid for you to trust me. After all we don't really know each other."

"We can get to know each other," Ace said. "I'd like to get to know you beyond the fact you remind me of Luffy."

Fina turned to him. Her heart raced, as she looked him in the eyes. "Do you really mean that?"

"I do." Ace nodded.

"Even if it means we can only be friends?" Fina asked.

"Hm? What are you talking about? Of course we'll be friends," Ace said.

Fina studies his eyes. Her heart sank when she saw no sight of anything other than friendship inside of him. Cadmar and Thatch were wrong. Ace wouldn't only see her as a substitute for his brother.

"You want to be friends, right?" Ace asked.

"Sure," Fina forced out. "Friends will be great. So, friend, tell me what exactly made you want to be a pirate."

Ace went dead silent. His hair fell over his eyes.

"Sorry," Fina said. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories or anything."

"No, don't worry about it," Ace said.

"No, I shouldn't have brought it up. I mean I won't tell you about my past so I should expect you to tell me about yours," Fina said.

"I don't mind. The crew knows. I'm kind of surprised it didn't already come up," Ace said.

"What?" Fina asked, her curiosity reaching its peak.

"That I'm the son of the pirate king Gol D. Roger," Ace said.

"Who?"

Ace laughed. "Why am I not surprised you don't know him?"

"Hey! Stop laughing!" Fina glared at him.

"Sorry. It's actually refreshing to meet someone who doesn't know about him," Ace said. "He actually conquered the Grand Line. He was, or still is, the most famous pirate in the world. And because I'm his son, I was hate even though only few knowing about the connection."

"What do you mean?" Fina asked.

"Kids born to pirate parents are hated and killed," Ace said. "My mom actually kept me in her womb for twenty months past my normal birth date so no one would make he connection between me and Roger. Shortly after my birth she died because her body was tired from what she did. I took her name because she loved me so much while my dad gave me nothing but his horrible legacy. My mom gave me to Garp, a marine, who took me to be raised by mountain bandits."

"Your mom handed you over to a marine?" Fina asked.

"He was an enemy to Roger but also a friend. It was a weird relationship," Ace said. "Anyway, I asked a lot of people what they thought if Roger had a son. Well, I'm sure you can guess how their responses were."

"That's stupid. You're not responsible for what your dad did," Fina said.

"You can't tell them that," Ace said. "So I became a pirate to basically deny everyone, especially him."

"I don't understand. You came a pirate but hate your dad for being a pirate," Fina said.

"Ironic," Ace said.

"I'll say," Fina said. Another moment of silence passed between them. The wind blew; bring the smells of barbecue to them. "I guess you're looking for my life story now."

"No," Ace said.

Fina cocked an eyebrow at him.

"You can tell me when you're ready," Ace said. "Friendship happens in its own time."

"Thanks, Ace," Fina said.

Ace smiled.

Suddenly a loud blast caused them to jump. Looking towards the town, they saw smoke rising into the air.

"Looks like the bandits finally showed up," Ace said.

"Let's go then!" Fina jumped up and ran towards town.

"Hey! Wait a second!" Ace followed her.

Fina ran as fast as she could. Reaching the town she found the fight was raging at full speed. Marco was flying around with his devil fruit, the others were wielding their weapons, and Whitebeard was in the middle of the fight but didn't appear to be using his devil fruit. She lunged forward only to get jerked back by a powerful arm. Placing her hands on his arm, she tried to free herself. "Hey! Let me go!"

"I'm not letting you in that fight," Ace said. "The crew's got it covered. Watch."

"I don't want to watch!" Fina said.

"Well, you're going to. The fights about over anyway," Ace said.

Fina stopped struggling against him. Sure enough within another minute the fight had ended. She blinked in confusion.

"See? Our crew is really strong," Ace said. "They didn't even need us."

Fina nodded before noticing his arm was still around her waist. Heat rushed to her face. "Y-you can let go of me now."

"Sorry!" Ace jerked away from her.

Fina straightened up her shirt, catching a glimpse of Ace's face. His cheeks were red too. She blinked, thinking she was seeing things. But they were red. She pushed it from her mind. He recently called them friends. He wasn't thinking about her any other way. "It's fine."

"Let's go see if anyone's hurt." Ace headed into town.

Fina waited a few seconds before following him. While Ace spoke to a couple crewmates, she let her eyes roam around the crew. None of them even seemed to be sweating. The fight literally only took a few minutes. She looked at Whitebeard. How strong was this crew?

The townspeople cheered and started bringing out a banquet for the pirates to enjoy.

"Who's the girl? I didn't think Whitebeard allowed women fighters on his crew," a man said.

"He doesn't," a woman said. "She must be a nurse or something."

Fina twitched with annoyance while Cadmar snickered beside her. She said, "Shut up."

"So how did your date with Ace go? Don't think I didn't see you coming into the town together," Cadmar said.

"Again, shut up," Fina said. "We were only talking. And your dumb fight interrupted that. Besides, he only sees me as a friend, nothing else."

"Geez, you two are so dense," Cadmar said.

Fina pieced up a piece of meat and sunk her teeth into it. She wanted to hear and say no more on the subject. Her eyes wondered the crew, searching for where ever one was. She couldn't help but notice three beautiful women who were obviously infatuated with Ace had him surrounded. With a huff she forced her eyes away. They were only friends and that's how it was going to stay.

The party had ended up going for two days. After that the crew loaded back onto the ship and set sail again with the townspeople waving goodbye to them from the island. Fina was sitting against the wall, trying to figure out this bizarre world she had entered into, when Whitebeard came up to her with a ridiculous order.

"You want me to do what?" Fina asked. Sitting on the deck of the ship she stared up at Whitebeard like he had said the stupidest thing ever. She hoped and prayed she misheard him. There was no way he was actually going to force her to do that. Was he?

"Perform your duties as a nurse on my ship," Whitebeard said. "I need a bath after that fight we had and you're going to give me one. No arguing."

The crew laughed at her predicament.

"Excuse me?!" Heat flooded her face. She didn't misunderstand him, not one single bit. This guy actually wanted her to bath him. "You are not some feeble old man, you rotten old goat! You're as healthy as can be! Take your own damn shower!"

"What your language, Girl," Whitebeard said. "I will not tolerate that coming from your mouth."

"You're such a hypocrite! You and your crew say far worse words than that!" Fina said. She jumped to her feet and glared up at him. "Besides if you needed a bath that bad after a fight why wait for two days before taking one?!"

"You want this gem, don't you?" Whitebeard held the gem up to her.

Fina gritted her teeth and forced back the desire to try and take it from him. "You know I do."

"Then you'll do whatever you must to get it back," Whitebeard said. "You are a nurse on my ship after all, correct?"

"Fine! I'll do it!" Fina said.

"Good girl," Whitebeard said. "Come to my quarters then. I have my own bath."

"Naturally," Fina grumbled. Reluctantly, she followed the captain to his quarters. She glared back at the crewmates that kept laughing; it only made them laugh harder at her predicament. She was so going to get revenge on them when she had the chance.

