#devil fruit reader

[selfindulgenceisthekey]

𝙼𝚎𝚛𝚞 𝙼𝚎𝚛𝚞 𝚗𝚘 𝙼𝚒: 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

A/N: I have never written for One Piece before. In all honesty, I just started watching the anime. I’ve watched the live action, and I loved it, and I have read a lot of fanfic. Then my brain made this. So here we go.

“We have guests.”

It wasn’t a sentence you were unused to hearing, but normally you were given more time to prepare. You nodded, remaining quiet as Kurozawa stared silently for a beat, before stepping out of your room. One of your handmaids came in after he left, carrying whatever garment he wished you to dress yourself in tonight.

It was golden, as it always was. Thin straps on your shoulders, tight fitting and long, a slit along your leg. You’d look like treasure— his treasure.

You heard a little hum as the maid left, Eimi’s golden eyes, bright and wide, staring up at you questioningly. You smiled at her, running a hand through her hair, playfully poking the tip of her nose.

“Will you be okay by yourself for tonight?”

She shrugged, and that was enough confirmation. She had her papers and pencils, the one raggedy bunny you had managed to convince Kurozawa to buy her. If you played your cards right you’d even be able to bring her back some dinner.

Though, neither of you got your hopes up for that. You changed quickly, the typical routine engrained in your memory. Golden dress, golden jewelry, hair out of your face, minimal makeup, his brand on your bicep always uncovered.

Eimi tapped your hand, pulling your attention to her. She studied your face for a moment, before smiling, signing pretty in her own little language.

“Thank you, my dear,” You leaned down, kissing the crown of her head.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” You headed towards the door, trying to keep a brave face as you turned to her, “Don’t stay up too late, okay?”

She huffed, but nodded. She never argued with your directions, brushing her teeth twice a day, bathing without complaint, never staying up too late.

The guards outside said nothing as you stepped out, locking the door behind you, and leading you down the halls. They were covered with art, paintings of the Kurozawa family, pottery far too expensive to look as cheap as it did.

You wondered who the guests this evening would be.

Marines? No, he would have made you dress just a bit more decent.

It wasn’t a fellow warlord, there would have been more gossip whispered through the halls.

You knew better than to ask the guards, the pair taking their place in the dininghall as you entered. You were momentarily surprised to see the guests were already seated, plates full of food before them.

Kurozawa was seated at his usual space, the head of the table, your seat to his left open, the plate, as usual, empty.

“There she is,” He grinned, and years of being accustom to him were the only thing keeping you from recoiling in disgust.

You kept your face stoic, head lowered as you took your seat. He continued to the guests.

“My song bird, ladies and gentlemen,” He introduced you to the group, and you could feel their curious gazes upon you.

Your eyes remained forward, the air of elegance as you sat, back straight.

“She doesn’t look like a bird.”

The sentence had you blinking, fighting the urge to look at whoever said that. Kurozawa snorted, amused yet annoyed at the stupidity.

“It’s merely a pet-name, strawhat.”

Wait.

Strawhat?

You glanced over, heart stuttering in your chest as you made eye contact with one Monkey D. Luffy. He was eating, looking back at you rather curiously. What—

What were the strawhat pirates doing here?

Kurozawa continued to speak, and you broke the staring contest that was going on between you and the pirate captain.

“Now, I am very grateful that you all have chosen to come visit. To be quite frank, your reputation exceeds you all. A powerful crew such as yourself.”

Ah, okay. That makes sense. He wanted to work with them; which meant he wants them to work for him. He’d hired pirate crews before, having them do his bidding. Pillaging and stealing, being the ones to be in trouble with the marines while he sat back and watched his gold pile up.

“With that being said; I’d like to make a deal with you.”

You watched with morbid curiosity, and mild disgust, as the strawhat captain continued to pile food on his plate. His stomach seemed like a never ending pit.

“What’s that?” Crumbs littered his mouth, and you had to fight the physical recoil.

His other members didn’t, the red headed woman, cat burglar Nami, you believe, wrinkled her nose at him, watching as crumbs littered the table before him. She looked like she was seconds away from scolding him. The blonde man, black-leg Sanji, shared an equally annoyed looked. They seemed to have manners, refraining from scolding the man for the mess he’s been making.

“I wish to hire you all, create a contract between the strawhats and the Kurozawa-family. For the foreseeable future.”

He sat back in his seat, cocky and confident as he always was, “Money is no issue, truly. You name your price, and I’ll set you up with weapons, men, and maps, so long as you do as I request of you.”

There was silence, the pirate crew all looking between each other, silent conversations being bad.

“Hey— is there any more of this stuff?” The captain waved around one of the bones from the lamb legs.

You saw the way Kurozawa’s eye twitched, his question being ignored entirely. He cleared his throat, clearly fighting to keep his temper in check.

“Of course.” He snapped his fingers, and a few servants hurried forward, more plates of food being placed on the table, taking away empty trays.

At the rate he ate there would be no leftovers to bring Eimi. That thought alone was the most disappointing part of this evening so far.

“Are you not going to serve your lady?”

“I beg your pardon?”

Kurozawa’s attention turned to black-leg, eyes narrowing at the question thrown his way. The blonde man’s head tilted your way, “Your songbird, her plates still rather empty.”

The gazes of the crew turned to you, and the rapt attention made your face heat up. Kurozawa laughed, a forced sound.

“She eats in the comfort of her own suite, she prefers her privacy. Now, back to my offer—”

The blonde man stood from his seat, the chair scrapping against the floor. He walked behind the others, who shook their heads, moving close to you. Your plate was soon filled with different items: meat and veggies, sauteed potatoes and toasted bread. The scent alone had your mouth watering.

“A lady should always be served first, especially one as beautiful as you,” His words were directed towards you, and you for once, found yourself silent, because you were unable to response.

Kurozawa slammed his fist against the table, cutlery rattling, and you jumped in your seat, tearing your gaze away from the pirate.

“Now,” He was seething, black-leg returning to his seat, “My offer. I—”

“Nah.”

The silence following the response nearly had you choking on your spit. Kurozawa was frozen where he sat. “Nah?”

Luffy shrugged, “Nami told me what you do. I don’t wanna work for you. Plus, helping you isn’t gonna help any of us get to the grand-line.”

You could see the vein popping out of Kurozawa’s neck. He wasn’t used to being told no, not so bluntly of course. Face red, he sat back in his seat, trying to force an aura of nonchalance.

“I can offer you a new ship, something better. Far faster.”

“No. I like my ship. She’ll get us where we need to go.”

He huffed, gaze turning towards you, anger and demand clear in his gaze. You held your sigh in, glancing down to your plate. You turned towards him, trying to will that feeling back into your chest.

“You won’t consider helping Sir Kurozawa?”

Luffy looked towards you, as did the others. This was the first time you’d spoken, or even looked up really, since entering the room.

“If he really needed help then sure, but he doesn’t. The only reason we came was ‘cause the invite said there’d be dinner!”

You could feel Kurozawa’s heated gaze on you. It didn’t work. That was fine, you could do it, you had to.

You tried again, “You should consider helping him, it’s rather important to him.”

“Look lady,” The swordsman spoke, voice gruff and startling, “You already have our answer.”

You could feel the panic growing in your chest, but you clamped it down. Panicking wouldn’t get you anywhere.

“You should consider helping him.”

You could see the words take effect, pausing his motions, eyes glazing over as your powers worked— finally. Kurozawa hummed, a pleased sound from the back of his throat.

“Alright,” You heard the unsheathing of swords as his crew reacted.

Oh no— you were so focused on ensuring you got to the captain your focus ignored the others. Guards in the area all stood at attention, swords and guns drawn.

“Now now,” Kurozawa spoke up, and you sat back on your seat, trying to curl into yourself as best as you could, “Let’s not act too hasty.”

Luffy’s eyes were clear now, staring at you with curiosity.

“That was so cool— how did you do that?”

“Luffy!”

“I—” You clamped your mouth shut, so fast your teeth clacked painfully.

You heard your name be called— barked almost. An order. You knew what that meant.

You stood, the same guards as earlier moving to your side to escort you back to your room. The full plate of food remained on the table, untouched. You were taken quickly back to your room, hearing voices back in the dining hall as you left.

“Hey wait— how’d you do that?”

“Luffy we have bigger problems than that!”

“Strawhat, you’d do well to not continue to deny my offer.”

You did your best to block out the noise as you got back to your room, the door unlocked and you stumbled in. Eimi was curled up on the bed, not asleep, and looked over at you curiously.

You were back far earlier than you normally were.

You smiled at her, “I wanted to make sure I got back before you fell asleep,” You hated that these little white lies came to you so easily when speaking to her.

She pouted, not entirely believing you, but she sat up, watching as you changed into one of the few sets of pajamas you owned. You slipped into the bed, her small frame hurrying to curl up in your arms. You hummed, a low tune, a simple lullaby you had made up for her.

She huffed, leaning back to look at you. You okay?

“I’m fine, Kurozawa wanted to talk business with his guests. Boring stuff.”

She narrowed her eyes at you, and you pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead, distracting her. “Shush now, it’s time to sleep, okay?”

Despite your hope that she’d nod off, she stayed wide awake, as did you. It was hard to sleep, with all you could hear. Even muffled, you could hear that fight that had started.

There was yelling, orders being barked from Kurozawa, no doubt throwing his men forward to hide from the fight himself. You could hear guns going off, the sound of swords clashing against each other. You wanted to scream into one of your pillows— but you knew you had to remain calm for Eimi.

God, you knew how greedy Kurozawa was, how horrible of a person he could be. But to go and make enemies of the Strawhats? What was his next goal— challenge Dracula “Hawk Eye” Mihawk himself? Sure, Kurozawa collected swords, beautiful and strong, but the man had never even held one.

Where he may lack in strength and brains he made up for in numbers. The amount of people under his thumb; indebted, paid, bought, rivaled almost any group you had heard of.

You felt the hairs on your arms stiffen, and though you weren’t sure for what, you sat up, hurrying to pull Eimi into your arms. She made a panicked noise, no doubt eyes wide as she stared up at you, but your attention was on the bedroom door.

The fighting sound was quieter but still there, but that wasn’t what caught your attention.

The guards outside were moving, calling out commands. Loud, metallic sounds echoed in the hall before there was silence. The door handle jiggled, and you moved quickly.

There weren’t any windows, Kurozawa was worried you’d try and escape anyway you could, just as there were no items you could use as a weapon.

Not without proper planning, at least.

You deposited Eimi in a corner, her little arms reaching for you broke your heart but you pulled away, quietly telling her to stay put. You opened a dresser drawer, frantically sorting through the stupid items before you found what you needed. It was small, and in a real fight would provide nothing for you. But in a moment of panic or surprise it could at least buy you time. A piece of sharpened, broken pottery, tied tightly to the end of a makeup brush.

Both items you had scored through “clumsy acts”, and both had resulted in punishment, but they at the very least gave you chance to form your own, mini scalpel type weapon.

The moment your fingers wrapped around it, the door flew open. Quite literally. Annoyed or frustrated with the lock, the person took to breaking it off the hinges, and you reared back, eyes wide as it fell to the floor.

Through the debris you saw him step in, hat still in place. Monkey D. Luffy walked in, eyeing the room curiously, before his gaze turned to you.

You were trembling, you could see it, less feel it, holding the sharp end of your weapon out towards him. You had moved so Eimi was behind you.

“Hello!” He sounded so childishly cheerful, as if he didn’t just knock out the guards outside your room and break the door down, “I’m Monkey D. Luffy, I’m gonna become the king of the pirates. I never learned how you did that at dinner— it was so cool! Did you eat a devil fruit?”

Pt. 2

[heartsforseo]

Strawhats with an author member

Summary: You're an author (you go by anon), and one day you ate a devil fruit. Now you can trap people inside your novels. (I think you BSD fans know where I'm going...) The straw hats found you and decided to invite you. (You said yes...cuz that's literally what this story is abt and cuz u were bored).

You live on a small island somewhere in the new world. You work as an author who goes by the pen name "S".

Usually, pirates would come to your island twice a month. The townsfolk were very friendly and you sometimes stepped in when pirates crossed over the line.

One day, you and your friend were hanging out in a small secluded alleyway. Your back was against the only entrance and you were facing your friend who was already opening the mystery novel.

"Good luck," you had said.

Your friend only nodded. Bright yellow light surrounded the both of you. When the light finally disappeared, your friend was gone, and the closed book fell to the ground. You picked it up and turned around, ready to leave the alleyway.

Your eyes locked in with a black one. A 5'11 man with a straw hat was staring right at you with mouth agape from amazement.

Your eyes widened, and you were about to open the book facing his way. But his arm suddenly stretched and took your book before you could open it.

"COOL!!! How did you do that?!" The guy wearing the straw hat asked.

"Shh, don't be too loud or the others will catch us," you walked towards the man, "they don't know about my ability. And I would like to keep it that way."

You took the book from the stranger's hand and walked away. The rubber man beside you said, "That's an awesome ability. How about you join my crew?"

You stop walking and look right into his eyes. "Crew? I don't know anything about you and would like to keep it that way."

The man only smiled back and responded, "Is information all you want? Well then, I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I will be the king of the Pirates!" He raised both of his hands and made a fist. All this while smiling.

"King of the pirates? Don't make me laugh. Plus, I decided to live here for all my life."

"Really?? But don't you want to go on an adventure? I and my crew always go on fun adventures. You will never be bored!"

Before I could say anything back, a woman with long orange hair came up to me and Luffy.

"There you are! We're gonna leave in 2 days. Next time don't dash away and wait for us, Luffy!" The tangerine girl said.

The girl who was scolding Luffy finally noticed me and apologized. She then introduced herself and dragged Luffy by the ear. I watched the scene until they vanished into the crowd and walked off. I hope that my friend is almost done with the book.

I went to different places for inspiration. Being a mystery writer was no easy task. Especially if you only have a limited view. The sun was almost setting, and my friend was still stuck. My new story really did a poll on them.

I walked into Naty's bar and ordered a drink. Luffy's sentence rang into my head. An adventure? I wonder what it'll be like...My books had always sailed the sea, but shouldn't the author, too? No. Being a pirate is dangerous. My view may be limited, but my mind is not.

As long as I have a paper and pen, I can do anything...is what I would like to say. I took a few berries, placed them on the counter, and left the bar. Today took a sour turn.

A/n: This was supposed to be a head cannon but I accidentally made it as a story...so uh... ALSO PLEASE REQUEST IM BORED AF :((( part 2 getting posted...tomorrow? BTW WHAT SHOULD BE THE DEVIL FRUIT NAME BE???

[eternalmoonlight18]

Please Please Please (Don't Prove 'Em Right) Chapter 5

Trafaglar Law x afab Female!Reader

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter warnings: slight descriptions of pain, gore, and panic attacks.

Summary:

You are the Heart Pirates' beloved cook and sniper. However, you were also an insufferable troublemaker who always seemed to get on Law's nerves. He swears he's going to get rid of you one day, but as much as he hates it, why does he find you fascinating? Was it because you reminded him of someone he was greatly fond of?

As your relationship with Law grows, he only hopes you don't fucking embarrass him. After all, he has an image to uphold as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

This story starts off as short stories between (Y/N), Law and the Heart Pirates, then picks up into the One Piece canon timeline, starting from Punk Hazard. This is a slow-burn Law x Female Reader story!

Updates every Sunday!

Cross-posted in Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57651295/chapters/146705491

Chapter 5: The Devil Fruit

Chapter summary: You discover that Law plans to take down Doflamingo and his possible alliance with the Strawhats. You angrily get off the submarine, misunderstanding why Law needed to do it on his own. Not affording to lose his only cook on the ship, he chases after you, only to find that you have eaten a devil fruit from a nearby island.

A/N: ANGST ANGST ANGST CHAPTER!!! we're getting closer to the canon timeline! I also just came back from vacation so yeah lol. I also apologize for the late post, I came back trip and I was exhausted LOL.

PS, can you guess who your brother is in this story now? The type of Devil Fruit you ate will be revealed in the end hehe.

Also CW/TW: slight descriptions of pain, gore, and panic attacks.

I also created a taglist. Let me know if you want to be a part of it!

wc: 5k

In the middle of the night, the Polar Tang was eerily quiet. By now, the Heart Pirates have gone to bed. However, in the captain's room, a faint light can be seen seeping through the cracks of the room's door. Law is sitting on his bed, holding a tattered grey hooded shawl. His tattooed hands gently caressed it as he recalls the time when he wore the fabric. It was the day when he lost his saviour. He could never bring himself to throw out the dirty old shawl, even though it brought back one of the worst moments of his life, because it was the only thing that he had in memory of his saviour, Corazon.

The doctor leaned against the headboard of his bed and sighed as he closed his eyes. He had to make this plan work. It was a tough decision to leave his crew behind and to leave you behind, but if he wanted to succeed in taking down Kaido, he needed to face his worst nightmare first, which was the man who killed his saviour. As he gripped the shawl tighter, his eyes drifted to his desk where your bounty poster lay.

In the past couple of months, Law had gotten closer to you, the crew's cook and sniper. What used to be a mutual relationship of captain and crew has evolved into a friendship, but his heart began to yearn for something more. He was unsure if you felt the same way, but he also knew that it was foolish to act upon his feelings as he was a dangerous criminal. Putting his crew and his friends in danger due to association is something he does not want, especially if it comes to a romantic association. So he decided it was best to protect his crew, to protect you, and the best way to do it was to act on this plan with a different crew.

The tattooed captain sighed as he put away the shawl on his bedside table.

"Please forgive me everyone, (Y/n)-ya, but I must leave soon. I need to keep all of you safe and I cannot afford to lose anyone again," he murmured as he turned off the lamp that illuminated his room. He was ready to tell the crew about his plans tomorrow.

But little did he know, you were listening to him the whole time at his door.

-------------------

The next morning, Law was met with a piece of bread on his plate at the dining table. The whole crew was eating breakfast, and he decided to join. But while you served everyone what they wanted to eat, you dropped a plate of hot garbage in front of your captain.

Angrily glaring down at Law at his seat, you kicked his seat, encouraging him to eat up. Your captain looked up at you with deadpan eyes.

"You're joking right?" he griped. "You out of all people should know that I hate bread (Y/n)-ya."

You shrugged. "I know. But everything else ran out, so eat it," you said.

"You just served Hakugan his second serving of rice balls. What do you mean you don't have anything left?" Law argued. The captain glared at Hakugan who was sitting across from him. The poor man had his cheeks full of rice balls and tried to look away.

Law glanced back at you and saw your eyes flare up with anger. "Did I do something to anger you (Y/n)-ya?" he asked.

You crossed your arms. "I don't know captain, you tell me. Did you do something?" you scoffed.

A vein started to pop on the doctor's forehead. "I don't have time for your petty games. If you have a problem with me say it right now." he gritted.

"Is that so? Well if you want it straightforward, please enlighten us on your plans to ditch the crew." you spat out.

The dining hall suddenly became quiet as the whole crew looked toward you and Law. The tattooed doctor simply sighed.

"The captain is leaving us?!"

"Wait where is he going?"

"How come we're just finding this out right now?"

The murmurs of the crew started to pick up. Bepo started to bombard Law with more questions, while Shachi and Penguin just blankly stared at their captain.

The captain rubbed his temple and glared up at you. "What gave you the idea that I was going to ditch the crew?" he questioned.

Your eye twitched in irritation. "Don't act foolish captain, I overheard you saying that you were going to leave soon!" you shouted at him.

Suddenly, Law realized that you had heard him talking to himself last night. "Why were you eavesdropping at my door last night?" he questioned.

"Stop avoiding the question captain." you spat back.

Realizing that it was useless to keep his plans under cover, the captain stood up and began to address the crew. "Since our dear cook eavesdropped on me last night and got the wrong idea, I will just tell you all now what I was going to say later on in the day," he announced.

The dining hall once fell into silence again, with everyone giving their undivided attention to their captain. Law looked at everyone, then at you, then back at everyone with hesitant eyes.

"For the next month or so, I will be going on a solo mission to take down Doflamingo, who is Kaido." he declared. "This is a two-step plan so please listen carefully. I will depart a week after we reach the New World. I will head to Punk Hazard, which is where the SMILE fruits are being produced. I plan to capture the head of production there, Caesar and use him as a bargaining chip for Doflamingo, who is a direct subordinate of Kaido as he is the one supplying the Emperor. I will force him to step down from the Warlord status and eventually will defeat him with the help of the Strawhats."

