(A/N); Light hearted covers to offset the sad words
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Of course, this was bound to happen. It wasn't a matter of if, but a matter of when. After all, everybody thought that he was dead for years now, and with the kind of wound that he received, it would cause an uproar. However, the timing couldn't of been more rotten, what with the marines already on our tailcoats because of this stupid pixie business that Mary started so that she could use me as her scapegoat so she can get away with all her crazy crimes. However, now knowing that her actual decent sisters are also now in the mix, makes things way more complicated. I mean, Maree DID save me from Lucci, which was awesome, and Marie saved Ace and Rosinante just because she saw how their loss greatly affected some of our friends. Those two actually seem like a member of the elusive nice celestial dragons club, but Mary... she was among the worst. After all, she was the one responsible for taking their lives to begin with. It was especially depressing when Marie told me about how she and Maree had the chance to live, despite their parents' evil schemes, but they couldn't because of that demon... Mary was going to get her comeuppance, sooner or later, but in doing so, it'd be like killing those two a second time...
But if the situation with her wasn't enough, now we got the situation with Ace to deal with. I like how they all want him dead just because of who his dad is... as if Ace was able to choose who his father was. If I sound pissed, it is because I am! All this nonsense that was going on because some evil folks wanna do evil things... it was honestly getting old.
"Guys, should we even tell Ace about this stuff?" I asked the group as we all ran towards the hill where the others were situated, as everyone fell silent at that. "I-I mean, really! Do we honestly want to tell Ace about this? I think the poor guy has been through enough shit as it is; why should we add to the pile?" I questioned, as Kid went to let out a sigh. "You're too soft, (y/n)..." He murmured, as Katakuri went to glare at him. "What did you say to her?..." He growled lowly, as Kid glared back. "You heard me; she is too soft! The pirate business is not always about drinking all the booze with your companions until you pass out, even though those were the best of days..." He chuckled lowly, as we all continued to run along.
"Unfortunately for Ace, he has to deal with the shit on being the pirate king's son. That's the life he was born into, and it's the life he is going to have to deal with, no matter what. No amount of alcohol, girls, games, voyaging, or pillaging is going to help him escape that reality." Kid pointed out, as everyone, including me, fell silent, though Sabo was seething.
"I don't give a damn if he IS the pirate king's son! Ace is more than just some son of the pirate king! He is my brother that I have spent my childhood with, the rude and obnoxious child, who then went to Makino to learn some manners so he could thank red-haired Shanks for saving Luffy when he was younger! He is a trooper, always helping out those he cares about in a pinch, among the most loyalest people you will ever meet, and a talented fighter! That is who my brother Portgas D. Ace is, you hear me?!" He yelled, his body going to visibly shake in anger, as we all couldn't help but come to a stop at his outburst.
"Sabo..." I murmured, wanting to comfort him, as Kid simply folded his arms. "That's the Ace you know, but the Ace that the rest of the world knows is simply a pirate among Whitebeard's crew, and the son of Gol D. Roger. Whether you like it or not, you cannot dispute that fact." He frowned seriously at him, as Sabo continued to clench his teeth in anger.
"Both you and (y/n)... you both are way too soft for your own good. Maybe in a perfect world, where there is no problems of any kind, and everybody has their mothers and fathers in their lives, and everybody has some place to call home... then that kind of mentality would fit. However, we do not live in such a idealistic world like that. Some of us never even get to meet our parents, some of us were born into being the dregs of society, to having to resort to a life of crime to survive, to being seen as less than scum for basically existing... that's the cruel world that we live in. You can try all you want to change it, but there is only so much someone could do to change it... the best thing you can do is just try and mold your life to be how you want it; it's useless trying to be apart of some revolution to try and change the world's ways." Kid shrugged, as Sabo went to strike at him, but was ultimately stopped by some of our group members. "Do not start something now; we need to keep going." Hawkins informed Sabo, who kept glaring at Kid. "The revolution is NOT useless!" He hissed, as Kid went to tilt his head. "Oh, really? Then tell me, little revolutionaire... what if your side DOES win? Then what? The world would then be all fine and dandy?" He chuckled heartily, which just pissed off Sabo even more. "SHUT UP!" He growled, as Kid shook his head. "Of course not, what childish thinking! Just give it a few more years, and some other threat would come around and disrupt the peace once again; that's just how human nature is." He snickered, as Drake went to glare at the redhead. "Correction, that is how EVIL humans work. Don't speak on a matter you haven't personally dealt with." He told him lowly, as Kid simply sighed. "Oh, don't pull that hero crap on me, Drake! You know I am right!" "CAN YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP!?"