All too soon they had reached his quarters. She looked around. His massive bed was up against the back wall. Across from it was a door that obviously led to the bathroom. There was also a chair and desk that had several bounty posters and newspapers scattered over it. Clearly he was a man who liked to know what was going on in the world. It was the only area that had clutter. The rest of the room was neatly in place. Even the clothes were neatly put away.

"Go get the water ready," Whitebeard said. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Fine." Fina walked towards the bathroom. Stepping in she found Minako was already there. "I didn't expect to see you."

"The captain likes a good massage after a battle," Minako said.

"You don't seem surprised to see me here," Fina said. She walked over to the large tub and looked it over before reaching for the knobs and turning on the water.

"The captain likes it hot," Minako said.

"Can I burn his skin off then?" Fina asked. She lifted a finger. A flame lit on the tip.

"Not a good idea," Minako said. "And I'm not surprised because I figured he would do this. He's just trying to wear you down."

"He'll have to do a lot more than this," Fina said.

"So you've seen a man naked before?" Minako cocked an eyebrow at her.

"No, of course not," Fina said. "But no one said I had to look at him. I can get through this without looking at his…you know."

"You think you can do that yet you can't even say the word penis," Whitebeard said.

"Did you have to ease drop on our private conversation?!" Fina planted her hands on her hips and glared at him. He was wearing a towel around his hips.

"This is my room, Girl," Whitebeard said. "If you want a private conversation then go back to the nurses' room."

"I'm free to go?"

"No." Whitebeard grabbed the towel and yanked it off.

Unable to stop herself, Fina's eyes dropped between his legs. An unavoidable scream left her as she whipped around. Blood ran down her lips. "You are so going to pay for this, you old goat!"

Laughing, Whitebeard crawled into the bath. "If you say so."

"I say so! This is war now!" Fina said.

"Here." Minako handed her some toilet paper for her nose.

Fina took it. Twisting it up she shoved it up her nose to stop the bleeding.

"Come on, Girl," Whitebeard said. "I need my back washed."

Grumbling, Fina snatched a washcloth out of a cabinet that was open, by Minako she assumed. Stomping over to the tub she squirted some body wash onto it and started rubbing the pirate down. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the man was finished with his bath. She stomped out of the room before he could say anything or even get out of the tub.

"Hey, Fina," Cadmar said. "How'd it go?"

Fina didn't answer him. She continued to march across the deck, up the stairs, and into the nurses' quarters. Without closing the door she went over to one of the vanities. Opening the draw, she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, sat down, and started scribbling on it.

"What are you doing?" Ace asked as he, Cadmar, and Thatch walked into the room.

Thatch peaked over her shoulder and read out loud. "Plans for murdering Whitebeard."

"He's so going to get it for forcing me to give him a bath," Fina said while she continued to scribble out multiple ways to end the old man's life.

Chapter Text

Fears

"Do you see it?" Marco asked moving around Fina. "When someone's about to attack you you'll be able to see their move a few seconds before it happens."

"Um." Fina dodged to her left when Marco rushed at her. "No, I don't really see anything. Just you like any other day."

"You're not focusing enough," Marco said throwing a punch at her.

Fina jumped back from him, being missed by his hit by less than an inch. Her chest heaved up and down from the time they had spent sparring with each other. She brushed sweat off her chin, as she glanced at the crewmembers watching her. Some were watching with peak interest while others were smirking at how many mistakes she was making. Of course Kota was among the latter. It annoyed her. This whole sparring session made her think she wasn't going to be able to get her gems at all. Maybe she wasn't. As she started to turn back and face Marco, what felt like a stone, slammed against her cheek. Her body flew back before bouncing off the deck. She rolled to a stop. Sitting up she held her throbbing cheek. "Ouch! What was that for?!"

"We're sparring," Marco said. "You shouldn't get distracted."

A few crewmates laughed.

Fina puffed her cheeks out. "Fine. I made another mistake."

"Haven't you ever sparred with anyone before?" Kota asked.

Fina did her best to ignore his condescending grin. "Yes. I have. It's only different from this way of sparring."

"Then show us," Kota said.

"Don't tempt me," Fina grumbled to herself. "You wouldn't like it."

"Stand up. We're going again," Marco said.

"Do we have to?" Fina pushed herself to her feet despite her body begging her to lay down and stay down. "We've been doing this for over four hours. It's not like I'm getting any better."

"You're actually doing a lot better," Marco said. "Progress might be slow but it is there."

"You're just saying that to be nice," Fina said.

Cadmar's bellowing laughed made them turn to him. "Trust me, Fina. He is not saying that to be nice. Marco is one of the strictest sparring partners you can have on this ship. Don't let his cool demeanor right now fool you."

"Cool demeanor? He just hit me," Fina said rubbing her throbbing face.

"Then try harder with your haki and you will be able to avoid it next time," Marco said. "Well, as long as your speed increases. You'll still get hit."

"Thanks for that," Fina said. Her stomach grumbled. "Can't we stop for the day? I'm hungry. And it's almost lunch time anyway."

"Almost isn't here yet," Marco said. "We still have time to practice. Now come at me."

Fina huffed. She took her stance before charging at him. The man's moves was far superior to her own. No matter how she tricked to hit or kick him he always managed to move out of the way just in time. She growled, taking another swing at him. "You're using your haki against me, aren't you?"

"I don't have observation haki. I have armament haki," Marco said. "If I used it then it would be obvious as a dark coating appears over my body where I'm using it."

"Great. I'll keep that in mind." Fina roundhouse kicked at his head. She squeaked when he grabbed her ankle. Next thing she knew the world around her was spinning. Actually, her body was spinning until she slammed against the deck. This time she stayed there. Her chest heaved up and down from the exertion. "That's it. I quit."

"Lunch is served!" the cook called out.

"About time," Fina said. "I can really quit then."

"Hey, you did good today," Cadmar said leaning over her.

"Whatever," Fina said.

"That's it for now," Marco said.

"Thanks a lot. You're the best ever," Fina deadpanned.

"You going to be okay?" Ace's freckled face appeared in her view. "You look a little worn out."

"You think?" Fina cocked an eyebrow at him. She tried lifting her arm. "I can't move. I should have Marco arrested."

"He didn't hear you if that's what you were intending," Cadmar said.

Fina turned her head to find the man missing. Twisting the other way she found him over by Whitebeard. The crew was already eating. "Well, that was a waste."

"Come on." Ace offered her his hand.

Swallowing, Fina took it and allowed him to help her up. As soon as she was sitting she pulled her hand from him. She tucked her feet under her legs just as Ace pulled one of the tables over to her. The smells of the meat wafted into her nose, making her mouth water and her stomach grumble.

"Here, have some water," Ace said handing her a tankard.

"Thanks." Fina took it and drank half of the cool contents down. With a satisfying sigh, she placed the tankard down and filled a plate. She bit into a piece of fish, the flavor danced over her tongue. "So good."

"You know, you really are doing good against Marco," Cadmar said.

Fina shrugged. "I feel more like his personal piñata."

"Well, you're not," Cadmar said.

"He's impressed with how good you're doing," Ace said.