He paused for a few seconds and then continued. "I need all of you to head to Zou once I depart. We will meet there once I accomplish what I need to do. As your captain, I ask you to please trust me with this plan." he finished.

You were completely bewildered. Even though you were given a clear explanation, somehow this made you even angrier than before. Did the captain not trust you or the crew enough to assist him? It was a dangerous plan and he wanted to do it all by himself without

But before you could speak up, Penguin suddenly spoke up. "We trust you captain! You can trust us to follow through with your plan!" he affirmed.

"Yeah! Finally, you decide to take him down!" Shachi also encouraged.

"Captain!! Please be safe and come back to us!!" Bepo cried out.

The entire crew suddenly burst out into cheers, encouraging and reassuring their captain that his plan would be a success. Seeing that his crew trusted him, he let out a small smile. However, when he looked back at you, who was by his side the whole time, you were looking down with your eyes darkened. You were trembling, and Law was unsure if it was out of anger or sadness.

Law attempted to reach out to you. "(Y/n)-ya-"

"ALL OF YOU ARE IDIOTS!" you suddenly screamed.

Everyone stopped and looked at you. They saw a side of you that they never saw; you were furious. You were shaking from head to toe, with both of your hands clutched in anger. Your breath was laboured, breathing heavy as your chest heaved up and down and your face was scrunched up in a scowl.

Turning around to face Law, you grabbed the collar of his black coat and sneered. "What kind of stupid plan is that?! You're just going to get up and leave?! You don't trust any of us to help you?!" you spat at him.

Law's face twisted into a cloudy expression. His grey eyes bore into yours, with conflicted feelings written all over his face.

"I trust that all of you, especially you (Y/n)-ya to follow through with my plan. I just said that I trusted everyone here to meet me at Zou for the second part of my plan." he calmly said.

"It's not trust when none of us are assisting you. Are we a burden Captain Law? Do we hold you back? Why are you reaching out to others to help you?" you pressed on. Your angry facade started to fade and was being replaced with hurt and sadness.

"Y/N! You're pushing it!" Ikkaku yelled out to you.

"Isn't it disrespectful to question the captain's authority and motives?" Jean Bart murmured.

You let go of the collar and faced the rest of the crew. "Are all of you that blind to see that he does not trust us to help him? Why are all of you agreeing with him?" you argued.

Shachi stepped up to you and glared. "(Y/n), if the captain says that's the plan, we have to follow it." he countered.

Your eyes bore into Law's once more. "Answer me oh dear captain. What's the reason for doing this without us?" you questioned once more.

Law never had anyone one of his crew members question his plans or authority. Seeing you speak up and question him made him feel uncomfortable and angry. He was the captain and he knew what was best for you and for everyone in the submarine.

"Because (Y/n)-ya, this whole operation is something I need to do alone. I need all of you to be safe, and this mission can result in casualties. I am not trying to lose all of my crew in this." he lowly answered.

That was not the answer you wanted to hear.

"So what you're saying is, we're too weak to help?" you breathily said.

"That's not what I meant-" he started but you cut him off with a sarcastic laugh.

"We're pirates, captain. What makes you think we can't hold out on our own? We fought mercilessly against marines and other pirates, but you think we cannot handle some big shot like Doflamingo?!" you screamed at him.

The captain had enough of your disrespect towards him. Why couldn't you see that he was trying to protect you?

"(Y/n)-ya! You are to follow my orders! Have trust in me as your captain!" he finally shouted back.

"Trust? You have the guts to talk about trust when you can't even trust us to fight alongside you!" you countered back at him.

The entire crew watched you and Law scream at each other like a tennis match. The once easy-going vibe was now replaced with suffocating tension in the dining room.

You took a step back as your eyes started to well up. You were hurt that the captain decided to toss you and the crew aside for a mission. You didn't understand why he couldn't trust everyone enough to fight with him. After all, it was your duty as his subordinate right?

Or was it your duty because you didn't want him to leave your side?

"I had so much respect for you captain. Now, I don't know," you whispered, finally breaking the silence. You felt your heart hammering through your chest, anxious about the whole situation.

However, the next sentence that Law said broke your heart even more.

"If you don't agree with me, then feel free to leave (Y/n)-ya."

Your eyes darkened as your head hung, looking at the floor. The whole crew gasped and started to murmur.

"Hey, he must be joking right?"

"Well, she started questioning the captain and disrespecting him."

"Hey (Y/n), you're not going to leave right?"

You looked back up at Law, but instead of tears filling your eyes, he saw an unreadable expression. He knew he shouldn't have said those words, but he couldn't take them back. He understood the difficult decisions he had to make as a leader of a pirate crew. It was either he kept you safe or risk losing you forever. By choosing the former, it was best that if you refused to follow his plan, he would rather have you leave his crew.

You let out a soundless laugh. You thought he would care, but turns out he was willing to throw you away. You turned to your right and spoke to Bepo as you finally decided. "Bepo, surface this submarine right now," you said.

The mink started to panic. "(Y/n)-san-"

"Surface. Now," you darkly ordered. The polar bear started apologizing profusely as he scrambled to the helm of the submarine.   

Penguin and Shachi scurried up to you in panic. "Hey (Y/n)! You know that captain didn't mean that right?" Penguin tried to explain.

Ikkaku also hurried by your side. "No wait! Don't go we need you!" she begged.

You bitterly smiled at your friends. "No, clearly I have overstayed my welcome here. I'm going." you sighed. As they tried to reach out and hug you, you shrugged them off and stormed off to your room to pack your things.

The entire crew started to frantically urge their captain to take his words back and not let you go. But amidst the chaos, he could only watch your figure disappear out the door as his heart ached.

30 minutes later, you were gone and out of the Polar Tang.

---------------------

You sailed your small boat towards a small island populated with lush forest with sand that surrounded the area. You only had your clothes, some food, a log pose and your denden mushi in your essentials bag. You were rowing for two hours so you collapsed in exhaustion when you set foot on the sanded beach. With your back on the sand, you stared up at the clear blue sky as the sun shone bright. Recalling your argument with Law, your eyes started to well up with tears, this time letting them run freely down the sides of your face. You immediately brought your hands to your eyes and attempted to wipe them as you wailed in desperation. You thought you and Law were friends, you thought that you were respected as much as you respected him. All the times you got to know him, and became closer with your captain, was all for nothing.

After crying for a good 30 minutes, you got up and proceeded to make your way into the forest with your bag in tow. You were now wearing a tank top with black baggy pants. It was the first time you wore regular clothes in a while. Trudging through the sand, you found yourself coming in contact with something small on your left foot. You look down to see a pear-like fruit lying halfway buried in the sand. It piqued your interest, so you crouch down and pick it up with your left hand. Looking closely, it was decorated with swirls with a weird feather-shaped stem on top.

"Weird, this looks like a Devil Fruit," you muttered as you gave it a sniff. You decided to put it in your bag and continued to trudge in the forest. You explored around for twenty minutes, looking for a place to rest. After an hour of walking, you were starting to get dehydrated and hungry. You also noticed it started to get darker. Looking up, you realized that storm clouds quickly gathered and rain was slowly starting to fall, so you picked up your pace and started running, hoping to run into a big tree to shelter under. However, a tree root caught on your right foot, and you fell to the ground, hitting your head on a small log. The bag that you were holding fell in front of your face with the contents spilling out of it.

The last thing you saw before you blacked out was the Devil Fruit rolling out of your bag.

--------------------

"Captain...we have to go back for (Y/n)-san!" Bepo pleaded as he gripped Law's left leg.

The captain was sitting crosslegged as he read a book on the common area couch of the Polar Tang. He was dressed in a simple black tee with his signature spotted jeans. He simply grunted in response, his eyes not looking away from the book.

Shachi, Penguin and Ikkaku stood in front of their captain. All three of them were visibly pissed and worried that their dear friend and crewmate left.

"Captain! Please be reasonable! I get it that she was somewhat disrespectful, but she doesn't know the real reason for your plan!" Shachi spluttered.

"Shachi is right!" Penguin agreed. "She doesn't know about Corazon at all!"

As Corazon was mentioned, the tattooed doctor let out a 'tch' as a vein started to pop up on his temple.

Ikkaku rolled her eyes. "Both of you don't know how to communicate with one another, and you guys aren't official yet," she muttered.

Law whipped his head up and glared at his crew member. "Are you implying that I would be in a romantic relationship with one of my subordinates?" he hissed.

"Oh come on cap, it was so obvious you have a crush on her." the curly-haired girl spat back.

He remained silent after that. The three crewmates looked at each other with blank faces.

The polar bear proceeded to get up and sat on the floor at Law's feet. "I'm worried for her Captain. You know how clumsy she can be. What if she hits her head or accidentally drowns?" the mink fretted.

The captain's left foot started to tap on the floor. Seeing that Law was starting to get anxious with the idea of you getting hurt, Shachi started to rile him up even more.

"Yeah, you're right Bepo. Knowing Y/n, she might get eaten by a large snake or something." he hummed.

"Remember the time she pissed off this giant bear and almost got her head bitten off?" Ikkaku added on.

"Oh yeah! I also remembered when she lit herself on fire when-" Penguin continued before he got cut off.

"Okay! We will retrieve her." Law said finally snapping as he suddenly rose from the couch. The four crewmates suddenly broke up into a smile and cheered.

The captain frowned as he proceeded to exit the common area and started to walk to the helm.

"You're lucky I care about you (Y/n)-ya," he lowly muttered as he got ready to surface his submarine.

-----------------

The first thing you felt waking up was your stomach rumbling.

Your eyes slowly opened as you started to gain consciousness. Your entire body was completely wet and covered with leaves and dirt. You shivered as you felt the cold breeze hit your skin. As your body started to wake up, you felt a sharp pain on your right foot and your forehead as you tried to get up.

"Urghh," you groaned as you pushed yourself up to sit on your bum. Your stomach growled loudly in hunger. Clutching your stomach with your left arm in hunger pain, you started to pat with your right hand around the area for the food that had fallen out of your bag since your sight was still blurry. The first thing your hand came in contact with was what seemed to be a small fruit with lumps, so you picked it up and proceeded to bite into it absentmindedly.

As you chewed the fruit in your mouth, you immediately became repulsed at how disgusting it tasted. Your face twisted in disgust as you continued to chew it and swallow it. After a few bites, your vision started to clear up and looked down to see what you were eating.

"Oh shit!" you shouted as you dropped the fruit. You scrambled to get up, but your legs gave up on you as your face met the ground. Getting up once again, your heart started to palpitate as you realized you had eaten a Devil Fruit.

Tears started to gather in your eyes again as you attempted to throw up the fruit. "No, no, no, no!" you mentally screamed as you attempted to wretch up the fruit from your stomach. "I refuse to be like my devil fruit freak of a brother!"

Your fingers started to dig into the ground, Your head started to spin as you started to breathe heavily. Tears dripped down your face and into the ground, as you slammed your head into the ground as you tried to throw up. While your panic attack starting to show, Law and the Heart Pirates started to show up by your side.

Law heard your screams once he set foot on the nearest island he found. He figured you would be at this deserted forest island since it was the nearest one to the submarine. Your wails echoed through the forest and into the beachy area of the island. As soon as the captain heard your screams, his heart dropped and started to sprint into the forest. Running the fastest he's ever run, he followed the sound of your yells until he spotted you, on all fours with your head down. The tattooed doctor's heart raced as he hoisted you up off the ground. His eyes scanned your body as he saw your entire body littered with dirt and grime. Your right foot was completely bloody and a lump started to show on the side of your head.

You looked up to see who picked you up and were met with familiar steel-grey eyes. Blinking away your tears, you started to shake as you realized that your captain had come back from you. His face expressed great concern, with his iris trembling as he gripped onto your left arm tightly.

"C-captain?" you quietly squeaked.

The next thing you knew, your head collided with his broad chest as he enveloped you in a hug.

"You stupid, stupid girl." He lowly muttered into your left ear. You lightly blushed as you felt his warm hands hold onto your hips. You felt your breath starting to stabilize. With your emotions at an all-time high, you continued to cry and shake in Law's chest.

The rest of the crew caught up to Law and saw your battered body in his arms. They all cried out to you seeing how hurt and dirty you were.

The doctor pulled you away from his chest and looked at you with concern. "What happened?" he asked.

You opened your mouth to answer back, but you were so lightheaded from crying and your panic attack that you blacked out once more, this time falling into your captain's arms. Law's tattooed hands caught onto you, immediately hoisting you up into a bridal style as soon as your body went limp. With his eyes not leaving your body, he commanded his crew to get the submarine ready for departure.

"Everyone back on the submarine now! Penguin, get the infirmary bed ready. Shachi set up the IV, she's severely dehydrated." he commanded.

"Yes, captain!" everyone shouted as they proceeded to rush back. Law glanced down at your unconscious form once with regret on his face before he shambled both of you back to the Polar Tang.

---------------------

"...(Y/n)-ya," you heard someone call out.

Your eyes started to slowly open as you regained your consciousness. As your vision cleared, you realized that you were back in the one place you swore to never visit again.

"Am I in hell?" you groaned as your voice started to wake up.

You heard someone sigh beside you. "Is that the first thing you're going to say after being almost left for dead?" a low voice said.

You turned your head to the right and saw that Law was sitting next to your bed. Your eyes trailed up to his face and saw that he had an unreadable expression resting on his handsome face.

"Captain, you came back for me?" you croaked.

A small smirk danced on his lips. "You wish, the crew was just annoying me to get you back." he lightly joked.

A chuckle left your lips as you turned your head back straight to stare up at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry for disrespecting you, captain." You apologized. Shifting your body in nervousness, you once again faced the man to your right.

"I guess I wanted to be useful. I am part of the crew after all. I'm a pirate, I know how to fight and take care of myself. But in all honestly captain, I..." you stopped to look into his eyes. "I didn't want to leave your side while you were fighting against a powerful person. I care for you as your subordinate and friend," you admitted.

Law's breath hitched once you spilled your confession. His stoic heart started to pick up as you told him that you cared for him. However, his face remained cold, not letting his facade down.

"Caring for me is foolish (Y/n)-ya. But I appreciate your concern. I also apologize for letting my emotions get the best of me. You are a valued member of my crew and I understand that your pride as a pirate was hurt when I shut you down." he spoke.

Your chest rumbled as you chuckled. "I guess I was being prideful too huh? What can I say, I'm a Heart Pirate after all."

"Your foolishness knows no bounds." your captain lightly joked as he shook his head. A smile started to form on his lips again. He began to speak until you cut him off.

"I know you must have your reasons on why you insist on doing the mission on your own. You can tell me when you're ready captain," you said.

Law's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but then quickly went back to his usual demeanour. "Alright then, I will tell you about it when you're all recovered."

You smiled. "Great. So will you let me come with you on your mission?" you asked.

Law's face fell. "No."

"Oh come on" you whined.

"I said no."

"I'll run away again if you don't let me."

The doctor scowled. "I'll think about it."

"Yes!" you yelled as you proceeded to get up. However, your body let you tell you that you were in too much pain to get up.

You moaned in pain as you slowly set yourself down on the bed. Your captain rolled his eyes.

"You idiot, you injured your leg and head. Do not rapidly get up like that." he reprimanded.

"Sorry." you huffed.

Your mind suddenly wandered back to when you accidentally ate the devil fruit and you winced.

"Is something else hurting you?" your doctor asked with concern as he saw you wince.

"Uhm," you started, "Well, I might have eaten something..."

"What? Was it a plant? Mushroom? Something poisonous?" he pressed on with worry laced in his voice.

You looked away as you started to sweat. "Uhm, I accidentally ate a devil fruit on the island..." you quietly muttered.

There was a pregnant pause.

"You what?!" Law hissed at you as he stood up straight from his chair. "Why would you do that?!"

"It was an accident! I was hungry and grabbed the first thing I saw! It was the reason why you saw me freak out..." you explained carefully.

The tattooed captain sighed as he leaned back on the chair. "You do realize that you cannot swim anymore right?"

"I never learned how to in the first place," you muttered.

"That's not the point. Do you know what kind of powers you gained?" he asked.

You hummed as you thought about the question. "Not sure, nothing happened to me yet."

"Well if you find out, you must tell me right away alright?"

"Okay, cap."

"Do not call me that."

"Sorry cap."

"Tch," Law grunted as he got up from his chair. "Go back to sleep and rest. You don't need to eat for now since you have an IV connected to you. I'll check up on you every hour or so. Let me know if you need something or if you're feeling any more pain. And do not rip the IV off like you did last time." he commanded as he proceeded to walk out of the infirmary.

"Yes sir." you sarcastically shot at him. Sleep was catching up to you once again. Your eyes closed as you called out to your captain.

"What is is (Y/n)-ya?" he asked.

"Thank you for taking me back captain. I won't let you down." you sighed as your sleep started to take over you.

Law paused as he was halfway out the door. "You owe me a serving of rice balls," he answered back. But what he wanted to say to you was;

"Don't ever run away from me like that again. I will always come back to find you."

He chuckled and sighed as he closed the infirmary door once he realized you were fast asleep.

----------------

Bonus Scene:

You were woken up with loud cheers down the hall. Your eyes shot open as you heard the crew cheer your name. It seemed like they were celebrating your return.

"Those idiots celebrating but I'm not even there," you muttered. Closing your eyes once more, you tried to let sleep overtake you but their cheers and ramblings were keeping you awake.

Scoffing in annoyance, you flipped to your left side and tried to cover your ears with your pillow and your right palm.

"Ugh, I wish it would be silent right now!" you groaned as you snapped your fingers in annoyance.

Suddenly, everything went silent. You sighed in relief as you no longer heard the rambunctious crew. You were about to snooze once more until you realized what happened. Your eyes shot up as you suddenly sat up on the bed.

"Oh fuck."

------------------------------------

TAGLIST:

@hopelesslover06 @shakysif @eyes-ofhell @letmereadchristonabike @bi-narystars @valval08

[moonmaiden1996]

Bound by Fate - Chapter Two

The aftermath of Shanks kidnapping you after being infected with the strange devil fruit pollen.

Chapter One

Shanks stared out at the vast ocean, the moonlight casting a silver sheen on the waves as the Red Force cut through the water. The night was still, the crew settled into their usual routines—some playing cards, others keeping watch, but there was no drinking, no singing. Shanks could tell they were worried, worried about him and their new edition, who was still currently locked away in their cabin. Everything was still, like it was waiting for something to erupt.

But Shanks’ mind was far from still.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw you. You are on the stage, so alive and carefree. You wide-eyed and terrified, yelling down at him, the dreaded red-haired pirate. Taking a deep breath, he inhaled your scent clung to his skin, lingered in the air around him, and no matter how many deep breaths he took, it was never enough. The need was there, like a roaring fire in his chest, scorching him from the inside out. He had never felt anything like it. His body was alive with a hunger he couldn’t control, an ache that no amount of rum or distraction could ease.

He had been foolish to think he could fight it. The Devil Fruit Pollen was not something to be trifled with. That cursed pollen had sunk its claws into him the moment it touched his skin. And now, you were in his veins, in his mind, in his every thought.

But despite the primal pull, the undeniable craving for you, Shanks knew he couldn’t give in—not like this. He was a man of control, of willpower. He might be a pirate but he was still a man of integrity. He was not an animal. He had faced countless enemies, fought battles that would break lesser men, and got the Marines to back down after they executed Ace and Whitebeard. But this? This was different.

You were different.

He couldn’t force you to be his. He had already taken you against your will, already crossed a line he swore he’d never cross. And that was enough to make his chest tighten with guilt.

“Captain?”

Benn Beckman standing at the edge of the deck, his arms crossed and a knowing look in his eyes. Beckman was the only one who could read him like an open book, the only one who knew the turmoil Shanks was going through. Hongo and Benn were the only ones that knew what the pollen was doing to his body and mind.

“You should talk to her,” Beckman said, his voice low, calm. “You can’t leave her locked up forever.”

Shanks let out a heavy sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know,” he muttered. “I just… I don’t know what to say. How do I even begin to explain this?”

Beckman’s gaze softened. “Start by being honest with her. She’s scared, Shanks. And you’re not helping by keeping her locked away.”