Everyone fell silent at that, as Nami went to give them all glares. "W-while we are standing around bickering like fools and wasting time, we are letting go of precious time that can be used to save Usopp, and get off this island!" She huffed out, before then looking to me. "(y/n), I get where you are coming from, I really do, but when we get back on the ship and set sail out to sea... we will have to tell Ace the truth. It is better that it comes from us than from someone else!" She informed me, as I went to bite my lip. She did have a point, but I really didn't like all this added fuel to the fire that was already as tall as a skyscraper.
"Now, let's get a move on!" She ordered us all, as everyone returned to being silent, before we continued to run as fast as we could to the hill where the others were at.
It took a while, but we finally arrived, before getting stopped at the entrance by some guards. "W-we are sorry, but the sniper king is taking no visitors at this time!" They told us, as I went to frown at that. "B-but our friends are in there! And we brought a doctor we us!" I informed them, before going to wave at Chopper, who simply went to nervously hide behind Robin's leg. "T-they're... scary..." He whimpered, as Kid scowled at him. "Stop being such a baby, raccoon dog; grow a spine!" He barked, as Chopper went to frown back at him. "I am not a raccoon dog; I am a reindeer!" He clarified aggressively, as I went to hold my head. "I was among the group that went to see that awesome training shot from the sniper king?" I further elaborated, as they all went to then look at me in recognition. "Oh, you're the girlfriend of the good surgeon! W-we're sorry for not recognizing you sooner, please come in." They told me, before making the way for us, as everybody stood dead silent at their words, before going to look at me quizzically. Of course, Katakuri was the first one that had something to say. "W-what does that man mean 'girlfriend of the good surgeon'?!" He questioned me in disbelief, as I went to sigh. "Honestly, I don't know, either." I shrugged, before we then continued on our way, before going to meet up with the others at some grove of some kind, with Marco and Law working together to patch up Usopp. The state that the sniper king was in, however, horrified me. "OH MY GOD!" I gasped aloud, before I then reflexively went to instantly hide my face into Katakuri's chest, trembling at what I just bear witness to, as I heard some other screams of horror, as well.
"THEY SHOT HIM IN THE HEAD!" Chopper screamed, sounding as panicked as I was, as Law and Marco seemed to have heard us, since Law went to speak up. "Raccoon-ya, we need your assistance as well." Law told him, sounding gravely serious, as Chopper went to agree to that, going to run over, too horrified to even correct him. I felt Katakuri go to rub my back in a circle to try and calm me down, though what Chopper just said had confirmed that what I did indeed see, was in fact real.
I didn't even have this thought in my head, until now. It just all became too much for me to handle. First it was what happened with CP9, then Mary, then the marines, and now a man that had been headshotted to death; I couldn't help BUT think it!
"I want to go home, I want to go home, I-I want to go h-home..." I sobbed into Katakuri's chest, as he continued to try and calm me down, going to whisper softly in my ears words that tried to calm my racing heart, though it didn't do much to help cleanse that horrid image from my head.
I didn't know how long I had stood with my face to Katakuri's chest, but it seemed it was for quite a while, since I now heard Usopp speaking in mumbles to us, as I continued to stay petrified to Katakuri, who had seemed to now taken a seat in front of a tree, going to lean his back against it.
"B-but who could have done this?!" I heard Nami question a disconcerted Usopp, as he simply continued to speak in mumbles, not seeming fully there; I was just glad that he was still alive.