"He doesn't show it," Fina said.

"You don't know him like we do." Ace smiled.

Fina's heart flipped. She swallowed and turned back to her food. With luck, the two men diverted the conversation. Before she knew it, lunch was over and Marco's shadow fell over her. She looked up at him.

"We're going to pick training back up in an hour," Marco said.

"I'm so looking forward to it," Fina said rolling her eyes. Once he was gone, she fell back onto the deck. "What's the point of this?"

"What do you mean?" Ace asked.

"Why is your captain having you train me when he doesn't allow women fighters on the ship?" Fina asked. "See? It doesn't make sense."

"Maybe he wants you to get your gem back?" Cadmar offered.

Fina frowned at him.

"Sorry." Cadmar scratched his ear. "Just trying to help."

"Well, you're not," Fina said. Propping up on her hands, her eyes ran over the crew. Some were still eating while others were sitting around talking. Her eyes stopped on a certain group, the one Kota was sitting in, when they looked over at her. They quickly adverted their eyes. A snicker passed among them. One of them got up and walked away while shaking his head.

The hour passed too soon. Fina groaned when Marco walked back over to her. Still, she pushed herself to her feet and continued to spar with him. They only sparred for a couple more hours before the man had mercy on her. They finished. She sat down on the deck, drawing in breath after breath in an attempt to regain her strength. Every single muscle throbbed.

"I don't think I've ever worked so hard in my life," Fina said. "I'm probably not going to be able to move tomorrow."

Whitebeard laughed. "You'll get use to that."

Fina glared at his treating back as he went to his quarters.

"We'll pick this up again tomorrow," Marco said.

"If I'm still alive then," Fina said. She closed her eyes and decided to rest there for a while before heading into the nurses' quarters for a shower.

After forty-five minutes of resting, she felt some of her strength coming back to her. She pushed herself to her feet and turned towards the stairs. Before she could take one step her body was lifted in the air.

"What are you doing?!" Fina shrieked looking over her shoulder at the two men who held her. One of them was Kota. They didn't answer. They just rushed to the edge of the side. Before her brain could register what was happening they tossed her over the side of the ship. Her heart took a cold, sharp jolt. She frantically grabbed for something to keep herself from falling into the sea. But it was no use. They threw her too far away from the ship for her to grab onto something. She hit the water. Everything around her went dark when she closed her eyes. She tried to fight her way back up to the surface. But the unrelenting water grabbed a hold of her and pulled her down.

…

Coming up from below deck, Ace and Thatch looked over to some of their crewmate who were laughing. "Did you see her face?"

"That was priceless!"

"I hope we can do it again!"

"What's so funny?" Ace asked as he and Thatch walked over to the men standing beside the railing.

"We were having a little fun with Fina," Kota said. "Sort of a welcome to the ship surprise."

"Yeah, we threw her into the sea," another one said.

"You did what?" Ace rushed to the edge. Grabbing the edge he looked over but couldn't find her anywhere. His heart leaped into his throat. She should have surfaced already. "Fina? Fina?!"

"Why would you do something like that?" Thatch followed.

"It's just a little fun," Kota said with a shrug.

"She's not coming back up!" Ace said as the ripples faded away. "Fina!"

"Don't joke around like that," a crewmate said. He looked over the side. Ace was right. The ripples from Fina's splash were completely gone and she was nowhere to be seen. "She can swim, can't she? She's still not coming up. Why isn't she coming up?" He turned to Kota. "Kota, she's not coming up."

Kota only shrugged. "She's probably just messing with us for revenge."
"This is bad." Ace started to climb onto the railing.

"Ace, are you insane?!" Thatch grabbed the young man and pulled him back down to the deck.

"I have to save her! She clearly can't swim!" Ace said jerking away from him. "Let go!"

"You can't swim either!" Thatch fired back.

"I know but…" Ace trailed off.

"I'll get her." Thatch climbed upon the railing and dove into the sea. The water rushed over him. As the bubbles faded he opened his eyes and looked around. The water world was blurry. The salt stung his eyes but he saw her darkened form. Kicking his feet her moves towards her. Slipping his arm under her arms, he pulled her to the surface.

The second air hit them, Fina screamed out. She thrashed against Thatch's hold.

"Thatch! Is she okay?!" Ace called.

"I'm not sure! Ouch!" Thatch tried to duck her head, but she knocked him in the temple anyway. "Throw down the rope!"

"I got it!" a crewmate said before the rope ladder thumped against the side of the ship.

"Stop squirming," Thatch said making his way over to the ladder. He grabbed onto it. Pulling her over his shoulder, he started to long and hard up climb. But her thrashing against him prevented it. That's when his crewmates started pulling on the ladder. Soon they had reached the top.

"I got her," Ace said. He grabbed Fina and pulled her onto the ship as she continued to kick and scream. "Fina, you're okay. You're back on the ship."

"No! Let go! Get it off!" Fina screamed.

"What's wrong with her?" a crewmate asked.

Thatch dropped to his kneels and looked her over. "She's completely terrified." He glared at Kota. "Happy now?"

Kota scoffed and walked away. "Not my fault. I didn't know she couldn't swim."

"Fina's right," Thatch mumbled. "He is a jerk."

"Fina, snap out of it! It's me! Ace!" Ace said.

Fina snapped her eyes to him. Her chest heaved up and down. "Ace…"

"That's right." Ace nodded. "I'm right here. You're safe now. You're back on the ship."

"No! Get it off!" Fina screamed. Grabbing her wet shirt, she ripped it off and tossed it away from her.

"What is she doing?!" a crewmate shrieked and flushed.

"Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! I can't! No! Get it away!" Fina grabbed her pants. Like her shirt, she ripped it off and tossed them away. Next she grabbed for her bra.

"Okay!" Ace grabbed her wrists to keep her from baring herself to the entire crew. His cheeks burned red hot. "Let's leave that on!"

"Fire," Fina said. The wind was cool on her body causing her to shake. "I need fire." She looked at Ace. "Give me fire."

"What are you talking about? You're not making any sense," Ace said.

"Why would she want fire?" a crewmate asked.

"Maybe she wants to dry off?" Thatch offered.

"Is that what you want?" Ace asked. "Do you want to dry off?"

"Fire. I need fire," Fina said. She grabbed onto Ace's necklace and pulled him closer. "Please, I need fire. Give me your fire!"

"Well, okay," Ace said eyeing her hollow eyes. He held his hands to her sides and lit them with fire.

The heat rushed over her cold, wet body. She grabbed his hands and placed them on her cheeks.

"What are you doing?!" Ace started to pull away but stopped when he noticed his fire wasn't burning her.

"What the heck?!"

"How is that possible?"

"The fire's not burning her."

"It can't be."

Fina sighed and leaned into his chest. "More fire. Ace, please, I need more fire."

"Uh, okay. I guess." Ace lit up his upper body. He then looked at Thatch. His friend was just as confused as he was. But there was on thing they agreed on. Through a silent conversation they agreed that their captain needed to know about this. "You go talk to him. I'll take Fina to the medical bay. She might be hurt after that fall."