Shanks nodded, though the knot in his stomach only tightened. “I’ll talk to her.”

He stood there for a moment longer, his mind racing with thoughts of you—how you had looked at him with such fury, such defiance. And yet, beneath it all, he had seen the flicker of uncertainty in your eyes, the same confusion that mirrored his own.

Taking a deep breath, he turned and made his way toward your cabin.

xxx

You sat on the small cot in the corner of the cabin, your arms wrapped around your knees as you stared out the tiny window. The moonlight barely filtered through, casting long shadows on the wooden floor. The ship’s creaking and the distant sound of the waves were the only noises that filled the space.

Your mind was a whirlwind of emotions—fear, anger, confusion. And beneath it all, something else… something you didn’t want to acknowledge.

That man—Shanks. He had kidnapped you, taken you from everything you knew, yet there had been something in his eyes, something raw and unguarded, that had made your heart race in a way it shouldn’t have. You had been around dangerous men before—pirates, criminals, men who thought they could take whatever they wanted—but Shanks was different. He had a power, a presence, that was almost impossible to resist.

And that terrified you.

xxx

A soft knock on the door pulled you from your thoughts, and your body tensed.

“It’s me,” Shanks’ voice came from the other side, low and hesitant. “Can I come in?”

You didn’t answer at first, torn between the urge to tell him to leave and the strange pull that made you want to hear what he had to say. After a long pause, you finally spoke.

“Fine.”

The door creaked open, and Shanks stepped inside, closing it behind him. His usual swagger was absent, replaced by a quiet tension. He looked at you for a moment, his eyes searching yours, but he didn’t come any closer. Instead, he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I owe you an apology,” he began, his voice rough, like it pained him to say the words. “For taking you the way I did. It wasn’t right.”

You stared at him, your heart pounding in your chest. “You think that makes it better?” you asked, your voice sharp. “You kidnapped me. You can’t just apologize and expect me to be okay with it.”

“I know,” he said, his jaw clenching. “I don’t expect you to forgive me. But I need you to understand something. This... connection between us, it’s not something I can ignore. I’ve tried. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

You frowned, your confusion growing. “What connection? What are you talking about?”

Shanks hesitated, running a hand through his hair. “There was a flower in a marketplace… the pollen from the Devil Fruit blossom. It did something to me. Ever since that moment, I’ve been… drawn to you. It is how I found you from the other side of the grandline. It’s like I can’t breathe without you near me.” His voice dropped lower, more vulnerable than you had ever heard him. “And I hate it.”

The sincerity in his words made your breath catch. You didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to process what he was telling you. Part of you wanted to believe him, but another part of you was still angry, still scared. This man was a pirate and any pirate was never good to know.

Shanks took a step closer, his eyes never leaving yours. “I’m not asking for your forgiveness,” he said softly. “I just want a chance to make this right. To prove that I’m not the monster you think I am.”

You swallowed hard, your heart racing as he moved closer. The air between you was thick with tension, an unspoken current that neither of you could ignore. His presence was overwhelming, the heat of his body drawing you in even though every logical part of you screamed to resist, to remember

“I don’t know what you expect from me,” you whispered, your voice trembling despite your best efforts to stay strong.’’I don't feel anything at all, just hatred.’’

“I don’t expect anything,” Shanks said, his voice barely above a whisper now. “But I can’t pretend this isn’t real. This pull between us… it’s real. And I need you to see that. You might not feel anything now, or tomorrow or next week but I can ensure you you will, this feeling…’’ his voice broke, hoarse with emotion as he gulped for air, like he was suffocating. ‘’I can ensure you you will ‘cause this, what I am feeling is all too real for you not be bound to me.’’

Your pulse quickened as his eyes bore into yours, the intensity of his gaze making it hard to breathe. For a moment, neither of you moved, the silence stretching between you like a taut wire, ready to snap at any second.

Then, without warning, Shanks took a step back, his hand clenching into a fist at his side. He was fighting it, fighting the need that was clear in his eyes.

“I’m trying to control it,” he muttered, his voice thick with frustration. “But it’s hard. Every time I look at you, every time I smell you…” He trailed off, shaking his head as if trying to shake off the thoughts racing through his mind. His voice was strained, raw, jagged, beneath his golden skin you could see the muscles convulsing as they struggled to contain himself.

You didn’t know what to say. The tension between you was unbearable, the weight of his words hanging heavy in the air. You could feel the energy pulsing from within him, fighting its way to be released. Your angry subdued, for now you let your logic take over the hot headed desire to smash furniture over his face.

“Look,” you began, your voice softer now, “I don’t understand any of this. I don’t know why this is happening, or why you feel this… connection. But I can’t be what you want me to be. I can’t just—”

“I’m not asking you to be anything you’re not,” he interrupted, his voice raw. “I just need you to stay. Just… give me time. Let me figure this out.”

You stared at him, your emotions a tangled mess of anger, fear, and something else—something dangerous. His gaze was pleading now, and for the first time since you’d met him, he looked broken. The big, intimidating pirate was broken.

“Please,” he added quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

Against your better judgment, something in you softened. You could see the struggle in him, the way he was fighting to keep control, and for reasons you couldn’t explain, you nodded.

“I’ll stay,” you said softly. “For now.”

Shanks let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding, his eyes filled with a mixture of relief and something deeper. “Thank you.”

The words were simple, but the weight behind them was anything but. And as he turned to leave, the tension still thick between you as you stared at him, your anger faltering for just a moment as your own words sank in. But you weren’t going to let him off that easily. "If you think I’m just going to roll over and accept this, you’re wrong," you said, your voice firm. "I’m not some damsel waiting to be claimed by a pirate. If you want anything from me, you’re going to have to earn it."

Shanks’ eyes flickered with something—hope, perhaps. He took a step closer to you, but kept his distance, his voice soft. "What do you want me to do? Tell me, and I’ll do it."

You studied him for a moment, your heart pounding in your chest. The tension between you was thick, electric. Despite everything, there was something about him, something that pulled at you in ways you didn’t fully understand. But you couldn’t give in—not without making him understand that you wouldn’t be controlled.

"You want me to give you a chance?" you asked, your tone serious.

Shanks nodded, his gaze intense, waiting for your next words.

"Fine," you said. "I’ll give you a chance. But on my terms."

He blinked, surprised by your sudden shift, but there was a flicker of relief in his eyes. "Name them," he said.

You took a deep breath, your voice unwavering. "First, I want my freedom. I won't be locked in and show down here in the bowels of this thing. I stay on this ship because I choose to, not because you keep me locked in here like a prisoner. If I decide to leave, you let me go. No questions, no chasing after me. If you can’t agree to that, then we have nothing to talk about."

Shanks hesitated, the thought of letting you go tugging at that primal part of him that screamed to keep you close. But he forced himself to push that aside. If he wanted any chance with you, he had to respect your choices.

"Agreed," he said, though his voice was tight.

"Second," you continued, "I want honesty. No more secrets, no more games. If there’s something going on—whether it’s with this connection between us or anything else—you tell me. I’m not going to be dragged along without knowing the truth."

Shanks nodded, a bit more easily this time. "You have my word."

"And third," you said, stepping closer to him now, your eyes locked on his, "I decide when or if anything happens between us. You might think you have some claim on me because of this pollen or whatever, but if you want more from me, you’ll have to wait until I’m ready. No pushing. No rushing."

Shanks swallowed hard, his eyes darkening with that same yearning that had been consuming him since the moment he’d first felt the pull of you. The tension between you was palpable, the air thick with unspoken desires. He wanted you—badly—but he wasn’t going to push you. Not anymore.

"Understood," he said, his voice rough with restraint.

You held his gaze for a long moment, letting your words sink in. "Good," you said softly, your tone gentler now, though your resolve was still strong. "Because I won’t be forced into anything. Not by you. Not by anyone."

Shanks exhaled, the tension in his shoulders loosening just a fraction. He nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving yours. "I won’t force you," he promised, his voice quiet but filled with sincerity. "I want you to be with me because you want it—not because I made you."

You studied him, trying to gauge if he truly meant it. But there was something in his eyes, a raw vulnerability that made you believe he was genuine. For the first time since he’d taken you, you felt a flicker of trust—small, but enough to give you pause.

"Then prove it," you said, your voice soft but firm. "Show me that you can be more than just a pirate who takes what he wants. Show me that you can be the kind of man I’d want to stay with."

Shanks looked at you, his heart racing, and for the first time in days, the burning need inside him felt manageable. He’d do it—he’d prove himself to you, even if it took everything he had. "I will," he said, his voice filled with quiet determination. "I’ll prove it to you, every day for as long as it takes."

You nodded, the tension between you shifting slightly, the anger giving way to something more uncertain, more vulnerable. "We’ll see," you said, turning away and moving back toward the bed.

Shanks watched you for a moment longer, his heart still heavy with yearning, but now there was a sliver of hope. He had a chance—a real chance. And he wasn’t going to waste it.

With one last look, he turned to leave the room, but hesitated. ‘’Since you asked for honesty, I should probably introduce myself. I am Yonko Shanks and you're on the Red Force… welcome to the Red Haired Pirates’’ before giving a strained smile before he was gone in one swift movement closing the door softly behind him like he was never there.

‘’You have got to be fucking kidding me'’

My second chapter! Thank you so much for all the love the last chapter got. Please like, leave a comment or make a request.

@commanderfreethatdust

[hannahbarberra162]

Under the Microscope (Yandere Sabo x Reader) Part 8

on Ao3 18+ MDNI

All the other chapters

This particular chapter is fluffy. I promise Sabo's coming back to the island soon. And that he's just as focused as he was before :)

Remember I don’t know anything about science! If you do, just pretend you don’t either!

Your POV

“Make a Logia fruit? Um, that’s kind of the opposite of what I’ve been working on,” you explained, wiggling your toes in your wet socks. Your butt, feet, and sleeves were wet from the sea water lapping gently at you as you sat on the beach. The temperature was dropping steadily and you felt the chill of the night starting to bother you as you splashed. “I’ve been trying to reverse engineer the fruits and find a way to nullify their powers. I was thinking that maybe, um, Sabo…or someone..could um..I’m not sure really. But I can’t - those fruits shouldn’t exist and it’s all my - all my f-fault…S-Sabo tried to tell um tell me -” Your heart started racing again, beating faster and faster as your thoughts returned to the collateral damage you’d caused.

You felt Ace’s hand on the back of your neck. He was probably trying to bring you comfort but right now it felt more like the weight of a guillotine. You shook him off, wanting to wallow in the feelings you deserved in spades. You hugged your knees and rested your head on top as you ran your hands along the parts of your pant legs that were still dry. You realized your hands were stinging from salt water that had entered the open wounds left from biting your fingers.

“I caused a lot of pain and suffering, too. I get it,” Ace said, stretching out his legs. You hummed, you couldn’t imagine any one person had unintentionally brought so much devastation to the world as you had.

“Did you watch Marineford? The Paramount Wars?” Ace asked while observing the sunset. 

You took a deep breath, held it in for a moment, then exhaled. “Um, no, Sabo already asked. I was supposed to watch it live but I was too busy and then I never got caught up. I had just started getting assignments from the higher ups at that time and -”

“That was me. I caused all those Marines to die, my friends to die. Brought my brother into my mess, almost killed him too. Even killed my own father.” Ace said with no emotion in his voice.

“You - you didn’t kill your father. Are you playing with me? I’m sorry, it’s hard for me to tell sometimes,” you said, wiping your running nose on your sleeve. You hoped he was joking but the stiffness of his shoulders belied his calm tone.

“No. I’m Portgas D. Ace, Gol D. Roger’s son. I was sentenced to execution but Luffy came to save me. Whitebeard and the crew too.” You tried to take in all the information Ace was telling you but it had your head swimming. 

“Is Luffy your other brother? The one in the picture with you and Sabo?” you asked an obvious question to avoid the awkwardness of his statement. Helping others with their emotions was never your strong suit.

“Yeah. Strawhat Luffy. Me n’ him n’ Sabo aren’t related by blood. Roger was my biological father but Whitebeard was my dad. Died trying to save me. Buncha my crew siblings died too. Good men.”

“Oh.” You wanted to support him like he’d supported you but you were afraid to say the wrong thing in case he started crying or got angry. “That explains a lot of your lineage factors,” you added quietly. “If your dad was Gol D. Roger, it makes sense you’d have Conqueror’s Haki.”

“Didn’t help me much,” Ace lamented. “Luffy even got me free and all I did was waste the opportunity by taking bait from Akainu. Fucker tried to kill Luffy and punched me through the chest. The only reason I was revived is Law brought me to his sub.”

You blinked rapidly. “Law? Trafalgar Law? Dr. Trafalgar D. Water Law?” Ace grunted.

“Yeah, Trafalgar Law. How come you know him but not me’r Luffy? I’m more famous than him,” Ace said in a half hearted joke. 

“Oh, I’m familiar with Dr. Trafalgar from his articles, not his piracy. He’s brilliant, his articles are always so intriguing. I pay for a subscription out of my own pocket to the journals that publish him, actually. His last article was about heart replacement complications, I wonder if that was from you,” you mused. You cringed as you realized that was not an appropriate statement to make, considering it was likely Ace’s heart he detailed in the article.  

“Probably. He said it was difficult, but I didn’t ask about the details,” Ace said unbothered.

“How did he save your life?” You were curious about the intricacies of Dr. Trafalgar’s devil fruit power and how he used it in conjunction with his medical knowledge and skills. You’d hoped to be invited to a Warlord meeting and catch a glimpse of him but it had never happened.

“I dunno, I was dead for that part,” Ace stated, flicking his long hair over his shoulder.

“Right,” you said, wishing you could bury your head in the sand much like your toes were. If Sabo were here he’d know what to say, you thought. Unlike your own awkward nature, Sabo was suave and charming and would know how to soothe his brother. 

“Are you still healing? Is that why you still have all those bandages?” you asked. Ace raised his eyebrows and looked down at his own chest.

“Oh, no. I’m healed, there’s just a huge scar I don’t like seeing and the yukata doesn’t cover it.” he explained.

“Why don’t you wear a shirt then?” Ace frowned like you’d asked him to eat sand off the beach.

“Nah, not my style. Besides, all the shirts here are Sabo’s and uh…they’re a little too frilly for me,” Ace said. Shirts weren’t his style? What on earth did that even mean? And why didn’t Sabo bring him any? Maybe Sabo was keeping Ace on the island too, not letting him leave. You decided to gently press for information while Ace was in a sharing mood.

“So how long has Sabo kept you on the island?” you asked, hoping Ace would reveal some negative feelings towards Sabo. If Ace wanted off the island, maybe the two of you could work together and figure something out.

“Hm? He doesn’t keep me here. Actually, he’s been trying to get me to leave for a while. Wants me to “reintegrate back into society.” Ace said, using air quotes and mimicking Sabo’s voice, your hopes of escaping dashed. Still, you stifled a laugh at Ace’s impression, trying to keep your composure for the serious conversation. Ace gave you a small smile. “It’s OK, you can’t say anything to me I haven’t said to myself already.” The sun had set, leaving the two of you in the chill of the dusk. “C’mon, it’s cold and I’m sure the water’s making you feel shitty. Let’s go back to the house, get changed. If you get sick, Sabo’s gonna yell at me even more than he’s already gonna.” 

Ace stood up and offered you a hand, pulling you to your feet as well. The two of you walked in companionable silence for a minute before he spoke again.

‘But just hypothetically speaking, could you make a Logia fruit? From a scientific standpoint?” Ace asked curiously.

Ace’s POV

Ace knew you fell for his bait when you slowed your stroll and began chewing your lip. He could practically see the cogs turning in your head as you thought through the possibilities, your wet socks squelching on the path to the house.

“Well….the other fruits were made in advanced scientific labs. I don’t have the equipment needed to engineer something like that…” you trailed off.

“No, no. Not to actually make it here. But could you make an artificial Logia fruit?” 

“I could use the- well, it depends which one,” you said, starting to gesticulate. “The fruit I’d have the most success in creating would be the Mera Mera that you and Sabo ate. You still have the lineage factor which provides a large part of the genetic material needed to make an artificial fruit. Oh, and a strand or two of Sabo’s hair, that’s definitely here. Oh, and maybe part of my own lineage factor? Even though mine is paramecia it might help with some of the active components… And I could probably use any fruit, but for a Logia I would probably want something with a similar quality, maybe some kind of spicy - no that wouldn’t really make a difference, I think Vegapunk used apples? But there aren’t any here so maybe from a common fr- no, no…” you were off in thought, talking to yourself about how the fruit could be made. Reaching the deck of the house, you stopped before you went up the stairs. You stared off in the distance in silence, giving Ace pause.

“Hey, are you alright in there? Didn’t mean to start anything, I was -”

“The flame flower,” you stated. 

“Right.” Ace nodded knowingly, but had no idea what you were referring to.

“I could use the flame flower as the base and the genetic material provided by your and Sabo’s lineage factor. That’s how I could make it work,” you said, nodding slowly. Ace’s mouth dropped open as he watched you staring off into the darkness, Sabo hadn’t exaggerated. Your genius was on par with Vegapunk and other top scientists of the world. You looked at Ace and tilted your head. “But again, I can’t actually do anything without a lab. And a lot of money. So, hypothetically probably. In reality, no.” You nodded to yourself and entered the house, going up the stairs to change your clothes. Ace trailed behind you, pulling on your sleeve to get your attention.

“But can’t you like….” Ace trailed off, using his fingers to pantomime pulling marionette strings.

“What? I don’t follow,” you replied, looking worn out. He should really leave you alone and let you sleep but Ace couldn’t drop the idea, not after you said it was possible.

“I’m not - I don't know how to say it, but like, can’t you like change stuff? Like move the molecules around or cells or whatever?” You blinked rapidly while frowning. 

“Say more,” you commanded, your brow furrowed. You looked like how he’d found you in Sabo’s office, completely focused on one thought. The intensity of your stare almost rivaled Luffy’s when he was serious. 

“Like, um, y’know, like change stuff when you magnify it. Like move the stuff around to make other things? Aren’t molecules the building blocks of life? So move the blocks around?” Ace finished with something Sabo had taught him, trying to get his idea across to you. He wasn’t a scientist but he knew devil fruits could be awakened, he’d tried to do it on his own but ran out of time before his death. Maybe this could be the key to your own fruit awakening and to him getting his powers back.

You stopped walking and stared past him, blinking rapidly. Ace waved his hand in front of your face after a moment. You were on the stairs, he didn’t want you to fall and get hurt when you finally surfaced again. You moved your head away from his hand but didn’t resume walking. Sighing, Ace picked you up, disrupting your thought process.

“H-hey! Put me down! I’m not a child,” you protested while making no movement to get out of his arms. 

“Go do your big thinking after you change your clothes. Like you said, none of this is possible here and if you get hypothermia Sabo’s gonna kill me for real this time,” Ace joked. Depositing you in Sabo’s room, you smiled at Ace.

“Thanks Ace. Good night,” you said, holding the door to shut it.

“Good night, kid,” Ace replied, smiling. He turned and walked away to his own room, getting inside before he heard you yell. 

“I’m not a kid! I think I’m older than you!” Ace chuckled lightly, reaching to unwind his bandages. 

Your POV

You were exhausted from the panic attack and the subsequent heart to heart with Ace. But you couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d said to you. You were turning the thoughts over and over in your mind, thinking about artificial devil fruits and the implications of changing the molecular structure during magnification. Like you’d told Sabo, you could get to the sub-atomic level but it took a lot of concentration and effort. You closed your eyes to rest but you were fixated on Ace’s idea. You tossed and turned for what felt like hours until your stomach rumbled. Oh yeah, you remembered, you hadn’t eaten since earlier that day. It was going to be a long night for you anyway so you might as well eat some food while you thought through the creation of artificial Logia devil fruits.

Heading down to the darkened kitchen, you took out a bowl and some rice. You’d made jambalaya a few days prior so now you’d give your stir-fried rice a shot. There still wasn’t any fish in the house but it would taste ok without it. You were able to make the dish on autopilot, washing the rice and vegetables while thinking about molecular changes. As you thought, you noticed the droplets of water that had landed near the colander. 