"It seems you guys had hit a wall." I heard a familiar voice pipe up, as I practically felt the tension in the area. "You again!" I heard Nami gasp, before the voice in question went to giggle. "Relax, I come here in peace. If answers and clarity are what you need, then who am I to deny you?" The voice said, as I went to turn my head to see that it was indeed, Marie, who stood upon us all. She went to then move her hands about in a graceful manner, kind of looking like one of those dancers you'd see in Spain. "Resuscitate."
At her softly uttering those words, black sparkles started to appear, the same ones Rosinante had described to me when he was brought back, as they all went to float into his injuries, the first thing being taken care of was the fatal wound he took to the head. Like magic, the wound soon disappeared, not even leaving a mark behind. She then went to do the same move to Usopp, which completely made all his wounds disappear. Everyone of course went to watch her in utter awe, not expecting her to do that at all, as she went to simply smile in response. "I also captured the perpetrator for you, so do with him what you will." She chirped, before with a snap of her fingers, a body came hopping to her, his limbs all tied up, as he went to glare at her.
"I-I can't believe it... the one who hurted Usopp and attempted to murder the sniper king... was his very own brother?!" I gasped, not believing this, as Marie nodded. "I was on the other side of the island when I heard a heart practically screaming their hatred towards their brother. I just had to come over to see what all the noise was about, but I wasn't quick enough to arrive in time to stop the murder. I am able to, fortunately, be able to revive anyone I see fit, though, so it doesn't matter. However, it d-does hurt a bit each time I do it..." She explained, as everyone went to look at her in awe, with Marco looking the most surprised.
"Does... that mean that you're the one who brought Ace back to life?..." He questioned, as everyone went to stare at her expectingly, as she went to nod. "Yes, you're correct." Law also went to give her the same look as Marco. "And Cora-san?" "Yes, him too. I couldn't possibly let a fellow dragon with a heart die out on me, now could I?" She grinned, as everyone continued to just stare at her in disbelief, not really knowing how to respond to her words.
"Y-you're bleeding!" Chopper pointed out, as blood went to drip out her mouth, as she went to simply wave it off. "I'll be fine, don't worry... Just a fair trade off since the devil wouldn't allow me to play angel without a price..." She murmured, as she coughed a bit, as Chopper ran over to her, regardless. "It seems you're suffering from internal bleeding! Sit down and relax!" He told her, as she went to play along, going to grin happily at the little worried reindeer. "You're a cute little one, aren't you?" She smiled, as he went to do that little happy sway at her words. "O-oh, stop it, stupid! I am not cute!" He chuckled, as Marco and Law continued to look at her.
"Thank you." They went to say in unison, going to respectfully bow their heads towards her, as she went to wave it off, despite looking like she was about to pass out at any given moment. "O-oh, stop it, it's nothing, really!" She giggled weakly to them, before two brothers in question arrived in the scene. "Thank you lady for helping them." Luffy told her, as she went to giggle some more. "R-really, it's nothing!" She said hoarsely, as Chopper went to help aid her, despite her insisting she didn't need it.
After that bizarre situation was settled, with Marie for some peculiar reason going to glare such hate at the one responsible for this chaos, our group had another chaos to address.
"Hey (y/n), you should be the one to break the ice to him!" Nami smiled to me, as I frowned at her. "No way in hell am I going to do it!" She then folded her arms at me. "S-sabo should do it! He's the most closest to him!" I pointed out, as Sabo went to frown at me. "Thanks for selling me out, (y/n)..." Ace went to simply look at us all confused. "What are you guys going on about?" He asked us, as Sabo went to take a deep sigh. "Let's just say some people know that you're alive... which means..." He stopped talking at the look on Ace's face. It had turned to stone, before he went to tilt his cowboy hat down, so that the brim covered his eyes. "Which means they're after me again, correct?..." He asked, as Sabo softly nodded. "Yeah..." Ace then went to frown. "I should of known it'd happen sooner or later... those marines are a real pain..." He then trembled a bit in anger. "I-I wouldn't be so pissed if they were after me for who I really am, and not for who I just so happened to be related to..." He growled lowly, as everyone went to give him their own versions of the sympathetic look, some looking more spot on than others, but that's what you get when you're a mixed bag.