"Right." Thatch nodded. He stood up and walked away from them.

"Fina, I'm going to take you to the medical bay," Ace said. "Okay?"

"Fire. I need fire," Fina said tucking into him as closely as she could. "Don't leave me. I don't want to die."

"You're not going to die," Ace said. He stood up with her in his arms. His heart raced against his chest when she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Water kills fire," Fina said. "I don't want to die."

Ace, confused and conflicted, headed for the medical bay. He spoke to her in a soft whisper. "It's all right, Fina. You're out of the water. You're not going to die. You're safe with me."

"I'm safe," Fina said. "I'm with you. You make me safe."

"That's right." Ace reached the door. Carefully, he opened it and stepped inside.

"What the heck happened?" Lita asked. "She's half naked."

"A couple crewmates thought it would be funny to throw her into the sea," Ace said. "She can't swim. Thatch had to save her. When he got her back to the deck she was like this. She striped of her clothes and demanded fire."

"She must have had a traumatic episode with the sea or water in general," Minako said. "Just lay her down. We'll keep an eye on her from here."

Ace stepped to one of the beds. He tried to put her down but when he did she tighten her hold on him. "Fina, I have to put you down."

"No!" Fina's body shook. "Don't! Please. Stay with me."

"Fina, I…"

Fina looked up at Ace. Tears dripped down her cheeks. "Please, Ace. I need you right now."

Ace's heart fluttered and broke. Fina wasn't herself. Instead of her strong, stubborn, confident eyes, he saw fear in them. Real fear. "Okay, Fina. I'll stay with you."

Fina nodded and closed her eyes.

Ace kept the fire around his arms, but released it from the rest of his body. He sat down on the bed, keeping her close to his chest. He heard her sigh before her body went limp against him.

Lita laughed. "I wish I had a camera."

"Oh, honestly," Minako said. "The poor girl just had a traumatic episode and you want to take pictures?"
"What?" Lita shrugged. "They're cute together. Right, Ace?"

"Wh-what?!" Ace flushed.

"Don't try and deny it," Lita said with wink. "We know you two like each other."

"No, you got it wrong. We're just friends," Ace said. "We already spoke about that before."

"You got it wrong then," Lita said.

"Shut up," Ace said. "We're nothing more than friends."

"But you want to be more," Lita said.

Ace's cheeks darkened.

"So cute! I knew you liked her as more than a friend or sister!" Lita jumped for joy.

"Just shut up," Ace said. "We're friend and nothing more."

"Keep telling yourself that, cutie." Lita winked at him.

"Okay. That's enough of that. Let's leave them alone." Minako grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her from the room. "I'll come by and check on you two later."

"Thanks," Ace said before the two women disappeared from the door. His eyed dropped down to her. Never before had he seen such a fearful reaction to something. And never before had he seen her look like such a small child as she did now sleeping in his arms. He smiled. "Don't worry, Fina. I won't let them do that to you again. I promise."

Ace closed his eyes with a low sigh.

…

Fina opened her eyes. Her body was rising and falling in sync with soft snoring. The warmth she was curled up against made her want to stay there forever. But there was something odd about it. It wasn't soft like her blanket should have been. Tilting her head up she face to face with Ace's freckle face. Looking down she found the rest she felt so warm. Her face flushed. Her skin was touching his skin. Her shirt and pants were gone. With a startled shriek she jumped away from him and hit the floor. "What the heck?!"

"Hm?" Ace woke up. Sitting up, he yawned and stretched out before noticing her on the floor. "What are you doing down there?"

"Me?! What were you doing?! Why are my clothes off?!" Fina pointed accusingly at him. "How dare you undress me like this!"

"Hold on!" Ace leaped to his feet. "I didn't do anything like that! You took your own clothes off!"

"Why would I do that?!" Fina jumped to her feet.

"Don't you remember?" Ace asked.

"Remember what?" Fina narrowed her eyebrows at him.

"Some of the crew threw you into the sea," Ace said. "Thatch had to jump in and save you. When he got you back on the deck you took off your clothes and demanded fire."

Fina's glare disappeared. She remembered. Tossing her eyes around the room, she spotted her clothes laying on a nearby chair. She grabbed them and pulled them on then rushed for the door.

"Fina, wait." Ace followed after her.

Fina slammed the door behind her when she entered the nurses' quarters. Pressing her back to it, she kept Ace out. Tears poured down her cheeks. She cursed under her breath.

"Fina, come on. Talk to me," Ace said. "Let me in."

"Go away, Ace," Fina said.

"Not until you talk to me," Ace said. He pounded on the door.

Fina slid down to the floor. Keeping her back to the door, she wrapped her arms around her legs and hid her face in her knees.

For the next several days, Fina stayed in the nurses' quarters. Minako and Lita tried to get her to leave, but she refused. They were being so nice to her, even brought her meals to her. Raye, of course, objected to that and said she needed to stop being a baby and get over it. But Raye didn't understand how deep her fear of water really went. None of them did. And because of that fear she made a complete idiot out of herself in front of Ace. She couldn't face the crew, or him, after what happened. She was too embarrassed. And she never meant to reveal her weakness like that.

Fina sat up in her bed. The room was dark but for the moonlight shining in. The nurses were asleep. The rest of the crew, but for the guards, should be as well. Feeling the need for some fresh air, she climbed down her bed and went outside. Ace should be on guard duty to night. So she could get some air without having to run into him. She went down to the deck. Crossing her arms over the rail she stared out into the night.

"About time you came out of that room."

Fina jumped.

Ace dropped down from the crow's nest.

Fina tried to leave but he placed his arms around her, resting his palms on the railing so she couldn't escape. "Let me go, Ace."

"No," Ace said. "Not until you talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about," Fina said. "I have a fear of water. It's no big deal really."

"I say it's a big deal," Ace said. "You completely freaked out."

"I don't expect you to know anything about a paralyzing fear," Fina murmured.

"Fina, I can help you if you would just tell me what's going on," Ace said.

"It's none of your business." Fina tried to duck under his arm, but he easily caught her, pinning her back against the ship. Her heart raced. She hoped the moon wasn't bright enough for him to see her blush. "Let go!"

"Not until you tell me what's going on!" Ace said. "I'm worried about you!"

"Well, you don't have to! I'm not your little brother! So stop acting like I am! I don't need or want your protection!" Fina said.

"Well, you have it whether you like it or not! I care about you too much to just push this aside!" Ace said.

"I don't care! I'm not going to be here long enough to have you all as friends!" Fina said.

"We already are friends, you idiot!" Ace said. "So stop pushing me away!"

"I have to push you away!" Fina said.

"What?" Ace's tone dropped. "What do you mean?"

"Face it, Ace," Fina said. "We both know that I'm only here because I need my gem back."

"You could stay longer," Ace said.

"No, I can't," Fina said. "Your captain doesn't have women fighters on his ship."

"You don't have to be a fighter here," Ace said. "You could stay and do what you have been doing."

"I wouldn't be happy doing that, Ace," Fina said.

Silence fell between them. Ace's hand dropped from her wrist. "So that's it then."