You could probably… try what Ace suggested. Changing h2o to h2o2 wouldn’t cause a huge reaction or anything, it would just be hydrogen peroxide. And only one molecule… If you changed the wrong elements or made too many molecules unstable, you could cause a huge chain reaction but that would take so many molecules and this was just one…this was just water…After starting the rice and starting the vegetables sauteing, you magnified a water droplet on the table. Getting down to the molecular level took a few moments but shortly there were two h2o molecules in front of your eyes. Careful not to erase the image, you used your thumb and forefinger to try and pluck one of the oxygens from a molecule and put it into the other. Picking it up felt like static electricity and your heart was racing as you tried to move the oxygen from its current molecule. It almost felt sticky, like it didn’t want to move, but it didn’t take much effort to disrupt its bonds.

You held your breath as you placed it within the bonds of the other molecule. If it didn’t work, at least you tried. You let go.

It worked. 

You were now looking at a molecule of hydrogen peroxide and an hydroperoxyl radical left over. “Holy fuck,” you said softly, looking at the newly formed molecule. You rotated it under your magnification and it looked identical to every other hydrogen peroxide molecule you’d ever seen. The implications were….

“Boo,” a voice said from behind you.

You shrieked like a banshee, jumping in fright. Ace laughed loudly and you swatted him with the spatula you were holding while cursing at him.

“Ace!! What the fuck?! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why would you do that?!”

“Hey! Ow. Stop hitting me! Ow, that hurts! It was just a joke!” You huffed but you weren’t really mad as Ace dodged your well aimed spatula strikes.

“Why are you awake?” you asked, looking at the clock. It was the middle of the night, surely he had been sleeping like you should have been.

“Smelled good food cooking and I’m hungry,” he shrugged. You noticed he was wearing his yukata but no bandages underneath. The scarred skin on his chest was a deep red and in a circular pattern, blazing out from where his heart was. It was large and raised and had likely taken months to heal. You knew you were staring but the scar was so large and harrowing, you couldn’t stop looking at it.

“Stop undressing me with your eyes. You’re not my type,” Ace teased, sitting at the bar to wait for the food to be done. 

“Oh? And who is?” you asked, genuinely curious. You weren’t offended. Besides Sabo, you’d never been anyone’s type. And even Sabo was just pretending.

“Men,” Ace said offhandedly. Ah. Well, that made things between you a little easier since you didn’t have to worry about any sexual tension between the two of you. 

“Nice,” you replied, stirring the dish on the stove.

“Whatcha cookin’?” Ace asked, standing on the rungs of the bar stool to look over the counter and into the frying pan.

“Stir-fried rice. It’s one of the three dishes I can make, you’ve had the other two. Usually I put seafood in there too but we don’t have any,” you said, giving Ace a pointed look. 

“Well, there is a boat on the island,” Ace began, scratching his cheek. Your interest was immediately piqued - maybe you could use it to escape at some point. “But it’s my old one, Striker. It’s powered by fire and since I don’t have my devil fruit anymore, I can’t use it. There’s a sail but that’s not to propel it, just to direct it.”

You sighed, another plan to escape the island foiled. You thought in silence for a few moments, adding in the rice to the dish.

“What were ya lookin’ at?” Ace asked, watching you cook. You bit your lip, unsure if you should tell Ace about your experiment. You couldn’t think of a reason that the information could be used against you, and it was his idea anyway.

“Um. Well, it’s um. Not that big of a deal and I didn’t think it would work but um. I did kind of do what you said and, ah, changed the structure of a molecule - only one! Just one, it’s fine, don’t worry. And um it. It did work. I changed it by hand, so to speak. So I - that’s what I was looking at.” Ace waited patiently while you stumbled over your words.

“That’s amazing! So what does that mean? Does that mean you can make the devil fruit? The Mera Mera?” He exclaimed, his face breaking into a huge smile and eyes alight. 

“Um, yes, I suppose hypothetically speaking, I could potentially make a Mera Mera artificial fruit. It would be a huge undertaking but again, hypothetically, I could do it. Um, there’s enough genetic and lineage factor material here and I probably could if I worked on it enough but I don’t think -”

“This is wonderful! Oh my god I can’t wait, I’m gonna blow up Sabo when he comes back,” Ace exclaimed. He was off the chair and on his feet, pacing in front of the kitchen. “He’ll be fine, it can’t hurt him. Ooh, maybe we can finally fight each other! That little fucker has been using my moves, I know it. Gonna teach him who’s the real boss, ha! And I can finally make my way back to Wano! Maybe see Luff? I know his bounty is way higher -”

“Ace -”

“But before all that I need to find Marco and the crew. And Deuce, oh my god, Deuce. I miss that man so much, gonna kiss him first thing, did you know he was my first mate? I wonder -”

“Ace!”

“He might be doing better off without me, he wasn’t really a pirate, more of an intellectual type. You’d like him a lot. But I also need to go thank Traflagar and hug Bepo, there’s so much to do -”

“ACE!” 

Ace finally stopped pacing and chattering and looked at you. “Ace, I said I might be able to do it. I just made one molecule , do you know how much work it would take to engineer something like that?” Ace shrugged and waved off your concern, continuing to pace behind the counter.

“So what? You’re a genius, you’ll figure it out. Besides, it’s not like you have anything else to work on right now,” he said, unbothered by your hesitation.

“No,” you stated, crossing your arms. Ace turned on his heel to face you immediately.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” he asked worriedly, racing to the counter. 

“No. I’ve been working on ways to undo the damage my research has caused, not increase the damage. It’s unethical to bring yet another artificial devil fruit into the world, no matter who it goes to.” 

Ace held you in his gaze for a moment, staring into your eyes. Even though he wasn’t related by blood to Sabo some of their mannerisms were eerily similar. He plopped back down on the bar stool with a sigh and ran his hand through his tangled black hair. “You can’t undo what you’ve done. Trust me, I’m the first one to wish things were different, that I could change what I did. But it’s not possible. Doflamingo already made the money, Kaido got the soldiers, Vegapunk made the Seralinas or whatever. You can’t undo it. What were you going to do? Make a new fruit for them to eat? It won’t work, what’s done is done.” Ace got up and walked to where you were turning off the heat on the stove and put his hands on your shoulders. You looked up into his freckled face.

“The only thing to do now is to help the good side win, help people like me ‘n Sabo. Y’know, fight fire with fire,” he said seriously. 

“I don’t know, Ace….I don’t know if that’s something I want to do,” you hesitated. Ace hummed. 

“It could be a one time thing, make the Mera Mera and be done with it,” Ace pleaded, shaking your shoulders lightly. 

“Ace, even if this works, you’ll still be you. You’ll be the same person, with or without the fruit. It’s not going to solve all your problems. You need to work on your emotional healing, not just your body. You can’t even show your chest most of the time,” you said quietly. Ace didn’t respond, looking away to avoid your eyes.

Ace took his hands off your shoulders and went over to the cabinet, pulling out two bowls. His face was impassive but his departed enthusiasm spoke volumes. You plated the food and set the bowls side by side on the counter, Ace bringing you a fork. You ate in silence for a few minutes, Ace mostly pushing the food around his plate. You thought about what he’d said about Striker and getting off the island. If Sabo found out you could manipulate matter, you didn’t think he’d ever let you go. Your only window of escaping closed once Sabo came back to the island. Steeling yourself against your better judgment, you faced Ace.

“I’ll do it. On one condition,” you said, looking at him. Ace’s cheeks were puffed out wide with food.

“Hwaf cuhdihun?” Ace asked, not bothering to chew or swallow.

“You have to take me off the island. Away from here,” you stated. You knew Sabo and Ace were brothers but maybe the desired reward would offset his loyalty to Sabo.

“Hmm,” Ace mumbled as he chewed. You watched him closely to see his reaction, this would make or break your escape from Sabo.

“Sure, why not?” Ace said, quirking his eyebrow with a small smile. 

“You’re sure? You know I mean you need to take me away from Sabo, right?”

“Yeah, I got it. I can get you off the island if the fruit works. It won’t help you,” Ace said, scooping the last of his food into his mouth. His careless attitude made you worry that you’d fallen into a trap you set yourself.

“What do you mean, it won’t help me?” you asked, frowning.

“Sabo’ll just chase you. And he’ll find you, no matter where I take you,” Ace shrugged, literally licking his bowl clean.  

You chewed on the skin next to your nail for a moment. “Are you sure? I mean, I’m not -”

“I’m sure. He’d follow you to the South Pole if he had to. So I’ll take you out, but you won’t get far. He really likes you.” Ace replied, patting his belly.

“He doesn’t, it’s all an act. He’s just using me for - well, for this. To have me finish Project Seraphim for the Revolutionary Army. I heard him tell Dragon,” you protested. Ace stared at you, eyes softening with an unknown emotion.

“Whatever you say,” Ace said lightly, getting up and plugging the sink to begin washing the dishes. You tasted blood as you bit too hard on your already chewed thumb.

Sabo’s POV

Sabo wasn’t sure exactly what set off his internal warning signal. He and Ace had been calling back and forth every few days over the weeks, exchanging information and pleasantries. Ace had been in an elated mood, which he chalked up to becoming better friends with Sunny. Sabo noted Ace hadn’t been wearing the bandages around his chest anymore which was an interesting development. According to Ace, you worked in the morning and took a short walk with Ace before lunch. After eating, you’d work again until the evening when you and Ace would eat dinner and go stargazing or hang out in the house. You’d spoken on the snail a few times, you sounded happy and refreshed. But Ace was up to something and had dragged Sunny into it, Sabo was sure of it. The end of his trip was approaching and Sabo was eager to sail back home and see Sunny. And Ace, of course.

Narrowing his eyes, Sabo wanted to catch Ace in whatever dumbass idea he’d concocted. Sabo was between meetings and ducked into an empty storage room to call. It was nearly lunch, not his normal time to connect with Ace. With luck, Sabo would be able to detect what was going on.

Puru puru puru puru puru puru

“Hey Babo, what’s up?” Ace said, using a childhood nickname Luffy had given him.

“My ‘Ace is doing something stupid’ alarm is going off. Are you doing something stupid?” Sabo asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Almost always. But right now I’m making lunch. Potato salad,” the Ace snail said.

“And where’s Sunny? What’s she up to?” Sunny was an incredibly poor liar, even worse than Ace. With only a little pressure, Sabo would get the truth out of her.

“She’s working in your office, wanna say hi?” Ace asked, the snail throwing a kitchen towel over its shoulder.

“Inna minute. How are you guys doing? How’s she feeling?” Sabo asked, trying to keep from projecting his worries into his voice.

“Good, good. She’s working right now, like always. Sleeping enough, I make sure of it. Eats food, drinks coffee and water ,” Ace said proudly. 

“Alright, put her on.”

“Gimme a sec,” Ace said, the sounds of boots on the wood floor coming through the receiver. Ace pounded on the door three times.

“Yo, Sunny! Wanna -”

“Fuck off Portgas, I’m busy!” you yelled through the door. Sabo’s gut twisted with the ease and familiarity in your voice you used for his brother. He’d been feeling jealous for a few days now even though the jealousy made him feel guilty. He had brought you to the island partially for just this reason - to befriend his brother. And now that the two of you were friendly he was seeing green. Sabo wished you were just as comfortable with him , telling him to fuck off or spending all your meals together voluntarily. Sabo tried to rein his feelings in but it was difficult when he saw that you’d given Ace a haircut, or you were wearing Ace’s old clothes, or saw how well rested you were looking. During the calls between the three of you, it was difficult to contain himself from making snarky comments. Sabo was homesick for you and Ace, his meetings felt endless and the two of you were up to something. He could feel it in his bones.

“Nah, it’s Sabo, c’mon.” Ace urged you. Sabo heard a huff and the door open.

“Fine, but you know the penalty for disturbing me when I’m working,” you said cheerfully as the snail changed its visage to your bright smile. Sabo had never made that smile appear before, he thought.

“Ow! Owww ! That hurts! Stop pinching!” Ace whined in the background as you laughed.

“No, you get five pinches for disrupting my flow. I was moving the mol- er -” you looked at Sabo, afraid you’d almost said something.

“Moving what?” Sabo asked brightly.

“Uh, nothing! Nothing, um just moving the, um, mol- um…mole. The mole,” you finished lamely. Sabo quirked an eyebrow. 

“The mole?” he asked incredulously.

“Yeah, um the mole. It’s um, gotten into the office and um Ace and I have been trying to catch it and I um, oh lunch is ready! I have to go!” you stammered. The snail turned back to Ace, who was laughing into his palm.

“I know you’re up to something dumb and I’m gonna find out what it is. If Sunny gets in trouble because of you…” Sabo trailed off menacingly.

“Ok, love you, see you sooooon!” Ace chirped happily and hung up the snail.

The call ending quickly gave greater credence to Sabo’s theory that some Ace-derived foolishness was afoot. He sighed and leaned back against the nearest crate. He was leaving for the island in a few short days and it couldn’t come quickly enough. 

Your POV

You and Portgas D. Ace stared at the flower-turned-fruit held in the palm of your hand as you sat side by side on the beach. You’d experimented and developed it for the past few weeks almost constantly. You’d worked harder than you ever had in your life, racing to complete the project before Sabo returned in the next few days. True to his word, Ace had locked you out of Sabo’s office at 8 every night but that alone didn’t turn off your brain. For the first few weeks after your discovery, you stayed up late in the night in the darkness of your room, rearranging molecules and perfecting your craft. Ace had figured out you weren’t resting enough and started sleeping on the floor of Sabo’s room to get you to go to sleep. Eventually, you’d invited him into the bed because you were tired of seeing him toss and turn on the hard floor. You enjoyed having a warm body next to you but it wasn’t the same as Sabo’s heat and pleasant aroma.

You weren’t sure if you missed Sabo or not. Ace was fun, dynamic, engaging, and easy to talk to. He made you laugh, either intentionally or from his antics, and he had interesting insight to share. Ace was an endless talker, providing you with background noise to listen to while you walked together. He told you stories about Whitebeard, the Spade pirates, his brothers, anything he could think of. Ace enjoyed your company and would watch you work in Sabo’s office, sometimes falling asleep and snoring to your amusement. You thought you and Ace were friends and you’d miss him when you left the island.

But a little part of you missed Sabo, too. He treated you like you were worth the world, not just what you could make or produce for him. Ace claimed repeatedly that Sabo was romantically interested in you, which always made you flush. You found Sabo attractive and charming, unlike Ace who felt more like a sibling. He was smart and intelligent and enjoyed the same intellectual pursuits that you did. He had kidnapped you but through his actions you’d realized how drained you were from the Marines, subsisting on coffee and loneliness. You had been miserable, sick, and stuck, even if you didn’t see it yourself at the time.

“Hey, your hand’s shaking,” Ace noted, bringing you out of your thoughts.

“Yeah.”

“Haven’t seen that in a while,” Ace mused. You didn’t answer, too nervous about the outcome of your experiment. There was no way to test anything and make sure you’d gotten everything right. You used parts of your other research, Sabo’s hair, Ace’s saliva, and sheer willpower to craft the hideous looking fruit in front of you. It didn’t look like the Mera Mera no Mi, it looked like a sad black sea urchin covered in molten red spots. Your lips were bloody and Ace had bandaged all your fingertips after you bit them too much.

“This is a bad idea,” you said.

“Yeah,” Ace replied.

“It might not work. You might not get any power and you won’t be able to swim.”

“Yeah.”

“It might kill you.”

“Maybe.”

“Sabo will be mad.”

“Furious.”

“You gonna try it?” 

“Yeah,” Ace said, taking the fruit from your sweaty palm. You had the urge to reach out to take the fruit and fling it into the sea, to let life stay the way it was. But Ace’s brow was furrowed and his jaw set, you knew he wasn’t going to hesitate. You held your breath and covered your eyes with your hands as Ace bit into the fruit, scowling as he chewed.

“You got the taste right. Not something you forget,” he joked, trying to lighten your mood. You took a little peek and he hadn’t exploded or projectile vomited. That was a good sign.

“Did it - did it work?” you whispered. Ace ate the fruit in a few bites, one of the advantages to his eating habits, you supposed. He wiped his hands on his yukata and stood up.

“One way to find out,” he grinned, pointing his index and ring finger like the barrel of a gun.

Fire bullets shot out of his hand rapidly, making you scuttle backwards on the beach. He whooped loudly and beat his chest with his fists, screaming at the top of his lungs. Turning and running full force at you, you squealed as he picked you up under your arms and spun you around in circles. His arms were too warm, almost burning you as he laughed wildly and spun.

“Ace! Ace! Too hot!” you yelled into his ear, trying to get him to put you down.

“Ah! Sorry, kinda forgot about that,” Ace said, grinning from ear to ear. He set you down only to give you a huge kiss on your cheek. You couldn’t help but share in his happiness and laughed along with him. He looked so much younger, his face radiating pure joy as he raised his arm to continue testing his strength.

“Hiken!” he yelled, his arm outstretched. A column of flame burst forth from his fist, the raw destructive power it posed sending a shiver down your spine. He turned and winked at you, finger still made of flame. 

“And that’s why they call me Fire Fist Ace.”

Tag list: @mfreedomstuff

[short-honey-badger]

Peppermint Tea

I'm baaaacckkkkk

I hope you enjoy. This may be the start of a new series, not sure yet. But I hope you all enjoy!

Pairings: Dracule Mihawk x Reader (Devil fruit user)

Update! This fic has gone through a lot of changes! so new pairing will ultimately be Mihawk x Reader x Shanks!

Summary: Mihawk wakes from his nap near what should be a deserted island. Turns out that you and your dog Hank are its sole inhabitants. One visit leads to another until your island becomes his home away from home.

Masterlist

Devil fruit user reader,

Warnings: none yet!

Dracule Mihawk wakes to the sound of screaming. He is already scowling by the time he cracks his eyes open and sits up to scan the horizon. Seems like he had drifted close to a small island while napping. His lip curls up in a sneer when he hears the screams again, and it has him standing from his perch and using a bit of haki to see what was going on.

There, being chased by a group of obvious pirates, is you. His ringed eyes narrow, and with a dramatic sigh, Mihawk directs his little boat closer to the shore and tosses the anchor over. In a flash, he stands on shore and begins making his way toward the commotion that woke him in the first place. Dracule is not a hero. he would never dream of calling himself one, but even he would not turn a blind eye to a woman in need. He wasn't a monster, after all.

The warlord swings his sword from his back and takes off, boosting himself forward with a little haki. It's laughable how easily Mihawk cuts down the pirates, these men little more than bandits with a stolen ship. However, he is caught off guard when the ground under his feet suddenly becomes cold, near freezing, and he is quick to hop away from the patch of snow that has formed under his feet.

“You ass! I was having fun!” The woman he thought he had saved snarls at him. Mihawk schools his face back into its usual unimpressed look and looks at you. She is scowling fiercely up at him, but all Dracule can see is an upset kitten.

“You should be grateful. I saved your life, you know.” He replies hauntingly and swings his sword back around to latch it to his back, “Why were they chasing you?”

You shrug at him, shifting foot to foot in impatience. You needed to get a move on. Hank was waiting for you back home. “I dunno. They showed up this morning and demanded I give them whatever I had. I told them to fuck off.” She frowns and kicks the snow that has gathered around her. “They didn't like that answer.”

“No, I would imagine not,” Mihawk agrees and looks her over. The woman wears simple clothes, just leggings and a loose tunic, and quite a few years younger than himself. He finds himself oddly concerned. Hmm. How unlike him.

“Are you alone here?” He asks, and the woman looks suspicious immediately. Her shoulder squares, and she shifts into a defensive stance. Dracule wonders if she even needed his help in the first place.

“Yeah? So what?” You demand and narrow your eyes at him. “Why don't you wear a shirt?”

Dracule blinks at her, definitely not having expected that to be her question, “I run hot.” He says and wonders why he is even entertaining this girl.

“Ha, I run cold!” She exclaims, and snow begins to fall around her as if to prove her point. Slowly, she begins to relax after realizing that this man isn't trying to attack her like the last people. She debates with herself for a moment before ultimately giving in to her baser desires. It's been so long since she's had good, human company.

“Would you like some tea?”

Mihawk opens his mouth to turn her down, but what comes out is, “What kind do you have?” He can't help but enjoy the tiny little smile you send him at his question. He is curious as to why you have yet to call him out, and questions why a warlord of the sea wanted with you and your little island.

“I grow my own, so you'll have to come see at home,” you tell him and point south, “If you aren't busy anyway?”

