𝘖𝘯𝘦-𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 ♡

Ⅲ.『 Our Fire 』

"It's the phoenix, Pops. I don't know why, but it's acting up, yoi." I said truthfully. I wouldn't hide this from him, but.. I guess I can cut out the Ace part. Pops nodded, and stared again.

"I can talk to you in private if you would like." He said, with a small smile. I smiled back and nodded. Yeah, I'll talk to him. Maybe a few days later, if the phoenix still acts strange.

"I'll go do my work then, Pops. The reports will be on your desk by tonight." I said, and left after a goodbye. Man, I have tons of reports to do.

It was a few days later that incident. The strange thing is, phoenix still acts up. I really hoped it would end.. But doesn't look like it will. And it's not helping that it wants to go closer to Ace.. The phoenix, maybe it thinks that.. Ace is the one? But, why though? I know that the phoenixes chose their soulmate, they instinctively know who they belong to. Even though there's no books or information about phoenixes, I can still understand the phoenix in me. It's not that hard, it's not only my devil fruit but now myself, too. The phoenix and I became quite close along the years. I can sense him wanting to be with Ace all the time. And when Ace is close to me, it goes crazy. Like, it tries to reach Ace with blue fires strangely trying to leave my body. At least that's what I think it looks like. It's no help that I'm also losing my control over my feelings. The phoenix isn't the only one loving Ace. It however was a push for me to realization. Can't believe I didn't realize it until now. But like, who wouldn't love Ace? His black, wavy hair gives him unbelievable handsomeness, his freckles across his cheeks makes him look so cute, and oh god that smile he got that can kill a hundred lives. Ugh.. Why do I have to love my brother? Even though we aren't brothers by blood and he still hasn't accepted it. Should I talk to Pops now? But, I'm afraid, kind of. Would he appreciate it? Being in a relationship with your said brother? Ahh.. This is so confusing. I'll wait for a while.

The days were going by fast, and really fast. God, has it really been near 3 months since Ace came on board? And he's been trying to kill Pops for 3 month. Such enthusiasm, I guess? But, my feelings have been getting clear and clear each day. Whenever I talk to him, I could feel the strange butterflies in my stomach.. It's weird, to me, since it has been what feels like forever since the last time I felt this feeling. But, it wasn't as strong as now.. Was that one not supposed to be? And.. would Ace and I even work? Only time will prove.

It was a good-ish day, started with Ace trying to kill Pops- again. He never gives up. I kinda like that, hahah. It was near dinner when I approached him with some soup, since I could say he was quite hungry. I haven't seen him eat normally for the past weeks, which is concerning. The soup would help him get on his feet. He was on the back of the board, hugging his knees, with his back on the railings. And he looked miserable like that.. Trying to talk to him wouldn't end well. So, silently I just put the soup besides him before walking back. The phoenix in me screamed at me to stay with Ace, but I can't do that, can I? Well, just when I was leaving, I heard Ace talk. For the first time, Ace started a conversation with one of us, that being me.

"You guys.. Why do you call him your 'father', anyways?" Ace asked, just slightly peeking through his hands holding his knees. Looking back at him, I smiled and truthfully answered his question.

"Because he calls us his sons." He raised his head fully, and looked at me. "To the rest of the world we're all just outcasts, yoi. It makes us happy. It's just a word, but it makes us happy!" I said, smiling brightly. Ace didn't look quite happy with that answer, I think. I went over to him, and kneeled in front of him. With my usual stable face and voice, I said the truth to his face. Well, it wasn't the best thing to say but it's the only thing to say.

"Hey, how long are you gonna keep risking your life like this,yoi? Make up your mind already. You can't possibly take old man's head the way you're now, yoi. Are you gonna get off of this ship and start over.. or are you gonna stay here and accept Whitebeard's mark?" I asked, although a part of me- 75 percent of me wanted him to stay. The rest 25 percent wanted him to marry me and live a happy life with me on one of the Blues forever, but that's to put aside for now.