"It's nothing personal, Ace. Don't take it that way," Fina said. "It's just a fact that I can't stay."

Ace dropped his eyes to the deck and nodded.

Fina sighed. Guilt hammered into her. "Look when I was a kid I almost drowned."

Ace brought his eyes back up to her.

"Well, technically, someone tried to drown me," Fina said.

"Why would someone do that?" Ace asked.

"I don't know," Fina said. "It just happened so quickly. Luckily, my parents were close by and were able to save me. Since then I've had a paralyzing fear of water."

"How do you manage taking baths if you're that scared of water?" Ace asked.

"It's not easy," Fina said. "A lot of the time I just wash off with a washcloth and put my hair underwater when it needs to be clean."

"Taking a shower here must have been a real pain for you," Ace said.

"It was. And I only showered once in the men's bathroom," Fina said.

"At least now you can take your time in the nurses' quarters," Ace said.

"One good thing about being discovered." Fina nodded.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what my crewmates did. I promise they won't do that again. I won't let them," Ace said.

"There you go again. Treating me like your little brother," Fina said.

"I'm sorry." Ace rubbed his neck. "I can't help it. I wasn't always like this though. Now it's second nature. It just happens."

"I guess I can understand that. After all I too have a little brother," Fina said.

"What's he like?" Ace asked.

"Like any other annoying little brother," Fina said. "But I won't tolerate anyone hurting him."

"You sound just like me," Ace said.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Fina said.

"So, if you want, we could stay out here and talk for a while," Ace said. "I am on guard duty tonight."

Fina agreed. She did want to spend more time with Ace. And without the crew around it made it even better.

"You'll drown if you fall in the water. How can you not be scared of it?" Fina asked.

"I don't know. I'm just not," Ace said. "I guess because I have the crew with me. They'll help if I need it."

"I guess that makes sense," Fina said. "They are loyal to you."

"So, since you're staying out here, does it mean no more lies?" Ace smirked at her.

"Good grief! I lied once to you people and you act like it's a crime!" Fina threw her hands up in the air. "Like you all never told a lie before!"

"I'm kidding," Ace said. "I know you won't lie to me again."

"Don't you mean us?" Fina looked at him.

"Huh?"

"You said me," Fina said.

"Oh, well, I guess I did," Ace said, his cheeks flushing red.

Staring at him, her mind drifted back to what Cadmar and the others told her. Was it really possible that Ace had a crush on her? Guys just don't blush for any reason. And he did say that she wouldn't lie to him. He didn't include the crew when he should have. She averted her eyes. Her heart raced with excitement but also guilty. She still hadn't told him this trip was going to be a short one. Why did her emotions have to get in the way?

"Something wrong?" Ace asked. "Fina?"
"What?" Fina forced her eyes back up to him.

"You okay? You spaced out there," Ace said.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Fina said. "Just getting lost in thought, I guess." She shrugged when Ace did nothing but stare at her. "Really. It's nothing important."

Ace parted his lips to speak, but before he could get a word out a cannon fired. The cannon ball landed near the ship, rocking it violently.

"We're under attack!" one of the guards yelled. "Wake the crew up!"

Fina flew forward and into Ace's chest. Her heart hammered against her ribs. His body stiffened against hers. She wanted to stay there forever. Another cannon fired and rocked the ship. She had to pull away and fight. But she couldn't get herself to move.

"Fina, are you hurt?!" Ace asked. She couldn't answer. "Fina!"

Fina jumped and pulled away from him. "I'm sorry!"

"Are you hurt?" Ace asked again.

"No, I'm all right," Fina said. "Who's attacking this late?" She noticed the sun was coming up. "Or early. We stayed up all night?"

"Never mind that!" Ace said. He jumped up to sound the alarm. "We're under attack!"

Fina rushed to the side of the ship. Squinting her eyes she saw the black flag flying high on the mast. "So it is pirates."

Time spend up. Both pirates crossed onto the other's ships. Swords clashed, bullets rang out, people screamed while blood filled the air.

Fina froze. The sounds of the battle faded away from her ears. Looking down all she could see was the water. She wanted to help them but her mind replayed the event of her going in. If she tried to cross over to the other ship she would fall in. And this time no one would save her since they were busy fighting. She took a few steps back. This wasn't her fight. The pirates would be fine. They didn't need her. She took a few more steps back. Whitebeard didn't allow women fighters after all.

"Well, well, looks like some little lady is scared out of her mind," a voice said.

Fina turned to him. While she still didn't know all of the Whitebeard pirates, she could easily tell this one wasn't one of them. He was from the other ship.

"What's a sweet thing like you doing with pirates like these?" His eyes roamed over her body.

Fina shivered, thankful she was still dressed like a boy. Who knows what filthy thoughts would run though this man's head if she was dressed like the nurses.

"Why don't you come with me? I'll show you how to have a real good time," he said taking a step closer to her.

"Sorry," Fina said. "I'm fine right where I am."

"Pity. I was hoping you would come without a fight." He sheathed his sword.

Fina braced herself. He was going to fight her one on one without any weapons. Readying herself to block his first attack, she paused. She saw it. The man's punch came at her before he actually threw his fist at her. Docking to her left, she missed just being clipped by his fist. "What the heck was that?"

The man huffed. "Well, looks like you have some haki there, little lady."

"I did it?" Fina looked at her hands like they would answer her question.

"Don't get too cocky." The man charged at her. "I can still hurt you!"

Fina dodged his punch. She swung around, landing a kick to his shoulder. Her aim was for his head, but he was far too tall for her to hit that high. Still, her kick was powerful enough to knock him over.

"You little wench!" the man shrieked, his face twisted with fury. "Grab her!"

Suddenly, Fina's arms were pinned to her sides. Two men had grabbed her.

"Now you're going to pay for what you did." The man cracked his knuckles.

Fina rolled her eyes. "Such a gentleman. Ganging up on one little girl." She looked back at the two holding her. "You really should let me go."

They chuckled. One said, "Not going to happen."

"Hold her still." The man drew back for a punch.

"Suit yourself." Fina glared up. Her fire ran up her hands to her shoulders. The men shrieked and pulled away from her. Burnt flesh filled the air, threating to make her gag.

The man stumbled back away from her. "Wh-what are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Fina smirked. Before she could attack him, a large hand grabbed the man and threw him onto the other ship. Looking around she found the battle had ended.

Whitebeard smirked at her before addressing the remaining alive pirates on the other ship. "Come back if you ever want to try again."

The ship sailed away.

"You didn't have to do that," Fina said. "I was going to handle him myself."

"Shut up, Girl," Whitebeard said. "I told you no women would fight on this ship."

Fina growled. Gripping her fists, she stomped away from him.

"You okay?" Ace asked landing in front of her.

"I'm fine," Fina said. "They barely touched me."

"That's not what I was talking about," Ace said.

Fina looked at him.

"You were scared to cross over the water," Ace said. "I saw you hesitating."

"It's nothing," Fina said. "I'm fine."