Truth be told, Dracule probably should get back on his boat and sail away to never see this slip of a girl and tiny island again. Go back to his lonely castle and read the hundreds of books just waiting to be cracked open. Maybe even do his job and report to the Marines about this place. But Mihawk would do none of those things. Instead, he gestured for you to lead the way and was rewarded with another one of those timid smiles.

“Hank should still be home. He's my dog,” you inform him as the two of you walk, and it doesn't take very long for your home to come into view. It's a quaint little cottage with rows of flowers and a large garden off to the side. He can see rows of drying herbs in one of the windows and even a smoke room connected to the side of the cottage. A massive hound with shaggy gray fur comes bounding up. It doesn't even bark at him and instead plops right down and starts to beg for attention.

“And this is why you aren't a guard dog, Hank,” you grumble and pat the hound on his massive head as you walk past Mihawk. Dracule eyes the dog before rolling his eyes and giving in to pat the top of his head like you had.

“You know, I know his name now, but I've yet to have the pleasure of knowing yours.” Mihawk follows after you, and a tiny smirk plays on his lips when he sees your face flush a pretty pink.

“God's, I'm sorry about that,” You laugh and run your fingers through your hair before offering the handsome man your hand and introducing yourself.

Mihawk grasps your hand, noting that you indeed do run very cold, “Dracule Mihawk,” he rumbles and waits for the inevitable panic that his name usually causes anyone he comes across.

“Huh. I like that. It suits you. Especially your eyes,” You tell him instead, and Mihawk finds that he likes You even more than he thought he would.

“Thank you,” he mutters quietly and follows you through the open door of your home. The inside is just as cozy as on the outside, and he has a hard time not immediately investigating the tall stacks of books that seem to be piled on every available surface. Most of them look worn and smudged, as if they'd been drowned in water.

“Sorry for the mess. I don't have company very often,” you murmur with a bit of wince and clear a chair for your guest.

“Nothing to apologize for, Darling,” Mihawk assures you and examines the rest of your home. It's cluttered, yes, but clean and more or less organized. He cuts his eyes toward you and smirks again at the sight of your flushed face. It seemed that you were not very used to being called any type of pet name.

You cough and rub the back of your neck, “Anyway, tea is this way,” you lead him to the kitchen where strings of dried herbs hang from the ceiling. You point at a group set away from the others and point out which is which. “The peppermint came out nicely this year, probably my favorite so far.”

“I'll have that then,” He watches as you dither around the kitchen, bringing a chipped kettle to a boil and pouring the two of you steaming cups of tea. He blows gently and then sips, humming at the pleasant coolness of the tea.

“Very nice,” he compliments and watches intently as you blush even brighter than before. Mihawk finds that he enjoys making you light up.

You quietly thank him and take a small sip of your own. He can feel your eyes on him, but Dracule doesn't particularly mind your curiosity. If earlier was any indication, then you had absolutely no idea who he was, and Mihawk would prefer to keep it that way.

“And thank you for earlier, with those men,” you speak up, and Dracule ticks a brow up at you, “I could have handled them, but definitely not as quickly as you did.”

“Mhm. You are welcome. The tea is a good enough reward,” the warlord teases, and you laugh quietly at his quip. After that, it's as if a dam broke. Conversation flowed between the two of you, and Dracule found himself hard pressed to leave when he looked outside and noticed that the sun was setting.

“Ah, I should be on my way. It is late, and I don't want to disturb you any longer,” Mihawk mentions. Truthfully, he wouldn't mind staying longer, but there were things he actually needed to attend to.

You blink and jerk your head to the window. It's near dusk and the sun paints the sky in hues of pink and purple, “Oh, I guess it is pretty late, huh,” you murmur and try to keep the disappointment out of your tone. Today has been one of the best days you've had in a very long time. You would miss Dracule Mihawk.

The warlord makes a split decision and stands, only to step close to his host and gently place a knuckle under her chin. He lifts her face, and she looks up at him with stars in her eyes when he swipes his thumb over her bottom lip, “Don't worry, Darling. You'll see me again,” he assures her softly.

You wet your lip, tongue ghosting over the pad of his thumb, “Promise?” You whisper, and Dracule gives the young woman a smile that will forever solely belong to you.

“Of course, sweet thing,” Mihawk murmurs and reluctantly pulls away. He grabs his sword and hat, fixing them to their proper places before he heads to the door, “I'll see you again.”

You watch him go, heart beating loudly in your chest as you stand to watch him out the window. When he disappears from sight, you plop back down and cover your flaming face with your hands. You couldn't wait to see him again.

@writingmysanity @kenkenmaaa @browneyedhufflepuff @foggyturtleknightangel

[fanaticsnail]

You Kissed the Clown? Part 4

Ok, this chapter got out of hand. I had been dwelling on it for a little while before I did a final few readthroughs. There might be still some grammatical errors and formatting issues, but here it is!

Word count: 4,675 (I am so, so sorry!)

Part 3 is here.

 After marinating in the deep warm liquid of the large porcelain tub for what you deemed to be an appropriate amount of time, you stepped out of the soapy liquid and dried yourself with a large, fluffy towel. Placing a robe from within the bathroom around yourself and gathering your pile of dirty clothes, you made your way back down the hall to find the guest quarters containing your friends.

Your hair was wrapped up in the fluffy towel in an attempt to dry the strands with more haste than simply air drying it. Your bare feet being the only sounds omitting from the long hallway, you strained your ear to hear light conversation coming from the guest quarters. You reached for the door handle, let out a deep breath and made to face your mismatched crew of straw-hat pirates.

“Oh my dear, how was your bath?” Nami asked you once she saw your form entering the space.

“It was relaxing, thank you,” you responded with a sweet smile. You raked your eyes over her and studied the fine clothes she was wearing.

“Wow, red is absolutely your colour!” you exclaimed at her, gesturing to the dress she had chosen to wear for the evening.

“Where were you when I needed you, tinkerer?” she smiled before turning to Zoro and Luffy, “this is what I was talking about. You guys didn’t give me anything to work with!”

Zoro scoffed and craned his head back to stare at the ceiling while Luffy craned his head to the side in confusion.

“I said you still looked like Nami,” he shrugged, “and you do! What was I meant to say?”

You rolled your eyes and laced your arm in Namis, leading her to the vanity and sitting her on the stool in front of it.

“I’m thinking hair up?” you suggested with a downturned smile, quirking your eyebrow in suggestion. She shrugged and looked over her features.

“Definitely an updo,” you said, gesturing to her short locks. You used your eyes to ask permission to touch her hair, to which she nodded in response, “maybe a few face-framing pieces down. Lower to the nape of your neck I think. With some feathers?”

Her eyes seemed to brighten just a little as she nodded at your suggestion. You picked up the brush on the counter of the vanity and began to draw her hair into the palms of your hands and twirl pieces around your fingers. You heard Zoro move to the place behind the changing shield and begin removing his bathrobe and sorting through the clothes he had chosen.

“What are you wearing, Captain?” you called over your shoulder while holding your gaze on the locks of the orange-haired woman sat in front of you.

“Nami picked out these for me,” he said with a broad smile, “classy, no?”

You brought your eyes up to view your captain in the silver lined mirror in front of you, looking over the dark vest and pant combination held in front of him.

“Very you, love,” you nodded, returning your eyes to the hair in front of you as you began pinning some of the pieces in place. You smiled slightly, catching Nami fawning slightly over herself as you fashioned her hair to suit your vision.

“How did you get so good at this?” she asked you, meeting your eyes in the vanity, “this girly stuff.”

“My mother,” you responded with a smile, “she used to wear her hair showcasing several of our handmade pieces to demonstrate our craft to the customers in the shop.”

You placed a few white-tipped feathers in Nami’s lower bun, securing them with several small brass pieces. Nami nodded slightly for you to continue talking.

“And when she deemed me ready,” you said, focussing on one brass piece and slotting it within her hair, “that task fell to me.”

You smiled at your work, placing your hands on her shoulders and bringing your face down to her level and looked at her in the vanity.

“You’re really good,” she commented, turning her head slightly to gaze at the back. You picked up a smaller mirror and held it to the back of her hair and angled it in a way she could see the rear of her updo.

“Thank you,” you responded warmly. She offered you a sincere smile and you placed your hand once more on her shoulder.

You heard Zoro cough, prompting you to turn to view his attire. You let out a low whistle and Nami nodded in approval at the dark suit he chose with a tanned shirt beneath it.

“Nice ensemble, swordsman,” you complimented him with an arched brow, which he in turn smiled at the ground in response to your words, almost bashfully.

“Now,” Nami said, interrupting your train of thought slightly while rising from her seat at the vanity, “lets sort you out. Can’t have you attending dinner in a bath robe with your hair in a damp towel.”

You laughed at her comment and followed her lead to the many racks containing a vast collection of tinted silks, satins, chiffon, cotton and feathers. Several items drew you in, but one in particular had you buzzing slightly. A deep, blue dress held you in a trance as you pictured the colour matching the irises of your newly infatuation’s eyes. You reached for the material and smoothed your hands over the frock. Several layers of tulle, fine satin and chiffon fell over the gown with a corset-style back. You held the fabric as you imagined yourself being twirled before being held in the arms of the clown captain. Your eyes began to glaze over as you leant in to your fantasy, imagining the music playing as he held your body against his and whispered his loving desires into your hairline.

“That one?” you heard Zoro ask over your shoulder, noticing how close he truly was to you. This immediately broke the spell you felt over encumbered by. You shook your head before presenting the material to him.

“Oh, I’m sorry Zoro. Did you want to wear it?” you taunted him while removing the hanger from the rack and holding it up to his torso and furrowed your brows in playfulness, “not really your colour.”

You heard Nami laugh as she continued to sift through the racks for something more appropriate than a ballgown for you to wear to dinner. You laughed and turned to put the dress back onto the hanger, only to have your movements halted by Zoro grasping your wrist lightly.

“You’re thinking about the clown again, aren’t you,” he murmured in your ear, in a low enough tone that only you (to your current knowledge) would be exposed to. You inhaled sharply before shaking your head and putting the gown back onto the rack and turning to face him. While training with him and discussing the prior battle he engaged with against Buggy, he noticed how your expression changed. Your posture would stand slightly less alert, eyes glazed over slightly as you pictured the shared kiss in your mind again.

You challenged him with your eyes, opting to not speak to give yourself away. The way his eyes searched yours left an unsettling feeling in your chest.

“You know he’s murdered potentially millions, destroyed towns and nearly killed us, right?” he asked you, holding his hard gaze. You felt a small wave of sadness come over you at the thought of the violent crimes he had committed in his acts of piracy.

“You can’t change a person that far gone,” he uttered to you, breaking his gaze from you to look at your captain, “and if you leave, it’ll break him.”

You followed Zoro’s gaze to look at your captain, now freshly adorning his vest and pants. He reached up to readjust his straw hat and smiled broadly at you both.

“What do you think?” Luffy asked, and without missing a beat; Nami responded.

“You look like Luffy,” she yelled over her shoulder. You saw the captain smile and nod his head in response.

“You’re right. I do look like Luffy,” he confirmed, sitting down on the plush stool in the centre of the room again.

You felt Zoro remove his hand from your wrist and place it on your shoulder as he leant in closer to you and whispered into your ear.

“You can do better than some psychotic clown,” he said before releasing your shoulder from his grasp and turning to take up his swords and fix them on his hip. You furrowed your brows and pursed your lips, shaking your head slightly at the words and continuing to sort through the materials.

“This is the one,” you heard the voice of Nami call from a rack several isles over.

You turned your head to look at the dress she was cradling in her arms. The way you could describe the outfit she was holding out to you would be whimsical. Something from within the pages of the novels you would read while attending the shop back home.

You smiled broadly and took the dress from her arms with a wide smile.

“This is beautiful,” you commented, immediately taking the dress behind the changing screen and pooling the robe at your feet. You stepped into the dress and brought it over your hips first, before placing your arms in the sleeves and pulling it over your torso. You stepped out from behind the screen to reveal the dress. Nami smiled at you as you presented your back to her.

“Would you mind doing me up?” you asked her, pulling the strands of your drying hair over your shoulder to aid her with her task.

“This looks so good on you!” she commented, placing her hand on your zipper and pulling it to the hilt. You walked over to the vanity and looked yourself over, nodding in affirming her words.

“You’re right, it suits me,” you declared while running your fingers through your hair and beginning to fashion it in a style you were accustomed to wearing in your family’s shop. You placed several sentimental pieces of jewellery in your hair, interlacing them between several braids you managed to weave in a few minutes.

A knock appeared at the door, indicating it was time to commence the birthday meal of Miss Kaya, you walked to the side of your captain with a smile.

“Well,” he said, “let’s go eat!”

He offered his arm to you, which you took with a laugh and allowed him to escort you to the foyer where several variety of hors d’ouevres were being offered on silver platters by the staff. You accepted a class of sparkling wine from the tray while retracting your arm from Luffy’s elbow.

Luffy sprung to commence his dining experience, opting to skip the beverages and go straight to the source of the delicious smell he had been craving. You were left alone slightly, as Zoro was speaking with Klahadore, Nami was conversing with Usopp and Kaya while the other members of staff would offer trays of food and beverages to your crew and another man who was introduced to you as ‘Merry’.

You continued to have the uneasy feeling of being watched by someone, often peaking from the corners of your eyes to catch the source in the act – only to find nothing awaiting your gaze. You sighed and raised the champagne flute to your lips and took a small sip of the tart, bubbling liquid.

“Something the matter?” you heard a voice purr to you, pulling you from your trance to meet the gaze of Klahadore. You felt yourself jump a little at his introduction, bringing your attention fully onto him. You sighed before smiling at him, hoping he did not sense your uneasiness at his presence.

“I’ve not had a good pampering for some while, Mister Klahadore,” you said with a warm smile, “I’ve been at sea for longer than I ought to have been, I think.”

He hummed in response, offering you a fresh glass of champagne; which you accepted graciously. He took the empty glass from your hand and replacing it with the full one, “you seem to be one affiliated with the finer things in life.”

“I have been educated, yes,” you responded, narrowing your eyes slightly at his accusation.

“I mean no disrespect,” he said, using the palm of his hand to adjust his glasses closer to his eyes, “you just do not seem like one suited for piracy.”

You maintained your narrowed eye contact, scepticism displayed in questioning his unintentionality of the subtle jab.

“Yet here you are,” he continued, pausing between each word.

“Here I am,” you confirmed with a smile, raising your glass to your lips and sipping at the wine while looking over to make eye contact with the swordsman of the crew. You widened your eyes at him, hoping for him to catch on to your subtle cry for help at being left alone with this unsettling figure. As unaware as one could be in this type of situation, Zoro pointed to the butler with his chin and shook his head in question. You mentally screamed at him, hoping for some unnatural telepathic ability to inflict great harm on the clueless swordsman before attempting to calm yourself and returning your gaze to the butler at your side.

“You’ll be escorted to the workshop after supper,” he said with a twinge in the corner of his mouth before continuing with a small list, “there will be a work bench, some oil, some better tweezers, screws, nuts, bolts, a red hot poker, soldering metal, a blackened glass visor, magnifying glass, and to rehash your words; how did you put it?”

You widened your eyes as Klahadore leant in ever so slightly to your ear and purred into it like one would taunt a helpless, flightless infantile bird.

“A bloody stiff drink,” he uttered with a small chuckle in your ear. You sharply inhaled a breath at this comment and stepped slightly away from the butler, prompting him to teeter his laughter slightly and readjust his glasses before adding, “I’ll escort you myself after I lay Miss Kaya to rest in her chambers.”

You nodded your head to him with an uneasy smile, confirming your attendance before walking over to the place Zoro was standing.

“What the hell was that,” you whispered in a berating manner at him.

“What the hell was that,” he said in the same hushed tone, gesturing to the place you were once standing in with the butler, “when I said you could do better than the clown, I didn’t mean moving on from one unhinged weirdo to the next.”

“What the hell, Zoro,” you hissed at him through clenched teeth, “I was giving you the signal.”

“That you wanted to kiss him? Yeah, I saw,” he whispered back.

You groaned at the comment, using all of your willpower to not smack the swordsman upside the head. Breaking you out of your thoughts, you were alerted to the beginning of the dinner by Klahadore as he escorted Miss Kaya to the head of the table.

“I’ll give you a lesson on what the signal is later, swordsman,” you hissed at him, brushing past him and plastering a fake smile on your features as you entered the dining room.

Unlike your companions, you had been trained in debutant-like manners in your education for formal negotiations with upper-classed individuals. You waited for Klahadore to ensure Miss Kaya was comfortably sat in her chair before reaching for your own to take a seat, unlike Zoro, Luffy, Usopp and Nami who sat down as soon as they found their designated chairs. You mentally sighed at their inappropriate table manners before nodding to Miss Kaya and taking a seat at the table.

You commenced your meal after Miss Kaya took her fist bite, enjoying the meal so dutifully prepared for you; choosing to keep yourself away from engaging in conversation with the troop. You were feeling so unlike yourself, completely thrown by the act you had committed days prior. Usually, you displayed your bubbly, semi-flirtatious and intelligent personality with an organic ease. You furrowed your brows at the thought that the clown had a fierce hold on your very soul, a pull urging you to bring yourself over to him and give in to your unbridled emotions.

And at this thought, you finally snapped. You refused to dwell on the improbable circumstances of ever seeing Captain Buggy again, and especially foster a romantic relationship with the; as Zoro so eloquently put it: some psychotic clown. You had come too far in your crafting skills, education and ability to challenge a persons apprehensions with your charisma to throw it all away to be some love-struck puppy for a powerful sea-captain on an insane rampage. You shook your head from your thoughts and plastered a smile on your face and began to make conversation with Merry who was seated beside you.

You were shocked when Luffy decided to stand up on the table and walk over to the woman who had so openly invited to host you within her halls that your words halted in your throat, causing you to do nothing but to gawk at the scene presented before you.

“Everyone, out of this house at once!” Klahadore demanded, to which Kaya responded.

“No,” she said with a gentle cough, “it’s late. Let them stay the night.”

Klahadore reached for Kaya, bringing her to her feet and beginning to escort her to her bedchambers.

“As you wish, Miss Kaya,” he relented, “but they are to be out first thing in the morning.”

He led her up the stairs, causing you to rise to your feet and bid Kaya goodnight.

“Well, that went pretty well,” exclaimed Luffy with a playful smile, “don’t you think?”

Silence engulfed the dinner guests seated around the table as they all contemplated the sheer ignorance of their young captain. You rolled your head back with closed eyes, hearing a slight click front your left side as you groaned at the knowledge you were about to undertake handling a potentially dangerous item for the cat-like butler.

“I’m retiring to the guest quarters,” you exclaimed, turning with a smile to the ram-looking Merry and giving him a polite bow.

“Sleep well,” he said with a wide smile. You gestured with your eyes to your remaining comrades and suggested with a subtle crane of your neck to exit from the dining room. Nami sprung to her feet after pushing her chair back in response to your gaze. Zoro creased his brows and shook his head in question, prompting you to roll your eyes.

“At least someone understands what ‘the signal’ is,” you said under your breath, linking your arms with Nami and escorting one another up the stairs towards the suite you were all sharing.

You both walked in silence towards the room, enjoying being in the comfort of just the two of you. She seemed to pay close attention to several of the more shiny pieces littering the many benches throughout the hall as you walked.

“Did you live in a place like this?” she asked you, continuing to fix her gaze on a gold-dipped light fixture.

“Absolutely not,” you replied with a small smile, “I grew up with my siblings in an apartment above the shop.”

She hummed in response, continuing the slow pace you kept on your way to the suite.

“You would work with stuff like this, though?” she unlaced your arms and picked up a pristine silver box and weighed it in her palm, “rich people, stuff.”

You sighed and took the box from her hands, “yes, I worked with this stuff.” You placed the item back on the bench before turning to smile at her.

“What do you want me to say?” you asked her with a shrug, “that we were well off? That I was exposed to the finer things in life?”

She creased her brows and crossed her arms at your comments. You sighed and took a step towards her.

“Look, Nami,” you said, placing your hands on her shoulders, “I did overhear parts of your conversation with Zoro. Eat the rich and all that.”

She unlaced her arms and widened her eyes a little at your statement.

“Wealth doesn’t equate to happiness,” you said, searching your gaze into hers, “and every penny I earnt was spent running the shop, and caring for my fourteen younger siblings when my mother passed.”

