An Eternal Bond

Drum Island

"So why are we headed to Alabasta?" I asked while on the boat.

"Well, technically we're going to Drum Island first." Ace pulled out a map and showed it to me. "These islands were pretty close to where we were when Teach first left the ship. We were right here." He pointed to the open sea.

"Oh. Okay then."

•••

"Again?! Really?!"

Once again, for... what was it again? Right, for the third time in my life, I was running from an angry chef because Ace didn't want to pay the bill. I knew he had money. I'm not stupid.

His black cloak flowed in the wind, seeming like it would've flown off if Ace hadn't thrown me on his back again. It's the theatrics.

I turned my head to see if the chef was still following us, and once I saw the bare street, I tapped Ace's shoulder. "You can stop now."

He stopped running at put me down, rather clumsily. "Alright, I'll go look for some clues. You can go sightseeing." My eyes sparkled and I nodded.

Normally, pirates don't really get excited when they're told to go sightseeing, but if you didn't leave your house at all for six years, you would want to do that too.

I explored the town, not exactly knowing what I would find, until I heard the familiar yell of the chef. "YOU!!" He ran towards me, probably expecting me to run, so he didn't stop.

I moved out of the way, and he ran into a wall, resulting in him passing out with a major nosebleed. "O-Oh, that wasn't supposed to happen!"

Kneeling down, I shook the man's shoulder, only for his head to turn. "Well... what do I do?" I asked myself in a panic. I looked around, searching for some villagers, and sure enough, I found two.

"Excuse me!" I ran over. "Do you know where I can find a doctor?"

They led me to a large building, which didn't look like it was a doctor, but I knocked on the door anyway.

The building was tall, a bit like a castle, with a pirate flag on top. It looked like any other pirate flag at first, but then I noticed small, pink, petal-looking things scattered across it.

"Hey there." I looked at the door, which was creaked open, but there was no one.

"Down here."

Once I looked down, I saw a small, reindeer-looking person with a light red hat. "Do you need something?" He asked.

I knelt down. "Well, I'm looking for a doctor for this man." I showed him the cook. "Are you a doctor?"

He nodded. "Yes, please come in." He led me inside and told me to put the chef on the bed.

"By the way... if you don't mind me asking, but are you a reindeer?"

"I'm not a rac- Wait, what?" He stared at me and I chuckled. "Sorry, are you not a reindeer?"

His eyes sparkled and he held my hands. "Yes! Yes, I am a reindeer! I'm Tony Tony Chopper!" I shook his hands. "I'm Y/N. Nice to meet you, Chopper."

He continued tending to the chef, so I decided to check on Ace.

Once I shut my eyes, and saw that Ace was talking to someone about Blackbeard, as expected.

"Y/N-san?" I looked at Chopper. "He seems to be fine. But.. how did he get a bloody nose anyway?" I scratched the back of my head. He wouldn't call marines or something if I tell him, would he?

"Well... my boyfriend ate without paying and he went chasing for him. Since I was with him, he thought he'd ask me, but I moved out of the way and he charged into the wall."

Chopper sighed. "Sorry about that. He's pretty hopeless."

I dug into my pocket and put ten belies into the chef's pocket, then ten more into Chopper's paw. "Thanks for everything." I stopped. "Um, did you, by chance, eat a Devil Fruit?"

He nodded. "Y-Yeah, the Hito-Hito No Mi."

Now I understand why I didn't feel anything change when I copied it. "Okay then. See you, Chopper!"

I walked out, searching for Ace, hoping he didn't do anything reckless. I looked around the corner and thought I saw Ace, so I ran over. "Excu- Nope! You're not the one I'm looking for!"

When the person turned around, I was met with a completely unfamiliar face, which caught me by surprise.

"Hold on, girlie." He took my wrist. "Why don't you come with me for a while? My house isn't too far."

I shook my head. I already got bad vibes from this guy. "N-No thank you. I'm... looking for someo- Oh!" He pinned me up against the wall. "Come on, why not?"

I pursed my lips, looking around. "I... please me alone. I'm just trying to find my boyfriend."

"Your boyfriend? I don't see him."

"Ahem." I looked around the man and my eyes lit up. "Ace!"

The man turned around and was met with Ace's furious expression. "And what do you think you're doing with my girlfriend?"

•••

"Well..." I held onto Ace's arm as I stared down at the guy. He wasn't severely injured, but I'm sure the bruise on his eye was painful. "You didn't have to be that excessive."

Ace shook his head and pulled me away. "No one gets to touch you like that, except for me." I held his arm closer and smiled. "Whatever you say. So did you find anything on Blackbeard?"

He nodded. "We'll head to Alabasta now. I happened to find some info on him leading me there."

"Okay."