"Ace, if it's any sort of consolation.... I at least know how you feel about constantly being wanted by those jerks based on some bull..." I murmured to him, trying to comfort him, as he went to simply laugh in response. "Yeah, perhaps you and I need to go into hiding somewhere, just to find some peace from those bastards..." He suggested, his tone a bit playful, which made me smile a bit, as I decided to then add something else. "That'd seem like an adventure in itself, Portgas." I grinned, trying to subtly hint to him that I see him for him, not as the son of his dad, as his smile practically beamed like the sun at that, before he went to look at me with a gleeful look, his previous distress seeming like it was just burned off from his face.
"Indeed it would. If I play my cards right, I might be able to call you Portgas as well, (y/n)." He chuckled, as I went to blush at his words. "H-hey, I don't just jump into those sorts of things on a whim!" I told him, as Katakuri went to instantly agree with me on that, as if almost itching to try and put this conversation to an end. "Yeah, what she said! Besides, you don't even know if she feels any sort of way to you." He huffed like a child trying to win an argument, as Ace of course went to jump into the same, childish game. "The same can be applied to you, can't it?" He questioned, as Sabo went to interject, before things had the potential to get ugly.
"Who cares if they know he's alive? It's not like shit hasn't already hit the fan." Kid shrugged, not seeming to care much, despite the deep stuff he was saying earlier. 'Maybe Kid is like an onion... with all those stinky, hidden layers...' I pondered, as I heard Marie crack up at that moment. "What's so funny?" He asked her, as she shook her head. "(y/n) just compared you to an onion right now!" She giggled aloud, as I blushed in embarrassment. 'Oh shiitt, I forgot that she could do that..' I sweated nervously, as the rest of the group went to crack up along with her, except Hawkins... Hawkins went to simply roll his eyes. "That sounds like some metaphor you will hear in theater..." He murmured, as I sighed. 'If only you all knew...' Kid went to glare my way. "W-what the hell are you thinking that for?!" He scowled, as I went to bite my lip. "I-I meant it as a compliment! Y-you know how onions have layers, right? I was just thinking how deep of a person you actually are!" I told him, as he still didn't seem to convinced, as the gang continued to laugh at the imagery, which just made me hang my head in embarrassment. 'Well, at least it lightened up the mood..' I thought, as Marie went to speak up again.
"I know you're sincerely distressed on the inside, so I will let you in on something that I am hearing." Marie told Ace, before she went to cup her ear. "Heartbeat's echo!" She murmured, before suddenly, all sorts of voices were talking at once, much to all of ours' shock.
"S-stupid (y/n)... comparing me to an onion... and that brother of strawhat's is stupid, too... who gives a damn who you're related to? It's not like we pirates ever receive anything good from anyone, unless we take it for ourselves..."
"I hate jokes so much..."
"Shishishi, (y/n) is so funny! Even Ace is laughing along with us! I am happy when he's happy, shishishi!"
"Ace, your existence is not a sin! You shouldn't have to be held back by those around you that will try and use your history against you!"
"That's a first! However, I will take anything that helps get Ace's mind off things!"
"Maybe I should talk to him later on about this. After all, he should know that he's not the only one that have been through this kind of situation."
"P-Please say something else funny, (y/n)! You're like the light in the darkness of all this scariness!"
"(y/n) is so adorable when she is embarrassed~ Though I do not appreciate the cause of that embarrassment coming from another man..."
The voices continued to talk on and on, but they all seemed to be saying pretty much a similar thing; they couldn't care less about him being the son of the pirate king. If anything, they all seemed relieved that everyone was ok.
"You guys..." Ace muttered, before smiling even more brightly. "THANK YOU!"