She let out a small gasp at your declaration and gave you a look of slight sympathy.

“Now,” you said, releasing her shoulders from your gentle grasp with a smile, “let’s agree to not judge one another for our histories and move on. I won’t pity you or pry your past from you, and we don’t question one another’s life choices, yeah?”

She nodded slightly at your words and you both continued on to your chambers.

BONUS BELOW

Holding a hand up to his missing ear, the famed clown captain sat atop his stage chair and hanging on to every word he managed to hear you disclose from its place among he assumed was the bottom of a skirt? His feet were both dangling over the left arm of the chair as he rested his head on the right arm, laying completely down on his back on the firm, wooden base.

He recalled letting out an insane amount of laughter at the fact that he had manage to unintentionally woo you with a simple kiss exchanged between you. He did not restrain his chuckles as he eaves-dropped the private conversation you seemed to be engaging with yourself about in the showers.

“How could this particular woman be so desperate for me,” he maliciously spat with an air of smug confidence surrounding him, “all I did was threaten her and in response, she kissed me.”

He laughed again, kicking his feet slightly at how utterly ridiculous the whole situation was. He pressed the blank space his right ear was no longer attached to and continued to listen to you argue with yourself.

“It wasn’t even that good of a kiss anyhow,” he heard you mutter to yourself in an echoing room.

“Not that good of a kiss, my right ass-cheek,” he growled, sitting up from his reclining position and planting his feat on the ground, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees, “it blew your absolute mind, baby. You’re crazy about me!”

He smirked at his own comment, before an uneasy feeling in the pit of his chest began to grow slightly.

“I didn’t even enjoy it that much,” he heard you say, also listening to the sound of a tap filling something large.

“Didn’t enjoy it that much?!” He yelled in a slight fit of rage, bringing the attention of Cabaji as he entered the tent. Buggy’s frown deepened at your words as he felt his chest bubble slightly at the feeling of inadequacy.

“Who are you talking to, Captain?” he asked.

“Shut-up!” he barked at him, “get out, I’m busy!”

Cabaji held his hands out defensively in front of himself and backed away slowly to return to the green room, leaving Buggy alone with his thoughts.

Buggy had a deep frown plastered on his face as he continued to hang onto every word he heard escape your lips.

“He could’ve been faking,” he heard you whisper to yourself, “it could’ve all been an act, a trick to lull me into a false sense of security, only to kill me after he was done with whatever he was doing with Luffy.”

“No,” he felt himself whimper slightly at your comment, dropping his frown and widening his eyes. The pit in his chest appeared to be growing and overcoming him slightly. He brought his other hand up to his lips and traced them with his fingertips lightly, attempting to bring the memory of the taste of you back to his skin.

His memory was flooded with your tender touch. His immediate reaction to push you away and inflict harm on you for daring to pull his body into yourself completely dissipated as you gently brought his body flush against your own and placed your lips against his. He remembered his sinister frown falling away from his brows as they turned upward in shock as he whimpered like some touch-starved stray animal against your embrace. Against his better judgement, he wanted nothing more than to hold you there for as long as you were willing to freely give him. He remembered lacing his gloved hand into your hair and pulling you gently into his embrace, squeezing the soft flesh of your back.

He had never felt a touch like yours before. This was his first encounter with another person so willing to freely express this amount of affection to him, he never wanted to part from your embrace – even ignoring the fact he felt you reach into his pocket to claim one of his throwing knives. He didn’t care if you were going to attempt to stab him in that moment, he would survive and you would look completely and utterly stupid. He was enjoying your touch and didn’t want to tear himself away from your clutches to brace himself for something as small as a dagger in his side.

While bracing himself in expectation of feeling the sharp object to be pried into the flesh you were exposing beneath his jacket, he felt your hands begin to explore his flesh, prompting a unrestrained moan to escape his lips. He wanted more. He wanted all of you, to be with you completely. If you were not holding him so firmly against yourself, he felt as if he would’ve become a puddle of broken pieces below your feet. Your touch brought him to his knees, in a hypothetical sense.

He cradled the empty space his right ear was missing from and felt overcome with the need to be in your presence. He was brought from his concentration on your words as he shook his head to bring him back into the present.

“What the hell?” he asked himself, looking at the position he was sitting in while cradling his ear, “why am I so focussed on you? I don’t even know your name!”

He gasped as he heard the final words escape from between your lips in a tone just above a whisper.

“I think I’m in love with Buggy the Clown.”

His jaw grew slack as he opened it in shock, the feeling in his chest warming his torso with an uncomfortable new emotion. His body slumped back into the broad backboard of his chair as he shook his head slightly, mouth continuing to hang agape in shock.

He felt his eyes begin to glaze over slightly, replaying your final words over and over again within his mind like a well-lit merry go round.

“That’s-,” he uttered in a voice below a soft murmur, “that’s all I ever wanted.”

He felt the well within his chest overflow and shoot tingles throughout his body. He closed his jaw and gulped back the saliva collected in his mouth as he continued to focus on your confession. He dropped his hand down from the empty space beside his head and hung it beside his shocked body. He looked down at his chest as the warmth continued to spread over his form as he came to understand the emotion he was feeling.

“Oh fuck,” he whispered with a wide grin forming on his face, a subtle bashfulness arising alongside a large warmth to his cheeks, “I love you too, baby.”

He let out a teetering giggle with a twinkle in his eyes as he came to terms with the adoration he had developed for you. He couldn’t wait to see you again, to tease you before pulling you into his arms. His love, his queen. His.

Part 5

[dreamlandcreations]

Imagine that Shanks adopts you into his crew as his pet...

Imagine that Shanks adopts you into his crew as his pet after he rescued you, not knowing that the cutest little cat that likes to take naps with him is actually a human who's got shapeshifting powers after eating a devil fruit.

You quite enjoy being pampered and adored by this confusing man so you wouldn't be against staying with him but you would rather not spend your life as a cat, so that puts you into a dilemma.

You only had one job until you figured out what to do: avoid sea water. How hard could that be? On a ship. In the middle of the endless sea. With a storm coming your way...

[licorice-tea]

You’re An Angel When You Sleep

Pairing: Trafalgar Law x reader

Content: angst, drowning, a little “off-screen” violence, hurt/comfort, near death experience

Word Count: 1.5k

A/N: literally wrote this in between classes so hopefully it doesn’t feel too rushed! not edited super closely yet, the grammar might be a little off. inspired by the song “Around The Bend” by Pearl Jam, specifically the last verse <3

Edited 2/28/24

Law is sinking, and there’s nothing he can do.

People call it “The Curse of The Sea.” They say that “she” turns her back on you when you eat a devil fruit. It’s simply the price to pay for such immense power.

And he has never had to worry about it before. His devil fruit ability affords him the security of being to prevent trips into the ocean. Not that he ever would fall- Law is far too careful a man- but he has plenty of crewmates and friends/allies that could somehow knock him overboard.

How sickening, that the first time it actually happened was at the hands of an enemy. And how disappointing, that it had only happened because of his own pride. A foolish disregard of taking caution while standing close to the railing on the enemy ship, when one of his opponent’s underlings threw something that didn’t even really hurt, but sent him overboard. In the midst of a battle where everyone was expected to hold their own- Law could expect no help as he plunged into icy waters.

It’s cold enough as it is, and his curse does nothing to help. He tries his hardest to stay conscious- perhaps he can still use his power if he thinks hard enough. People awaken their devil fruits all the time, so there’s no reason why he can’t do it now. But, no matter how badly he wants to simply teleport back to the deck of the ship, he can’t. The feeling of impending doom only serves to weaken his resolve, and soon enough Law is unwillingly giving up and giving in to the sea.

He’s about 10-12 meters down now. The weight of the water makes it feel nearly impossible to hold his breath for longer, so he lets out an exhale ever so slowly.

But no one is coming, and it’s time to accept his fate. “This is it,” he thinks, “just another pirate lost to the sea. That’s how it ends for me.”

He takes a moment to reflect on life up until now. So much pain and suffering, but in the end he just can’t stop remembering what little good there has been. His crew, who, no matter how much they bothered him, were his family. His blood family and Corazon, who he hopes to see again soon if there is any sort of afterlife. Then there’s you- with your uncanny ability to make him smile and laugh, your clever personality and friendly nature, all your strength and intelligence, and seemingly unwavering good morals. Law feels he barely deserves to have known you in this life, let alone fall in love with you as he has. Which is why he never shared his feelings with you or anyone, in all the time you’d been on his crew. Before this moment, he’d at least had the comfort of knowing there would always be the future, and therefore more time to open up to you figure out his feelings.

“How foolish.”

Law is just about to close his eyes- at least then it might be a more peaceful demise- when there’s a splash that breaks the surface of the waves. His eyes shoot wide open as he tries to figure out what it is, as it’s rather difficult to see clearly with his vision blurring and on the verge of losing consciousness.

All he can be sure of is that it’s a person. The light from above the waves surrounds their silhouette giving them an angelic halo, but simultaneously blocking out all their features from his view.

Law wonders, “Are you here to seal my fate? To ensure I don’t find some way out of this?” If he could, he’d ask that they do it quickly. Still, that painfully hopeful little part of his mind can’t help but come out in what are more than likely his last moments alive. “Or, are you here to save me? Are you gonna give me a second third chance at this? I don’t deserve it, but I will accept it. I’ll use it to do more; work harder, fulfill every goal. Confess to y/n.”

And that hopeful streak seems to take over his body as he uses his last iota of strength to reach upwards. Law’s angel continues swimming downward, but he can’t hold his breath long enough to see them reaching out to him, too.

His last thought is of you. He swears he can see your face on this mystery person as they get closer; your pretty eyes and lips, your hair swirling around your form underwater. Could it actually be… No, he doubts you’d even seen him falling overboard. But maybe he’s already dead, and you really are an angel. Law doesn’t get the chance to fully consider either reality though, as he finally blacks out.

-

“Gimme gimme gimme… a man after midnight…”

This is how Law taught you to do CPR on someone whose heart had stopped. Years ago, when you were struggling with keeping count of 100-120 beats per minute, he told you to “think of a song with the same count.” Most everyone’s go-to CPR song is “Stayin’ Alive.” But, you prefer the classic ABBA song. You pause every 30 compressions to administer 2 breaths, and as you remove your lips from his, a thought crosses your mind. “He looks so peaceful like this.” And even while unconscious, he’s handsome… angelic, even. Nevertheless, you’d much rather have an alive and annoyed looking Law than a dead and calm one.

“Is there a soul out there… Someone to hear my-”

Law coughs suddenly, and shoots up into a sitting position, gasping for breath.

“Law!” You throw your arms around his neck, nearly knocking the man back over.

And though he’s still catching his breath and coming to his senses, he lets you, and puts an arm around your back. “Y/n,” another cough, “what happened?”

You release him (much to his disappointment) and explain how the fight had ended soon after the crew lost sight of him; their captain. And, while the others quickly overtook the enemies, you dove overboard where you’d last seen him. It was pure luck, though guided by your intuition, that you found Law beneath the surface.

“Then I swam over here-“

“Which is where?”

You nod in the direction behind him. “Just around the bend from the harbor. The Polar Tang and the enemy’s ship can be seen from there, so I thought it’d be best to hide while you…”

“While I was dying.”

“Don’t say it like that,” you scold him with a frown, “you’re alive.”

“But I could have died.” Law says with very little pride. He sounds a little out of it, which makes sense considering the circumstances. “I could have died, and you saved me.”

“Well, any one of us would’ve, Captain-“

“Thank you, y/n.”

You shake your head bashfully. “It was no problem, really.” That’s a lie, and you both know it. The water in this part of the ocean is freezing, but through some incredible resolve that you hadn’t been aware of before, you pushed through it. For him. “So… We should get back to the fight, yeah?”

You move to stand up from your place on your knees, but Law stops you. With his hand on your shoulder, he pulls you back down to his side. “You said the fight is over?”

“Mhm.”

“Then let’s just… stay here, for a moment.”

He leans toward you hesitantly, though you’re not sure if it’s because he feels weak or he just wants you to hold him again. Either way, you wrap your arms around him and rest your chin on his shoulder. You hold onto each other with gentle force, and you feel him exhale deeply.

“I need to tell you something.” Law mutters.

You pull back enough to see his face. “Right now? Can’t it wait, Law-“

“I can’t want any longer.” And he really can’t. He’d tell you about how he had mistaken you for a living, breathing angel another time. For now, he just needs to fulfill his promise to said angel (to you?), and confess his love for you.

“Ok… What is it?”

Law is very straightforward as he says it. “I’m in love with you.” And he makes it impossibly hard to return to the battle when he asks that you never leave him in this life, like so many others have. Which you promise not to, of course, though it’s not exactly your decision. You tell him that you love him too, and in turn demand that he doesn’t die on you, either. Law nods against you.

The two of you stay there a while longer, in each other’s arms around the bend.

[millkyyo]

Please tell Ace the silliest random-est shit you can think of when you and him are finally a thing. Like Ace appreciates the inside jokes or random thoughts that only both of you can relate, it deepens the bond between the two of you after all. Ace loves how creative you can be in coming up with these things and would even start playfully countering it back

"Firefly, I don't think I can fart out fire." "Okay but, think about it.... If we got oil and you fart out fire, you become a flamethrower. That's cool!!!" ".....Okay that sounds cool, I should try practicing."

[zwhoreo]

Second post… i’m BACK!

swimming - luffy x gn!reader

suggestive fluff

summary: luffy needs a bath, but he can’t swim. how can you help?

includes.. just detailed descriptions of you washing luffy in the ocean, basically

words: 1.7k

_________________________________________

It’s warm today, the sun on the water is nearly blistering, the waves are gentle in the cove you’ve found and it’s all electric blue. The morning is ripe. There’s no wind to stir the ocean here. You sit on a low cliff, white rock over sky water, kicking your feet. You want to go swimming

You’re in a bathing suit, white, small, your hair is salt-burned, dry. The water is clear, you wouldn’t get hurt if you dove from here, right?

Luffy is playing on the beach, investigating something you can’t see, wandering around without a shirt on, tanned by the summer. He sits down on the sand and looks up, excitedly, waving to you, shouting, “[name]! I found something cool! Hey, [name]!”

You wave back, then motion for him to join you on the rock, beckoning him with a smile, and he doesn’t hesitate before scrambling up to sit beside you. He’s holding a crab in his hands, tiny and red and obviously furious, scared. 

“LUFFY! Put that down, he’ll pinch you.” You take the crab gently, looking around for a tidepool, and on cue you feel a sharp sting on your finger as it grabs hold of you, flailing, falling into the water below. You yelp and Luffy quickly takes your hand, inspecting the drop of blood pooling on your skin. 

He looks sad, a little angry. But concerned, too, as he stares down at your finger. “You ok?” His voice is genuine, kind. You reach out with your other hand, petting his shoulder. 

“Yeah, I’m alright, it doesn’t hurt.” You smile reassuringly, laughing a little. “I liked the crab.”

“Ya did?” His smile glows, he gets close to your face, his eye contact almost too much. He’s almost in your lap is how close he is to you. So you put a hand in his hair, because that’s what it seems like he wants. 

His hair is greasy. 

Trying to be nice, you don’t pull away, you pet his stringy, sticky hair and he’s still just shining with happiness at your touch, so it’s worth it. You notice the shimmer of sweat across his skin, the sand stuck to his body, he hasn’t had a bath in awhile. 

Maybe it’s the effort it takes? The way his energy fades away, how it gets hard to move in even as little as a few minutes in a bath? So times like that it’s just so much easier not to, he’s usually pretty dirty, which annoys you but you understand a bit. 

“Luffy…” You run your thumb along his forehead. “You’re a little sweaty, want me to help you clean off?”

He looks at you curiously, big-eyed and uncomprehending. 

“Wanna go swimming?”

“Huh? But… but I can’t, remember?” Luffy tilts his head a bit, his hands fidgeting, playing with the skin on your bare thighs. 

“Yeah, I know. But I’m gonna hold you. And I’ll help you wash yourself.” You cup his face in your hands, feeling him lean forward a little into your touch.

“Oh- okay!” He smiles at you, excited at the prospect of being held, which he always loves, no matter the context, so he turns around and jumps off the rock on the beach again. 

“Hold on!” You follow him onto the sand, catching him by the shoulders, and when you’re right up in his face again you say, “lemme undress you first.” 

His eyes light up, he grins and tries to hold still as you drop to your knees, unbuttoning his pants, but he immediately starts rolling back and forth on his feet as you slide your hands down the smooth skin of his bare hips. He’s brimming with energy, he shudders under your every touch, you admire him as you undress him, tossing his shorts into the sand behind you, now he’s standing naked on the beach of your little cove. He looks good like this. 

But you don’t want him for anything else, right now, you just wanna go swimming, so as you press your body against his it’s an embrace of friendship more than lust, showing him that you’re here and you’re gonna keep him safe in the water. 

He pulls away so he can kiss you, his lips warm and damp, pushing against you with too much pressure so you stumble a little before he grabs your waist and lets you relax into his arms, comfortably, quietly. 

“This is gonna be fun, huh?” He says into your mouth, still wanting to keep the kiss. And his hips stutter against yours instinctively, so you place your hands on his thighs gently to settle him down.

“Mm.. mhm..” you say, muffled by his kiss. He’s so eager, just to be close to you, to be doing something with you, it’s adorable. 

You take his hand and dip your feet into the water, the shock of the cold is startling but it soothes the burns from the white sand and you pull him along with you. 

But Luffy doesn’t need encouragement. He runs up to his knees, soft waves hitting his legs as he giggles and looks back at you, his naked form a silhouette against the cloudless sky, framed wonderfully by the cove, you look him up and down slowly even as he tugs your hand to pull you in with him. 

“I’m coming!” You assure him with a smile as you ignore the icy feelings and wade deeper, lazy currents pushing you towards him. “You’re beautiful,” you tell him honestly. 

“Thanks!” He goes further, up to his hips, shuddering a bit as the water laps between his exposed legs, staring deep into your eyes. “So are you.”

And without much thought you lay down in the water, temperature shock coursing through you, your hair drifting away in a swirling halo. Luffy wastes no time in laying himself on top of you. 

“H-hey- no-“ You wrestle him off and into your arms, fighting to keep from sinking, and his body is soft, skin like velvet, he slips easily into your tight embrace, and smiles innocently and this is what he wanted from the start. 

He hasn’t lost his energy yet, he still squirms playfully as you drag him further out, feet kicking the water, splashing you, so you splash him back and he shrieks, biting down on your shoulder and shoving himself against you. 

“You gonna wash me?” He seems joyful at the thought, which is a bit surprising, you thought he’d complain more, but he just gazes up at you expectantly and stretches a bit, leaning back in the water, muscles shifting under his skin as the sun dances off of his glistening curves. 

“Y-yeah, hold on…” So you wade out to where the water encircles your waist and you let his body drift, supported by your arms and the salt in the water, and you dig your fingers into his hair again, pulling gently as you caress his scalp and he closes his eyes in complete bliss already. 

His thick, black hair becomes loose and shimmery against the waves. He leans into your touch and it moves with him, he’s alive but at peace, his skin is golden in the sun and against the water and he has turned to silk. 

So it’s easy to slip your hand down his hair and over the back of his neck as he shivers in your arms, eyes opening, hooded. Your nails dig into his upper back and he arches into you sharply, you adjust your hold on his arms. And time slows as you curl your fingers around his waist, a gentle gasp escaping his lips as you begin to knead the sensitive muscle and you bring your face against his, just so you can hear and feel his breathing. And you set out to go swimming so you raise your feet above the sand of the ocean floor and float beside him, the curves of your body rising above the water for Luffy to sleepily admire.

He is getting sleepy. Those hooded eyes turn down further as his body sways in the water that’s been taking his energy slowly, then all at once. He’s going slack against you so you have to work more to keep him up as you still touch and rub him diligently. The ocean cradles him even as it drains him.

“Don’t fall asleep yet,” you whisper in his ear as you trace your fingers to his chest, his abs, an intimate grace as you lean even closer. His breathing hitches, then slows. He kicks the water again, a desperate struggle to stay awake so he can feel your touch for longer. You feel the rise and fall of his stomach as your hands slide lower, pressing into his skin almost painfully, the salt of the water helping to raw his skin and wash away the dirt and sweat of the week. 