Chapter Text

Second Gem

Fina waited above the door leading to Whitebeard's quarters, mentally preparing herself to strike him when he came out. Closing her eyes, she pressed her fingertips to the wood to feel out for the vibrations coming from the room. The man was wondering around. She figured he was getting dressed for the day. So he should be coming out any moment now. Opening her eyes she scanned the men on the deck. Luckily, Kota wasn't on the deck yet. She knew he would be enough of a moron to blow her cover. But then with her aiming for the old man she figured Whitebeard knew this attack was coming. Still she was going to try for her gem.

The door creaked.

He stepped out.

Fina waited until he was completely out of the room before lunging at him. She brought a fist down towards his head. Her heart skipped half a beat when he whipped around and grabbed her fist. "Oh crap."

"Still not enough, Girl," Whitebeard said before tossing her across the ship.

Fina's back collided with the wall. Her air vanished from her lungs. She fell to the floor.

"You really need to stop doing this before you get hurt," Minako said.

Fina grumbled as the blonde nurse stepped around her. Two weeks have passed since the pirate attack. She continued on with her training with Marco. And while her friends on this ship said she was getting better she didn't feel like she was. Pushing herself to her feet she brushed off the dirt now clinging to her clothes and skin before joining the pirates for breakfast.

"Don't worry, Fina," Ace said. "You'll get there."

"Sure I will," Fina grumbled.

"So what are you doing today?" Cadmar asked.

"I have to sweep and clean up the medical bay," Fina said finishing her oatmeal. "So I'm going to get to that now."

"We have training later today," Marco said. "Don't forget."

"Why would I ever do that?" Fina stood up and headed for the medical bay.

Taking the broom out of the closet she started to sweep the room. She was about an hour into her cleaning when her fire flared up inside of her. Her second gem was near by. Dropping the broom she rushed outside. A cold blast of wind hit her when she stepped outside. She turned her eyes towards the island. It was blanketed in snow with several mountains and tall trees all around it. "Wow."

"You're going to freeze out here," Minako said.

Fina didn't move her eyes from the mountains but she did feel something warm covering her shoulders. "It's amazing!"

"First time seeing snow?" Marco asked.

"Yeah." Fina nodded. "It never snows on my home island. And I've never crossed one before during my travels. I can't believe I'm actually seeing this. It really is a wonderland. I love it!"

"Then this will be a fun experience for you," Ace said.

Fina finally pulled her eyes away from the island. She found her pirate friends staring at her in their winter coats. "When did you all get here?"
"Just now," Cadmar said.

A chilling wind blew sending goosebumps up and down Fina's arms. She slipped inside of the coat and zipped it up. "Thanks."

"No problem," Minako said. "I figured you didn't have one. So you can borrow this one whenever you need it."

"Great," Fina said slipping her arms into it. "Are we docked yet?"
"You're in a hurry," Thatch said.

"Of course I am," Fina said shifting from foot to foot. "I have to get on the island."

"You really that impressed with snow?" Marco asked.

"Yes and no. But I'm more excited to get a hold of my second…" Fina cut herself off. If Whitebeard knew of her second gem he'd probably find it first and keep it from her like he was currently doing.

"What were you going to say?" Cadmar asked.

"Nothing. I want to build a snowman," Fina said. The ship docked. She jogged in place like a child getting ice cream. "Can we go now?"

Ace laughed. "You're funny."

"Come on! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Fina bounced on her feet until the gangplank was in place. She wasted no time in running over to it, down it, and onto the island. Before she could get another step closer to her gem, she was jerked backwards. "Hey!"

"And where do you think you're going, Girl?" Whitebeard asked.

"Not again!" Fina kicked her feet. "Why must you always pick me up like this?! Let me go!"

"You are not allowed off this ship without Marco and Ace," Whitebeard said. "Or did you forget that?"
"I didn't forget!" Fina snapped. "And they are with me!"

"They are still on the ship." Whitebeard turned so she could see her two babysitters looking down at her.

"Jerks! You could have followed me!" Fina said.

"We could have, but this is much more entertaining," Marco said with a smirk.

"What?! How dare you?!" Fina kicked her foot at the pirate. "Jerk! You're going to pay for that!"

"He's right," Ace said. "This is amusing."

Fina's cheeks flushed.

"What? No insult for Ace?" Cadmar called. "That's so cute. You really do have a cru-"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Fina said.

"One day, Fina," Cadmar said. "One day."

"One day for what?" Ace asked.

"Well…" Cadmar smirked.

"You do and I'll kill you!" Fina said.

"Keep an eye on her," Whitebeard said throwing Fina towards her two guards.

"Ouch!" Fina whined when her body collided with the cold, hard ground. "You rotten old goat! You could have broken a bone!"

"You'll survive." Whitebeard turned and walked away.

Fina glared at his back before standing up. "I'm going to get him one day."

"Sure you are," Marco said. "What shall we do now?"
Go get my gem, Fina thought to herself. "Let's find a good place to play in the snow."

"Fine with me," Ace said.

"All right," Marco said. "But we're not staying in the cold all the time."

"Fine, fine," Fina said walking towards her gem. "Just a little fun and get back go inside or something."

Ace and Marco followed after her.

"What's the hurry?" Ace asked when Fina broke into a sprint.

Fina didn't answer. Her gem was close. Just on the other side of the trees she was looking at. Suddenly, she stopped. Her senses heightened. Something was wrong. She sensed all three of her gems. Her body barely moved when Ace plowed into her.

"Hey, why did you stop?" Ace asked.

"Something's not right," Fina said.

"What do you mean?" Marco stepped up beside her.

"They…all three of them are here," Fina said. "It shouldn't be like that. Why? Why are they all three here?"
"What are you talking about?" When she didn't answer, Ace snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Fina? Hello?"

"This isn't right!" Fina bolted past them.

"Fina! Wait!" Ace called after before. He and Marco followed. "You can't leave our sight!"

Fina broke into the forest. When she came out the other side, she almost fell into a ravine. She wobbled. Snow and dirt fell from the edge of the cliff.

"Fina!" Ace grabbed her and pulled her back to his chest. "What were you thinking?! You could have killed yourself!"

"Um, sorry," Fina mumbled. She gulped. His heart was pounding erratically even though his thick jacket. She turned in his arms and looked at him. "Sorry."

"Don't be so reckless," Ace said, scanning her face.

"Sorry. Again," Fina said, unable to take her eyes of him.

"Don't mind me," Marco said.

Fina jerked away from Ace, forgetting the other man was with them. Her cheeks flushed.

"Anyway, tell me why you ran off like that," Marco said.

"I sense them," Fina said.

"Sense what?" Ace asked.

"All three of my gems are here," Fina said. "They shouldn't be. Something's wrong."

"What do you mean?" Marco asked.

"The gems are a test, of sorts," Fina said. "They were scattered over the world when I was born. I was suppose to gather them to…" She shook her head. "They just shouldn't be on the same island. Someone else must have found them."

"Like who?" Ace asked.

Fina gasped. She whipped around when her gems came closer. Her eyes went to the sky. He was coming. She would know him anywhere and at anytime. Helanded, a triumphant smile on his cracked lips. "You."