He tries to say something but you can’t hear him, you quickly put a hand under his head to keep him above water. Propping him up you return to his hips - the sensitive, soft skin just inside his hips - making him squirm with dwindling strength, making a smaller sound, a sound of pleasure. You kiss him delicately, taking time to savor his quiet need and want. 

Digging your fingers into his upper thighs makes him tremble and whine for you. His body is still warm through the water, his muscles flex instinctively at the foreign touch, this is what he’s been craving. The sensation, for him, only grows as you move inwards, the caressing of the inside of his legs is nearly too much. He’s so tired now, that feeling is the only thing left in his mind. 

As your touch becomes a rhythm he begins to slip away, clouded with fatigue, the water hungry for the last of his energy. You feel him begin to go limp in your arms and you speed up your cleaning, you don’t want him to be out for too long, his slacked mouth curls into a smile as he falls asleep. 

And when you’re done, and his skin looks polished, his hair not so stringy anymore, you find the sandbed again with your toes and swim him back to shore. He becomes heavy as you leave the ocean. You drag him onto the beach and immediately kneel over him to check on him, make sure he’s ok, and he’s still asleep but he moves a bit, just enough to reach up and squeeze your hand.

[selfindulgenceisthekey]

𝙼𝚎𝚛𝚞 𝙼𝚎𝚛𝚞 𝚗𝚘 𝙼𝚒: 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚙𝚝. 2

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Pt. 1

A/N: I have so many plot ideas in my head for this, but so little motivation to write. Don’t expect a schedule from me, sorry.

You weren’t sure… how you were here.

Eimi was curled in your arms, practically seated in your lap, trembling, her eyes wide but fixated on the waters surrounding you.

The group around you was talking, and they seemed to be working on keeping their voices low as they spoke. The waters were rather calm, and had this been under different circumstances, you’d also be staring out to the water. But you kept your sights on the Strawhats.

One of them, Robin, you believed, had given you a blanket, wrapped around you and Eimi. You both were still clad in your pajamas, and you had never felt more exposed than you did now.

“Captain, please—”

Your attention shifter, body tensing as Luffy bounded forward. Eimi let out a small gasp, burrowing further into you, and you let her, holding her tighter as the grinning captain stopped in front of you.

“Robin says you probably ate the meru-meru no mi fruit, did you? That’s so cool!” He was hunched over, face close to the pair of you.

“Luffy!”

You didn’t respond, not sure if it were from fear or stubbornness. Luffy didn’t seem as if he minded, still grinning even as he was grabbed by the back of his shirt, pulled backwards. Nami stood in front of you and Eimi as Sanji pulled their captain back, all his members looking a mixture of annoyed and exasperated.

“You can’t just crowd her like that!” Nami scolded, hands on her hips as she stared down the grinning captain.

“We talked about this Luffy,” Robin spoke next, her voice gentle from somewhere off to your left, “Personal space is something many value.”

At her words, he pouted, allowing himself to be let go, not rushing toward you again. His attention did turn your way, and Eimi made a noise, turning her head so it was pressed to your chest.

“I’m sorry,” He apologized, sounding weirdly cheerfully apologetic, “Everyone says I need to be better with this personal space stuff, especially with strangers,” He blinked once, before continuing, as if a thought just dawned on him, “But you’re not a stranger! That guy said we could take you!”

That… did not sound like something Kurozawa would say, nor something he would do. He had had people killed for trying to steal you away— you were his songbird.

“Luffy, shut—”

“That is not what he—”

“Well he said I could have you for one night,” He clarified, eyebrows furrowing, “But when you’re my crew you can stay for longer than just one night! Hey— you didn’t answer my question— did you eat a devil fruit? Was it the one Robin said you did?”

Oh. Yeah. That did check out. Kurozawa was not going to offer your devil fruit talents to anyone unless they offered him a very hefty sum, but he wasn’t above having others pay less for… other things.

He probably tried offering that when his deal went up in flames, probably right after you had retired to your room.

Several shouts were heard, all directed at Luffy, but the sounds were loud and jarring, Eimi was now trembling in full in your arms. You held her tighter, wishing you could merge with the floorboards beneath you.

There was some breakout of arguments, you didn’t follow it, your brain feely fuzzy, no words truly reaching your ears. You heard your name called gently, once then twice, before you turned, Robin kneeling near you two, but with enough distance to feel safe.

“Would you feel comfortable following me somewhere quieter?” The way her question fell made it really feel that you had a choice— it was an open ended question, if you refused, you had a feeling she’d allow that.

But, you didn’t want to refuse. Swallowing hard, you nodded, feeling shaky as you stood, still keeping Eimi tight in your arms. The bickering didn’t cease, as you followed far enough away from Robin that you felt safe. You could hardly pay attention as you walked, the setting suns warmth disappearing as you made your way indoors.

“I do apologize,” She spoke, and you felt yourself snap out of whatever empty thoughts had clouded over, realizing you were in… a library?

You glanced around, not sure what to say in response. She continued, thankfully, motioning to a chair, “Would you like to sit?”

Every part of your body felt exhausted, and despite knowing how powerful Robin could be, you’ve heard the stories and seen the bounty, you felt almost safe around her. So you sat. If she tried anything, you’d fight back of course, but you were hoping your trust wasn’t being ill put.

“Luffy gets excited very easily, and it doesn’t take a lot of input for others to follow suit, in their own ways. They mean well, of course, it’s just sometimes harder for them to put it into a way everyone would understand.”

You cleared your throat, swallowing hard, “You were right… I had eaten the meru-meru no mi fruit. I’m… it’s hard for me to control, though,” You glanced towards her, before looking away, studying the books you could see, “If your captain wishes to use me I’m afraid it would be—”

“I can assure you that isn’t why you’re aboard our ship,” She interrupted you, not unkindly, “Kurozawa had been on our radar for a few weeks now. His invite merely gave us a way into his home directly. We had our own reasons, but when you came to dinner, well, it’s safe to assume the stories we’d heard about him weren’t just stories.”

You shook your head, pulling the blanket around you and Eimi tighter, the young girls eyelids were drooping. She was absolutely exhausted. You don’t blame her.

“I imagined so. I won’t lie, he did attempt to offer a night with you to our captain, our crew,” She kept her voice quiet, as if hoping to ensure Eimi didn’t hear her speak, though each word was dripping with venom, “Once he had made that offer, our minds were made up. We would work to free you from his hands, as well as work on his downfall. One happened tonight, the other is to come as time progresses.”

Free you from his hands.

It wasn’t that simple.

It couldn’t be that simple.

You had stayed up nights, long after Eimi had fallen asleep, as she was close to doing now, praying to whoever may hear your pleas that you both would escape one day.

Eimi was asleep now, fingers gripping your top tightly, and you felt your breath catch in your throat. You couldn’t cry, you couldn’t wake her up, worry her. Robin gave you a gentle look, something sympathetic, something understanding.

Your free hand covered your mouth, teeth sinking into the flesh of your palm. You hiccuped once, twice, before you managed to calm your breath, dropping your hand.

“I,” Your voice trembled as you spoke.

You wanted to thank her, to offer to do whatever the crew needed of you to repay this debt. You wanted to scream at her, ask— no, demand why they freed you, what did they gain from this? No one in this world did things to be kind, no one did things without gaining something.

“He won’t let you leave with me easily,” Was what you managed to whisper, “He… I’ve been his for two years now, and I’ve… made people do horrible things.”

Admitting it felt like acid, like bile coated your throat as you spoke, “He’s unstoppable with me, but he’s powerful without me. He won’t stop until he gets me back, until he’s decimated your crew for taking what’s his.”

Robin shook her head, sending you a gentle smile, “He was only unstoppable because of you, he’s a man, he’s human. He bleeds, the same as you and I. We’ve fought with many people, many who wanted nothing more to destroy us. He’s merely a name added to that list, and I can easily promise you, he will not be the one to end the Strawhats.”

“As for making people do things,” Her eyes drifted, her gaze soft as she looked at the sleeping figure of Eimi, gentle puffs of breath against your skin, “You had your reasons. We all have done things, things we may not be proud of, but we had our reasons to do so.”

You absentmindedly brushed some of Eimi’s hair from her face— she’d need a bath soon. There were no words you could come up with to respond to Robin, but your silence didn’t seem to affect her negatively. There was a gentle knock on the door, and it cracked open, the sharpshooter, Usopp, peering in.

“Luffy’s calmed down,” He spoke, lowering his voice when he noticed Eimi was asleep against your chest, “If you’d feel comfortable coming back up, we’ll all be a lot calmer, Usopp’s promise.”

You licked your lips, unsure as to what you wished to do. You’d need to face them, sure, thank them, you suppose. But this entire day was… beyond draining. You were tired, you were hungry, and you were scared. They both seemed to understand.

“We’ll all speak in the morning,” Robin decided, “I can lay out a bed for the two of you,” She paused, studying the library for a moment, “Would you feel more comfortable if you two bunkered down here? I imagine rooming in the women’s cabin may still be a bit much. And I’m not sure I can convince Nami to room in the men’s cabin for the night.”

Usopp chuckled nervously, “We just managed to get everyone calm, I think that suggestion might make things worse.”

You nodded, the library was quiet, warm. It was cozy, it felt safe, reminding you of those fleeting memories of youth, a time that felt like eons ago.

“Usopp, if you wouldn’t mind fetching some spare blankets and pillows.”

He nodded, smiling at you as the two of you made eye contact, before turning and hurrying out. Robin sighed, a soft sound, as she turned to you.

“Tomorrow morning, I can come fetch you if you feel comfortable. Give you time to wake up, and adjust. Explain a few things if need be. Our cook, Sanji,” She clarified for you, “Will ensure to make space at the table for the two of you. Are there any allergies or dietary issues I should pass on to him?”

“Oh,” You stammered, “That’s not— I’ll be fine— Eimi, she doesn’t have allergies. But- but she doesn’t like eggs. In any way, really.”

She nodded, mentally noting that to pass along, before she spoke, “You weren’t allowed dinner when at Kurozawa’s, and our cook ensures no one goes hungry. It wouldn’t be a bother, or an issue I promise. He’ll be overjoyed to have new palettes to cook for as well.”

You swallowed, “I… I’m okay with anything,” The words sounded weak, even to you, but thankfully, Robin nodded, more than likely understanding not to press you.

There was a warning knock, before Usopp entered, carrying pillows and blankets so high that he didn’t seem as if he could peer over them.

“Nami said she would find some of her clothes that may fit you for the morning,” His voice was muffled as he moved to place everything down on the table, “Unfortunately we don’t have much that will fit your daughter. But we’re not far out from a mini town, and Nami also said she’d put some berries aside to get her some things.”

“O-Oh, she’s—”

Usopp shook his head, looking almost guilty for a moment, “She… may have robbed a few thousand berries from Kurozawa’s before we left. As well as some things she says are pure gold we can sell, so it won’t be hurting us. Besides, if Nami is offering you berries without interest, take it and run.”

You hesitated, before nodding. That… was an issue you were going to address, just not the first one. Eimi shifted in your lap, and you glanced down at her.

You suppose you’d tell your story in the morning.

“We’ll leave you two to set up,” Robin spoke, bidding you a goodnight as she left, Usopp following right after.

The couches, you supposed they were couches, lining the walls were soft. Firmer than your bed at Kurozawa’s, but didn’t that make them all the better? You made quick work, lying Eimi down, a pillow under her head, blankets tucking around her body. She looked relaxed, comfortable. You stood for a moment, simply staring at her, looking around the room you were in.

Two years and all you had seen were the walls of Kurozawa’s home.

He called you his songbird, and his home was your golden cage.

And apparently all it took was some rowdy pirates— pirates, apparently, who had kind hearts— to bust the cage doors open.

You brushed a hand over Eimi’s forehead, moving to lay with her, and willing yourself with to fall asleep. Asleep in a room that wasn’t your prison, for the first time in over two years.

[mydisenchantedeulogy]

I went ahead and started it.

[kazuyummy]

OPE OPE NO MI ; this versatile devil fruit allows the user to manipulate both living and inanimate objects in a specific space in a multitude of ways, including but not limited to - swapping the objects' positions, levitating them, scanning them, or dissecting them without causing harm to the target.

😈🎃 kinktober 2023 devil fruits collection

info: afab!reader

cw: body / knife play (no gore or harm - just law's powers), oral & penetrative sex, mentions of genitalia, degradation

wc: 1.9k

"alright, which one of you has been spreading unsavoury rumours about me to the straw hats?!"

it's a dead giveaway when you, shachi, and penguin burst into laughter and law's dark glare cuts across the room.

“i - i didn’t think he’d actually ask him!” shachi wipes tears from his eyes as you watch the confused straw hat group discuss law’s… capabilities with his devil fruit from afar. the three of you run behind bepo, shrieking with laughter.

“lighten up, cap! we never said you did suck your own dick with your devil fruit powers, just that you could!”

“you’re not making things much better…” bepo shakes his head at penguin as law continues to stalk over to you. while he’s certainly annoyed, he doesn’t seem to be as upset as he usually is when it comes to pranks played on him. maybe it’s from hanging out with the straw hats? while he complains that they elevate his blood pressure, you do catch him being less uptight during celebrations like these.

“you two, i’ll deal with you later,” he points at your accomplices - then his eyes slide over and catch yours. there’s a sort of glint to them that your intuition is giving you funny feelings about, and you’re not sure exactly what those feelings are. in one word, you’re off of the ship deck, now losing your balance on the wooden floors of law’s quarters - “room.”

you steady yourself on his desk, looking up to see your captain’s ominous smile. heart racing, you stammer out,

"cap-captain! you can't actually be mad about that, right?"

"no, quite the opposite, actually," an menacingly wide grin stretches on his face, "i was delighted to hear that you’ve been thinking… such thoughts about me."

your laugh is nervous - breathless, even - as he removes his hat and saunters closer to you. certainly not the reaction you expected - usually he gets more flustered, his signature scowl finding its way to his face eventually, but not before that cute blush that spreads to the tip of his nose paints him. panicked, you dig your nails into the wood behind you,

“i’m so sorry, captain, it was just a joke -”

“a joke,” he’s still smiling, but with a deadpan voice.

“yes, a joke! c’moooon, there’s no way the straw hats actually believe -”

“a joke,” he repeats, harshly this time. you flinch. “i suppose every time i’ve caught you in just a towel in the hall in front of this room is a joke, then.”

“captain, wha -”

“and that every time you glance at me when you’re flirting with that pervert cook and you think i’m not looking is a joke, huh?”

he inches closer and closer, caging your back to his desk as he looms over you and you struggle to return eye contact.

“or how about the time you spilled water on your white shirt in front of everyone, hm? you don’t think i’m an idiot, do you?”

“no, of course not!” you’ve never seen law like this - eyes almost manic, and you’re not sure if you’ve pushed him too far. besides the teasing, you had at least respected each other before this, to the point where you’d go so far as to say he enjoyed your company and definitely valued you as a crewmate! and yet, despite your fears, you can’t help but notice how close he is to being pressed up against you.

“you wanna know what i think is a joke?” he growls, breath fanning your ear as he leans in past your face, “how stupid you are for thinking you could get away unpunished with such obvious bait… and how stupid i am for falling for it.”

he pulls back to judge your reaction, and it’s as expected - eyes wide and frantically scanning him, lips parted, plump and kissable - but he stops short before meeting them, a gasp hitching in your throat.

“i’ve had enough of your teasing. you know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you?”

when your eyes finally find his, your mouth slowly twists into a coy grin that you can’t seem to hide,

“how can i help it when i’m around you?”

his lips are rough and punishing on yours as he lets out his pent-up frustration. you try to gain ground by stepping forward, but he picks you up with a bruising grip and seats you on his desk, still kissing you like his life depends on it.

“don’t think you can play innocent with me anymore,” he says between rough panting, “you just wanted my attention, didn’t you? little brat.”

“you’re being awfully bold, captain,” you let out a low moan when he starts kissing down your neck, tattooed knuckles gripping impatiently at your thighs, “what’s gotten into you?”

“i wasn’t lying when i told you it gets me excited that you were thinking of my cock. you wanna find out what my powers do then?”

you tilt your head questioningly, playfulness dancing along your features and enticing him that much more. he follows up with,

“do you trust me?”

without a doubt you do, and when he unsheathes his sword and slices you at the waist, there’s only a small skip of your heartbeat as you prepare to let him do what he pleases.

the feeling is neither pleasant nor uncomfortable - rather, it’s not much of a feeling at all besides one cool, dull pulse along the area he cuts into.

what ensues is what feels the strangest - it’s not as if either half of your body feels any lighter, and you’re able to control all your limbs, albeit with a bit of clumsiness. law returns to kissing you, shedding both of you of your clothes until you face him bare.

“want to test out your little theory for yourself?”

you forget what he’s referring to until he places your lower half sitting on his desk and your upper half on the chair so that you come face to face with your dripping pussy. you gawk at him, expression questioning, are you really going to make me do this? he juts his chin forward and begins to stroke his cock,

“go on, i won’t fuck you until you make yourself cum.”

with your arms still on your torso, you’re able to reach out hesitantly and spread your folds. you lurch a bit in confusion as one half of you leans forward and the other back, and you bring your tongue out to lap at yourself.

would eating yourself out feel more like eating out or getting eaten out?

you finally had the answer - both, oddly enough - but maybe that was just a consequence of law’s powers.

"that's it, darling," law purrs at the sight in front of him - your wetness dripping down your chin and lips circling around your clit. you’d masturbated before, sure - but having never eaten anyone out before, you’re being experimental, bringing your fingers into the mix and plunging deep into your core. you think of how you’d want someone else to eat you out - how you’d want law to eat you out. building up to a steady rhythm, finding all your sensitive spots - you find yourself moaning his name into your own pussy.

“you’re so fucking hot,” he growls, standing up to grab your hair and push your face further in, “do you know what you do to me? how much i’ve imagined this?”

“mmhf, captain -”

“captain,” he scoffs, and his gravelly voice sends you closer and closer to orgasm, “you know how much it turns me on every time you whine captain at me?”

you’d giggle if you could, because you have noticed how much it pushes his buttons - but you can’t, not while you’ve brought yourself to your own dizzying release, legs thrashing but pulling yourself closer all the same. you’re sobbing his name into your own clit until he hastily places you back together, impatient and needing to fuck you.

“don’t think that was much of a punishment with how good it must’ve felt,” he muses, licking your taste off of your lips as he picks his sword back up, “so how about this for all your teasing, brat?”

the blade finds your neck this time - again, no pain and just a shiver down your spine as he brings your body to his bed.

“why don’t you watch first?”

it’s a strange sight, seeing your headless self be bent over and the sensation of him plunging into you making its way to your brain right away. your hands grip the pillow in front of you as you arch your back low, and he looks over to see your blissed-out eyes when he places a firm smack on your ass.

his hips dig into you, lithe fingers wrapped around your thighs as he thrusts himself in and out at a frantic pace.

“pussy feels so fucking good. is this what you wanted? for your captain to fuck you and fill you to the brim?”

you want to bite a pillow, stars in your vision and tongue lolling when he continues to roll his hips. so, so deep.

“answer me,” another smack to your ass, “you wanted to be a little fucktoy for this cock, yeah? s’that why you’ve been teasing me?”

you garble out a yes amidst your moans, but it doesn’t seem to be enough for him as he grabs you by the hair, placing your head under the both of you so that his balls hit your face every time he sheathes himself into you.

“tap twice if it’s too much,” law grunts, but doesn’t let up. your eyes are rolling and tongue reaching forward, licking and kissing at his sack.

“fuck - fuck i’m gonna cum in - ah -!”

he slams his thighs forward, and you’re finally able to take him into your mouth, sucking gently as he drains himself inside you, nearly trembling while you feel his thick cock pulsing inside of you. he stays for a moment before releasing himself, some of his seed dripping down onto your cheeks as you lap it up eagerly.

“that’s my good girl,” he chuckles, and you swear if you weren’t so disoriented when he places your head back onto your body, you’d be ready to go again just from hearing him saying that. you both flop down on the bed.

“hey,” he rasps, with genuine concern in his voice, “that wasn’t too much, was it?”

you roll over with a lazy smile,

“remind me to play practical jokes on you more often, captain.”

he lets out a relieved sigh, handing you some water and going to his washroom to prepare some towels for you.