"Good to see you again, Serafina," he said. His black hair had grey streaks in it but his cold black eyes were the same.

Fina's hackles rose. Her heart pounded hard in her chest. A shiver ran up and down her spine.

"Fina, what's going on?" Ace asked. "Who is this guy?"

"Val," Fina hissed. "Why do you have those gems?"
"These?" Val pulled his hand from his pocket, revealing two gems identical to the one Whitebeard was currently holding.

"What are you doing with those?! Tell me! Why do you have them?!" Fina stared at the two gems in his hand.

"I think that should be obvious, my love," Val said.

Fina shrunk away from him, wrapping her arms around her stomach to protect herself.

"My love?" Ace's eyes darted between Fina and this new guy. "You two are a couple?"

"No," Fina said. "He's not my…he's an enemy."

"Now, love, is that anyway to talk to your beloved?" Val's black eyes sparkled.

Fina shivered. Lust was building in his eyes. She hated his eyes. She wanted to rip them out with her hands.

"Look, I don't know what's going on, but you stay away from her," Ace said.

Val smirked. "Stay back, pirate. This is between me and her."

"I'm not backing down," Ace said. "Fina's my friend. And it's clear she doesn't want you here. So leave."

"Not going to happen," Val said. "Right, Fina? You know what I want."

"And what's that?" Marco asked.

"Go ahead," Val said. "Tell them, Serafina, my love. Tell them how you belong to me."

"I don't belong to you!" Fina snapped. "You wanted to rape me!"

"What?!" Ace looked at Fina before glaring at Val.

"It's all your fault," Fina said. "You shouldn't have tired to rape or drown me!"

"He tried to…" Ace started be he couldn't finish. His body flared up with his fire. "You're going to pay for hurting her like that!"

"Sorry, boys," Val said. "I don't have time to play with you."

"Too bad!" Ace charged forward. He only got two feet before a heavy feeling rushed over him. His body drained of energy. He collapsed to the ground. "What the heck?"

"Ace!" Marco transformed. But before he could take to the air, his body drained of energy.

"What did you do to them?!" Fina demanded.

"Nothing much, yet," Val said. "I'm going to make you a deal, my love. You can either come with me and have your gems. Or you can stay here with your friends and lose your home."

"What?" Fina asked.

"I'm going home, love," Val said.

"You can't-" She didn't get to finish.

Val launched an attack. Fire flared up and shot out at her and the pirates.

Fina turned in time to see Ace and Marco flying over the edge. "No!"

"Here's another deal," Val said. "I placed sea stone around their ankles while everyone was distracted by you."

Fina flinched. "You were always fast."

"None of you even noticed," Val said with a grin. "They have quite a fall before they hit. Will you come after your gems or your friends?"
Fina gritted her teeth. All three of her gems were in front of her. Yet there was no way she could get any of them. Both men holding them were far more powerful than she was. She turned and jumped off the cliff.

"See you back home, my love!" Val called after her.

"Crap!" Fina said. Her fire flared up around her body but she wasn't fast enough to catch up with them. They were going to hit. "I can save them but I need to use more of my magic to do so."

Gritting her teeth, she flared up again. Flaming wings appeared from her back. With one single flap, she launched herself down to her friends. She got closer and closer to them. But Marco crashed into a rock, hitting his head. He went limp. Another flap of her wings and she was right on top of them. She grabbed their arms. "Hold on!"

"Fina, what are you doing?!" Ace said. "You can't carry us both! We're too heavy!"

"Just shut up!" Fina said. Pushing her feet towards the ground, she shot fire down towards the bottom of the ravine. Their bodies slowed. She inched them to the ground. Her hands slipping on their arms.

"Fina!" Ace said.

"Shut up!" Fina said again. They landed. She dropped to her knees, breathing heavily. Her fire faded.

"What the heck?" Ace then asked. "What did you do?"

"I am so sorry!" Fina untangled the sea stone from their ankles. The chain was thinner than any she'd have seen before. It made her wonder where he got them and how they were made. She then moved up to Marco to check on his injure. He started to wake up as she wiped away the blood with the sleeve of her coat. "This is all my fault! You could have died! Are you feeling sick? Sleepy? Crap! What are the signs of a concussion?! I can't remember!"

"I'm fine, Fina." Marco took her hands away from his head. "It's only a scratch. It'll heal in a few days."

"Are you kidding?! You hit your head! There's probably internal damage!" Fina said. Tears leaked from her eyes. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know he was here!"

"Who was that guy?" Ace asked. "Did he really…what you said about…"

"It's true," Fina said. "He did try and do all of that." She sat back on the snow and wrapped her arms around herself. "More than once. After the last time our leader banished him from the island. I never would have thought he would go after my gems."

"I think you need to tell us everything," Marco said.

Fina looked at him. The man had sat up. Her eyes locked onto the cut on his forehead. She sighed. "The truth is…" She flared up her fire around her again, showing them her fire wings. "I'm a phoenix of sorts. I'm still human, but my people can also turned into a phoenix. It's a gift my people have had since the first day of life. No one is sure where it came from. It's just something that happens to us. When we're born a gem flame is created when air touched our skin for the first time. It then breaks into three different flames and spread out over the world. When the time comes, we're to leave our home island and looked for them. It's a coming of age sort of thing. Each gem gives us more power."

"More power?" Marco asked.

Fina nodded. "You've seen flames before. They're different colors the hotter they get. Currently my flames are more yellowish orange. One gem will give me pure orange flames. A second gem will give me a red flame. And the finally gem will give me a blue flame. Without them I'll never be whole. If a phoenix fails to collect all three of their gems, they'll lose their magic forever and die."

"What?" Ace gasped.

"Very few have actually died," Fina said. "Maybe about six."

"But it can still happen," Marco said.

Fina nodded. "Val is also the reason I don't like alcohol, just so you know. He was drunk each time when he tried to…"

"So that's why you hate alcoholic drinks," Ace said.

Fina nodded.

"I see now," Marco said. "That's why you're so desperate to get that gem from Pops."

"Yeah." Fina nodded again. "But it won't do me any good now. I'll never be able to take the other two back from Val. And he'll use them anyway he can."

"So where did he go?" Marco looked back up to the cliff.

"He went back to our home island," Fina said. "Or he's heading there. Most likely to seek revenge. He said he would one day."

"How can he do that if your entire island is filled with people who can do what you just did?" Ace asked.

"He must have built up an army or something," Fina said. "He knows it would be suicide if he didn't. I mean he had to do something all this time that he's been out here on the sea."

"But there's still the flames to take into consideration," Marco said. "Val seems like a guy who's going to use every dirty trick in the book to win. How are we supposed to beat him like that?"

"We have our weaknesses, Marco," Fina said. "And our should obviously be-"

"Water!" Ace said. "That's why you freaked out like you did!"

"That's right," Fina said. "We get weak in the water. If we stay too long in it we could die since water puts out fire. That's why I needed you to surround me with your fire. You were relighting the flame inside of me."

"I see," Ace said.

"We also have this things back home called water rings," Fina said. "They're kind of like our sea stone. Basically they're handcuffs as well that allows a small stream of water to circle around our wrists. They weaken us."