“i mean it. you really are such a little brat.”

“and you’re more of a freak than i expected, captain.”

law scoffs, “looks like i didn’t punish you enough, princess. i won’t be as kind next time you pull some shit.”

“as long as you don’t give shachi and penguin the same treatment.”

he groans, but lays behind you, strong arms bringing you close to his chest. those two - and the rest of your crew, for that matter - might be wondering where you are right now, and with your luck, could be banging on law’s door any minute now. but you leave that thought until it happens, for now content to drift off to sleep in your captain’s arms.

author's notes: i think law's a bit ooc cause he's a slow burn kinda guy but i NEEDED to get to the porn lmao. a bit of a longer fic than expected, since i got this done so late - but the other ones are in progress and should be coming soon! no guarantee they'll be as long, though. appreciate your patience as i get back to writing and posting, and hope you enjoy the rest! 😈💜

dividers by benkeibear

[adozowa]

I have the UNDYING URGE.. To make a.. One piece thingy

-so basically m!reader who's not really all special, he's really sly physically and verbally. He knows how to manoeuvre his way into things..

-though growing up a poor life, m!reader had this brother by bond who was a Fishman, Kaito(an oc) . They were really close growing up as they both met on a beach by accident.

-as they grew up to 15, one day, m!reader had to sail away as he was caught with his crimes and lies. When kaito went to their usual spot, you weren't there. As he tried finding you on land, nowhere... He had no clues or leads as to where you were, and there you guys were separated.

-but you sold your life to a fox spirit when you took off at sea, to become immortal.. You were basically greedy, and that spirit can be activated and it's powers when you feel a STRONG sense of emotion.

(But you lowkey nonchalant and greedy so... It's barely activated)

basically erm

KAITO

A Fishman species with a paramecia devilfruit; uru-uru(again made up ahaha...😟), which grants the user the ability to increase or decrease the volume of their noise or voice.

Basically he can

AaaaAa..

Or

AHHHHHHH!!!!

VERY earbleadinh.. | when you drifted off at sea, kaito became a part of uta's musical thingy

YOU

3 tailed fox spirit inside ya body, and you're a journalist writing a lot of your adventure and storing some information.... You prefer to hide inside deep dark rooms or places cause your nonchalant like that🌈🌈

You're sort of a zoan now??? It's complicated

You have info to your hobbies which is

--↓↓

Foraging any kind of plant

Chemicals

Devil fruits

--you have a deadly amount of information on devil fruits and chemicals, which is a threat to the world government. So they allied with you, but no one else knows about this.

No one knows the fox spirit residing in your greedy body.... nonchalant ahh

Anyways I'm thinking of what the plot of this will be about..

skibidi

(planning to ship reader with someone allied with/is the strawhats, any suggestions?)

Kaito a shark thingy btwz/he isn't as HIDEOUS as other Fishmen... No Offense jinbei your pretty:3

[hannahbarberra162]

Can't Fix Fix A Broken Heart

Now on Ao3

All chapters

This is my first OP fanfic. I love the Whitebeard Pirates and I wish Whitebeard was my dad. I HC Ace does sometimes talk like Luffy but only around other WBP and / or people he feels very comfortable with. TW: reader has significant trauma, will be explained in later chapters. let me know if you like it!

Synopsis - you are an anxious bar cleaner with a practical but otherwise uninteresting Devil Fruit. You're free from your past - until today. Can your new friends help you? Or do they just want to keep you for themselves?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Letting yourself through the backdoor of the bar, you sighed heavily to yourself. The bar was more destroyed than usual - and that was saying a lot because it usually looked like a hurricane had come through and destroyed half the place. Looking at the few remaining kegs of booze on the shelves behind the bar, you could guess why. It looked like there had been quite a rager last night and it had gotten rowdy. Taking another deep breath, you went to get the broom in the cleaning closet. Waiting around wasn’t going to get the bar any cleaner. “The Brothers Bar” had gotten a reputation for being able to take whatever damage the customers decided to do, and you weren’t sure that was a good thing. 

The rays of sunshine streaming through the windows highlighted the dust in the air. You opened the unscreened windows as wide as you could to let in the refreshing, cool morning breeze. Like you did every morning, you put on your work apron and started by sweeping up what you easily could. It was a way for you to survey the damage done the night before and mentally prepare yourself for the tasks at hand. Sweeping up the broken glass, debris, dirt and was that a pineapple fruit crown? You looked about and in the corner, there was an immense pile of broken table legs and cracked table tops all in a heap. What had happened? A table throwing contest? Just one more thing for you to do. At least they were in a pile.

After you swept the small stuff into a dustpan and threw it away, you walked over to the pile of debris. It would be easier to clean the floor once all the large furniture was out of the way. Walking over, you saw something unusual - a large black boot sticking out of the pile. You carefully peered closer and it seemed the boot was attached to a leg. Sucking in a gasp, you slowly reached out to touch the leg. You had never seen anyone in the bar in the morning - the brothers always cleared out any patrons at the end of the night. Was the person dead? Would you have to deal with a dead body? You hadn’t seen anyone dead in a while and always hoped it would be a while longer. 

Your questions were quickly answered as your fingertips touched the smooth leg sticking out of the pile. The leg jerked back, and the person attached to the leg let out a huge yawn. Arms dusted in freckles rose out of the pile as a young man sat up and did a large morning stretch. Your eyes widened as he reached behind him with lingering sleepiness and reached for a black cowboy hat with some faces on it. He yawned again, put it on his head, and looked at you with a crooked smile on his handsome face. 

“G’mornin’”

You stared at the younger man. He had…slept in that pile of broken wood? He didn’t even seem confused or upset by his waking circumstances? He was starting to sit up, mildly scratching at his unclothed chest and stretching his torso. He seemed perfectly at ease and started brushing wood shavings off of his shorts. 

You backed away instinctively - anyone coming near you was enough to have you taking a few steps back just in case. A moment later, he looked at you again and smiled guiltily. You didn’t know what to say or do, so you did what came naturally: you laughed. A huge belly laugh - the kind you hadn’t made in a long time. He looked back at you surprised and flashed a genuine smile that made him seem much younger. 

Now that the young man was awake, you thought you recognized him. He was very handsome - dark black hair hanging in soft waves framing his face, soft dusting of freckles, big bright eyes looking your way. But what identified him for you was the “ASCE” tattoo along his arm and the giant Whitebeard tattoo across his entire back.

“You’re…hmm….Fire First Ace, right?”

“Yep.”

“Why are you here?”

“We’re on the island getting supplies for the Moby Dick.”

“No, I figured that. I meant, why are you in this bar right now? You should have been kicked out with everyone else last night.”

The young man shrugged his shoulders, seemingly unperturbed by the circumstance.

“I fell asleep and I guess no one saw me, so here I am.”

You didn’t really know what to say to him. He just…fell asleep? Usually the bar was raucous and you couldn’t imagine sleeping in a pile of lumber. You glanced at him sitting on the pile of rubble and he looked so….young. He was staring off into the distance not looking at anything. He looked a little lost and sad and cute and a bit like….but you didn’t have time to think about that right now. You generally were a solid judge of character and you had a pretty good feeling about Ace. Ultimately it didn’t matter since you had work to do and he didn’t seem to be interested in causing you harm for the moment. 

“Hey, get out of that pile. If you sit down at the bar I’ll make you my most amazing hangover cure.”

“Who says I’m hungover?” Ace said with a hand over his eyes, shielding them from the light.

“Just a hunch after a few hangovers of my own,” you said smiling again. “C’mere. I’ll make you a drink and then I have to get back to work. You can stay here for a few.”

Ace did one more stretch of his back and started meandering over to the bar and sat on a bar stool. “Sheesh,” he said, running his hand on the back of his neck. “I don’t remember us doing such a one over on this place. It looks like a shipwreck.”

You hummed but you were already behind the bar, grabbing the ingredients you would need. Lemon, honey, vinegar, chili peppers, seltzer, and of course, your secret ingredient. Mixing them all together, you handed the young man the beverage in a clean glass, which he accepted. You also handed him another glass of plain water.

“What is it? Looks like shit” Ace asked warily, swirling the beverage.

“Tastes like it too, but it’s the best hangover cure around. Chug it, then drink the water. Wait 5 minutes and tell me you don’t feel better.”

Ace must have decided the headache was the worse of the two, so he tipped back his glass and chugged the beverage. Afterwards, he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and stuck his tongue out making a face. “Absolutely disgusting!” “Yep, now the water.” He grimaced but chugged the water as well. After he was done he handed back the glasses and was still sticking his tongue out. You chuckled lightly and started to clean them behind the bar.

You couldn’t help yourself, he reminded you so much of one of your brothers. You teased him saying “you know, if you keep that up your face will get stuck like that.”

Ace grinned and said “haven’t heard something like that in a long time. So, what’s your name anyway? Since you already know that I’m Ace.”

“I’m Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you, and thank you for the drink. I do actually feel better already.” You smiled warmly at him and moved back to the floor to start the real work of the day. 

“Do you need any help?” Ace asked, tilting his head to the side. “I can see how clearing this would take you all day. You’re…not very tall, I can’t imagine you lifting all that. Besides, you look pretty tired.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know I’m barely below average height on my home island! And besides, nah, I’m OK. Just sit for a few more moments and let the drink work its magic.”

With that, you continued walking towards the pile of broken tables and chairs. You held out your hand, crossed your index and middle finger and touched one of the pieces of the tabletop. Quickly, the broken pieces of the table flew together and combined themselves into their former state as if nothing had ever happened. You were a devil fruit user of a very practical fruit - the Fix Fix fruit. You had the ability to fix almost anything - tables, chairs, floors, roofs, forks, clothes, anything really. You had even started pushing the boundaries of your fruit and were able to “fix” broken bones and simple lacerations. You were how the bar went from destroyed to ready for business every night. 

Once all the debris was rearranged back into furniture, you looked back at Ace sheepishly. “See? Not a big deal. I do this all the time.”

Ace of course was known for having eaten the Flame Flame fruit - an interesting and useful fruit that had helped him become a famous Whitebeard Pirate with a huge bounty. By comparison, yours felt like the Loser Loser fruit. What was fixing some broken glasses compared with creating fireballs big enough to destroy ships and save your friends?

But Ace was transfixed on your work. His eyes were wide and he looked like he was watching you walk on water. You became a little embarrassed as he said nothing, so you turned away and started fixing the other furnishings in the bar that needed attention. 

“Is..is that your power? Your devil fruit power?”

“Y..y-eah. I know it’s not as amazing as yours but I can fix almost anything and it can sometimes come in hand-”

Ace didn’t let you finish your sentence before he was on his feet waving his arms and yelling

“DO YOU KNOW HOW HELPFUL THAT WOULD BE ON THE MOBY? OR EVEN ON THE MOBY JRS? Oh my God! We wouldn’t have to fix all those pipes! The pipes! Do you know how much time we spend fixing the goddamn pipes alone?! The sails wouldn’t require days and days of downtime to repair when they rip! We could fix the doors! The stairs! Can you fix broken Log Poses?! Do you know how many I’ve accidentally set on fire?! Come to the Moby please!"

Ace was clearly excited and eager to have you join in his happiness. But the noise of his sudden outburst made you flinch and shift your weight backward away from him as if getting ready to run. Your smile dropped and you looked at him with no expression on your face. Ace noticed your discomfort after a moment and held up his hands and said “hey, I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just thinking out loud about how amazing that fruit power would be.” He sat himself back down on the stool as if to show he wouldn’t get closer. 

You didn’t blame him, you were a jumpy person. “It’s OK, I just haven’t seen anyone so excited about fixing tables before,” you shrugged and tried to lightly laugh off the awkwardness. You didn’t want to upset him - there was no telling what could set off a pirate. Especially one as strong as Ace. You wanted to show you weren’t upset with him - and you really weren’t. You were thankful he acknowledged your discomfort and settled down. So you decided to allow him to complete Step 2 of the Complete Hangover Cure if he so desired.

“Would you like to take a shower? It can also really help with hangovers, opening the blood vessels and all that.” 

“Hmmm…not too sure about that one.”

“You…smell…not great. You slept on the floor of the bar. There was a literal pissing contest here a few nights ago. I highly suggest you go shower. Come on, I’ll let you into the place upstairs.”

Ace narrowed his eyes, seemingly trying to determine if you were trying to catch him in a trap or use him in some kind of way. You must have passed the test because he agreed and bounded behind you as you led him up the stairs to your small apartment.

The Brothers were letting you live above the bar for the moment. It was great because they barely charged you any rent and you didn’t need much. It had a bedroom, a bathroom, and a very small living room big enough for a comfy chair and table, which was more than you had in years. Even though they were not always expressive, you thought they did care for you in their own way.

You let Ace into the apartment and showed him where clean towels, soap, and combs were. You really had to get back to work, so you told him just to come back downstairs when he was done. You also mentioned that you had half a loaf of bread on the table and eating some would be the final step to cure his hangover.

“Aren’t you worried I’m going to rob you or look through your things?” Ace questioned as you started to walk towards the door. He was giving you a strange look, like you were trying to trick him.

“No? I don’t have anything worth stealing. I don’t have any money or valuables. I mean, I would be annoyed if you stole the book I’m reading but I can always borrow another copy.” You left Ace in your apartment and went down the stairs. You heard the water running down the pipes so you knew Ace had at least started the shower. After his shower, you’d tell him to leave and come back when the bar was open - you’d be long gone and the Brothers could deal with all this nonsense. 

You were reflecting on what a strange morning it had been, but things needed to be done. You were really behind schedule now after dealing with Ace all morning. You started cleaning again when you heard knocking on the thick wooden door at the entrance of the bar. You looked at the clock - it still wasn’t close to opening time and the Brothers all had keys to the back door - so who was it? 

With a groan, you pushed a heavy bar stool towards the door. Since the Brothers owned the bar and had never hired anyone but you, they had put the lock where it was convenient for them. Which meant it was inconvenient for you since they were all at least two and a half feet taller than you were. Again, you were almost perfectly average size on your island! It wasn’t your fault all these people were so tall. 

After pushing the stool, you stood up on it and reached to open the old lock. “Just a second!” you called out, hoping the person on the other side wouldn’t push the door in causing you to fall. You heard deep voices talking on the other side of the door and for a moment you regretted opening it at all. But you got down off the stool and moved it aside. Grabbing the iron door handle and pulling it with most of your strength, you managed to crack the door about a foot open. 

There was a group of three men looking down at you. You smiled up at them politely and said “Hi, the bar isn’t open right now. You can come back again later when we are” and tried to shut the door.

One of the men, who had a funny hairstyle not unlike a pineapple, smiled back at you with half closed eyes and put his hand casually on the door, keeping it open. He said

 “We’re actually just looking for our brother-yoi. We couldn't find him and this was the last place we saw him.”

You weren’t sure what to do - you were almost positive they were on the same crew, but what if they weren’t? What if they wanted to hurt Ace? Wait, why did you care? Ace could handle himself. Taking the safest route, you asked “Who are you looking for?”

“Fire Fist Ace. He’s pretty short, black hair, freckles, charming, sleeps a lot.” The man, who you thought might be Marcott? Marcus? Something like that, you think you might’ve seen his picture a long time ago, held up Ace’s wanted poster to show a picture of him. 

“...um…” you were trying to stall for time to decide what to do. On one hand, you didn’t want anything bad to happen to Ace if they were bounty hunters or had a vendetta against him. On the other, you didn’t want to upset this new group of people you didn’t know. This is why you were the morning bar cleaner! You didn’t like to deal with conflict or these kind of issues. Why couldn’t one of the Brothers be here this morning? 

“Well, I’m the only person in the bar right now. I just clean here.” You decided to not exactly lie, but to obfuscate the truth just a little. It was true that you were the only person there - because you let Ace go upstairs to shower.

“Do you mind if we look around? We are getting worried about him - he can sleep in the strangest places.” The man wasn’t threatening you and he did seem genuinely concerned about Ace but you felt vulnerable and uncomfortable. You couldn’t think of a way to diffuse the situation easily so you just gave in. Maybe they would leave quickly?

“Sure, come on in,” you said as you pushed the door further open. The three men, politely waited until you moved out of the way and then followed you into the bar. All you had to do was hold out another 15 minutes and at least one Brother would probably be there to help you. The men were walking around the bar, looking a little puzzled.

“I thought Jozu accidentally smashed this table last night?” a man with a long mustache and black top hat said quietly to his companions. 

“Yeah, and Haruta definitely broke at least one chair.”

“They say this bar is magic and can fix anything inside it.” said a man wearing white with a yellow sash and a pompadour hairstyle with a grin.

“I’m not too sure about that,” said Pineapple Man while looking at you. You didn’t like him looking at you so you pretended to be giving all your attention to your cleaning. But when you heard the water in the pipes turn off, you glanced up out of habit. 

Pineapple Man followed your glance up and said with a small smile “Someone up there yoi?”

You swallowed harshly and felt a stiff pressure settle at the base of your neck. You were feeling unsettled and anxious. You just wanted everyone gone - and soon. Ace, these  men, everyone needed to be out of your comfort zone. There were too many people asking you too many questions.

“It’s not really any of your business. W-who are you guys anyway?” you settled on saying.

“We’re Whitebeard Commanders, I’m Marco. This is Thatch,” he said pointing to the man in white who smiled and waved, “and this is Vista,” jerking his thumb at the large gentleman who took off his top hat with a flourish. “We’re looking for Ace - he’s a Commander like us. Here, let me show you.” Marco then opened his shirt and showed a large tattoo that matched Ace’s, but Marco’s was on his chest. Your face flushed but you weren’t sure why. You’d seen many men shirtless before, but this felt weird. You were too out of sorts for people to be taking their clothes off.

Before you could respond, you could hear Ace hurtling himself down the stairs. Cringing at being caught not telling the truth, you went to go meet him at the door to the bar. Before he could enter the bar, you quietly said “Ace” so the others wouldn’t hear you “there are three men here looking for you.”

“Hmm? Who?” Ace replied, unconcerned. He was still shaking the water out of his hair, kind of like a wet dog.

“Do you know them? They said their names are Marco, Thatch and Vista.” 

Ace’s face lit up in a smile and said “oh yeah! My brothers! Wait till they meet you Y/N!”

His sudden shift in mood made you feel safer, but he also grabbed you by the forearm and brought you towards his brothers in the bar. You tried to recoil your arm but he held on tight. You were being pulled back towards the men - somewhat unwillingly. 

“Acey- boy!” Thatch exclaimed when he saw the young Commander. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your monthly shower?” he teased, eyeing Ace’s still wet hair.

“It hasn’t been that long,” Ace said, rolling his eyes. Ace started talking like an excited child about everything that happened thus far. It was a far cry from the cool and collected man of a few minutes ago.

“Y/N let me shower upstairs after I woke up here! I woke up in a pile of wood but she just laughed and wasn't mad at all. She was so nice, she made me this terrible drink that helped and I ate all the food in her apartment - literally, why don’t you have more food? Do you need more? All you had was that bread and I ate it. I feel kinda bad about that but now I feel great after you helped me fix my headache. And just wait until you see her Devil fruit powers! They could really help she can fix anything she fixed this shithole from everything we did last night in like two seconds….”

The longer Ace babbled the more anxious you were becoming. You started shifting your weight on your feet and trying to gently free your arm from Ace’s grasp again. You didn’t like being the center of conversation, you didn’t like strange men near you, and you most certainly didn’t like people discussing your fruit power like you weren’t even there. You wanted to run away and hide until they all left. You did eventually free your arm and you started to back away little by little from the group of men. You knew Marco saw you since he gave you an assessing look while saying “is that so?” and “interesting” at points in Ace’s story.

You heard the back door to the bar open and you breathed a sigh of relief. That had to be one of the Brothers coming in for the day. You still hadn’t finished everything but you just wanted to get away and come back when it was empty again. Oldest Brother came in, went behind the bar, filled a shot glass, tossed it back and grunted at you. He didn’t smile, didn’t say anything, and didn’t wish you a good morning. You hadn’t seen him for a few days since he had the weekend off. You felt better as things were going back to how they usually were. After his drink, he looked up to see the Whitebeard Commanders in the bar. He lifted the corners of his mouth until they weren’t locked into a frown and said “Vista. Long time no see, Brother.” 

Your day was not going to be getting any less weird it seemed.