"I was wondering how you would punish people who could turn into flames and walk through bars," Ace said smirking at Fina.

"So you figured it out, huh?" Fina scratched her cheek with a cheeky grin.

"It's obvious now," Ace said. "You're like me. But instead of eating a devil fruit you were born with this."

Fina nodded.

"In any case we need to get back to the captain and tell him what happened," Marco said. "You fine with that?"

"It's not like I have a choice," Fina said. "If I'm going to have even the slightest chance of getting my gems from him I'm going to need the gem your captain has." She stood up. "I'll help you two back to the ship, get my gem, and then be on my way then."

"Oh no!" Ace leapt to his feet. He grabbed her wrist.

"What?" Fina blinked.

"You're not going after him alone!" Ace said.

"Ace, now isn't the time for this," Fina said. "I have to leave now. I have to try and stop him."

"That's fine but we're going with you," Ace said, his hand tightened on her wrist.

Fina's eyes dropped to his hand. Her heart skittered with delight that he was touching her, carrying about her. But it had to end. There was no way she would let him or his crew fight her battle. Exhaling she placed her hand over Ace's hand. "I'm sorry, Ace. I can't let you come with me."

"I'm not going to abandon you to him!" Ace said.

"Stop it, Ace," Fina said. "I'm not your little brother. I don't need you to protect me."

"Fina, you're not going alone. And that's final," Ace said.

"I'm not your little brother, Ace." Fina frowned. "I'm leaving. You're staying."

"That's not going to happen!" Ace yelled.

"It is too!" Heat flared up in Fina's chest. She was angry with him for treating her like his kid brother. But mostly she was afraid of losing him. It was clear that they could never be anything more than friends. While she enjoyed being with him and still wanted to be with him, she knew this was the end of their journey. It was time to say goodbye here. "Ace, it's over! I've sailed with you all long enough! I'm leaving! I have to go home!"

"You're not leaving!" Ace said.

"I have to!" Fina said.

"No, you don't! And I'm not going to let you because I have…" Ace trailed off.

"What? You have what?" Fina asked.

"It's just…" Ace released her wrist. He said nothing more.

"Fine. We're done. Let's get you two back to the shi-" Fina's voice was silenced by Ace pressing his lips to hers. Her hands snapped to his chest to push him away, but she couldn't. Closing her eyes she let herself kiss him back. His lips were warm despite being out in the cold. She wondered if it had anything to do with his devil fruit, or if he was just making her hot with his kiss.

Ace pulled away. His warm breath mixed in with hers. "I won't let you fight him alone."

"Ace," Fina whispered.

"I'm sorry," Ace said pulling back. "I shouldn't have done that."

"No, don't be. I don't mind," Fina said.

"You don't?" Ace looked at her, his confusion clear.

Fina shrugged. "I like you. Okay?"

"Oh. Well, I like you too," Ace said. "I was scared that we were really just friends."

"Yeah, well, I was…" Fina had no clue what to say.

"Ahem." Marco cleared his voice, causing the two to jump at the forgotten man. "Sorry to interrupt, again, but we have more important things to worry about than you two working through your awkward feelings for each other."

"Sorry," they said.

"Let's get out of here," Marco said standing up.

"Can you fly?" Ace asked.

"Yeah." Marco nodded and took his devil fruit form.

"Let's go then." Ace flared up.

Fina followed suit and the three shot themselves into the air. Reaching the cliff they fell from, they bolted into the forest until they reached the town. After a short search the three were able to locate their captain. Marco separated from Ace and Fina to speak with the man privately. They then rejoined Ace and Fina and headed back to the ship. There they told Whitebeard what happened.

"I see," Whitebeard said.

"I'm sorry I brought this trouble here," Fina said. "But I really need my gem back now. As much as I'd love to continue our little game we have going, I can't afford to waste time anymore."

"Okay," Whitebeard said.

"Huh?" Fina started at him. She wasn't expecting him to give in so easily.

"But we are going to help you," Whitebeard said. "If we leave it to you who knows what this guy will do to the rest of the pirates."

"Excuse me?" Fina crossed her arms over her chest.

"Marco, report to the medical bay. Ace, gather the crew. We're setting sail," Whitebeard said.

"Ace, Captain." The two men separated.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Fina said.

"You're still not strong enough," Whitebeard said with a secretive grin. "But you have taken a step closer today in becoming stronger."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Fina asked.

"Get ready to set sail, Girl," Whitebeard said. "We have to get to your home island."

"Okay." Fina, totally confused, turned away from Whitebeard and headed for the medical bay to check on Marco. She entered, instantly becoming warmer. She found her friend sitting on the exam table with Raye looking at his head. "How's he doing?"

"He'll survive. But the doctor's going to look at him once he gets back to the ship," Raye said.

"Good," Fina said.

Raye scoffed. "He wouldn't have gotten hurt if it wasn't for you."

"You have got to be kidding," Fina said.

"Raye, that's enough-" Marco started.

"No, Marco. I'll handle this." Fina walked closer to the woman. "Look, Raye, I don't care that you don't like me. You can hate me if all you want to, but I did nothing wrong."

"You got my crewmate-"

"I'm not done talking!" Fina snapped. "You and Kota have been nothing but jerks ever since I came on this ship! I lied! So what?! Like it was the first time you've ever been lied to! Get over yourselves! I'm sorry that Marco got hurt because Val is after me! I feel guilty enough as it is! However, you people are pirates! It's hypocritical to yell at me for him getting hurt when you people have chosen this life! I will not let you and Kota belittle me anymore for any reason! I'm on this ship for now so get use to it!" She called fire to her hand. "If you two want to continue this then we'll fight over it for real. Other than that I'm so done with you two."

Fina spun on her heels and marched out of the room. She didn't want to hear or see Raye anymore. Marco said something but she closed the door and didn't hear him. Back out on the deck, a lot of the crew had returned. She remained on the upper deck, just watching them. Kota then returned. His eyes glared harshly at her. She ignored him. She was really done with him and Raye.

When the rest of the crew returned, they set sail and then Whitebeard explained their situation to them. Shockingly, no one objected to the man's decision. She had expected Kota to say something but he never did. Before long the cold winds of the winter island had faded away to warmer weather. Fina took off her borrowed coat and returned it to the closet. Back outside she crossed her arms over the railing and watched as they headed towards her home island. Her heart skipped a beat when Ace joined her. Mimicking her stance, he lifted a finger and brushed it across her skin.

"You going to be okay with fighting him?" Ace asked. "After all that he's done to you?"

"It's not like I have much of a choice," Fina said. "I'm more worried about what happens after the fight."

"What do you mean?" Ace looked at her.

"It's obvious that he's never going to give up," Fina said. "I've never killed anyone before."

"You don't have to kill him," Ace said. "Breaking every bone in his body would do just as well."

Fina laughed. "Maybe. But he's probably not going to give us the chance. The guy's insane. This will be a fight to the death. It only question is it going to be his or mine."

"It will be his," Ace said. He slipped his hand over hers. "I won't let him kill you."

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