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The trio of boys were very used to spending time together, just the three of them. Whether it was stealing from the nobles, playing around in the woods, chasing down some food for the night, it was always just them. They never brought anyone else in. It was a trio for a reason, after all.
So that's why Ace was so angry when Sabo brought a little girl to Dadan. Sure, he could see the scrapes and bruises on her, but what did he have to care? She was probably just a klutz and a cry baby. He already had Luffy to deal with.
"She's my sister." Sabo had said, but no real details were explained. It wasn't brought up that Sabo had never mentioned a sister before. So Ace and Luffy tried to let it go.
She spent most of her time at Dadan's with the bandits. When Makino would come by, she would stay glued to her side and Ace found it really annoying that she would cling to Makino so easily but wouldn't even look over towards the boys if Sabo wasn't around.
She was too quiet. A year older than Luffy, Ace expected her to be loud and annoying. Being a noble, he expected her to even be snotty and obnoxious, but instead, she was just quiet and spent a lot of time sitting around the bandit hideout and sometimes she'd go to the cliffside to watch the ocean.
It took weeks before they could get her to say anything. It took Sabo and Makino both being out of the picture. Sabo and Luffy were in Grey Terminal to get more for their pirate stash but Ace was left behind because just two days prior, he had broken his arm trying to keep Luffy from getting eaten by a boar. Though he wouldn't normally care, he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep up with them. He kicked rocks on the cliffside while waiting for them to get back. He couldn't even catch a boar like this.
Kicking a rock off the cliff, he heard soft rustling and a few footsteps. Turning his head, he saw (Y/n) standing by a tree, eyes wide in surprise. She looked around for the other two and even took a few steps back, before Ace took her attention.
"They're in Grey Terminal.” He wasn't even sure if that was worth mentioning, he just needed to say something. It was so awkward having her stay silent all the time. He wondered often if maybe she was... what did Makino call it? Mute? Yeah, that! She never spoke. He didn't even know what she sounded like! It was Sabo's reassurance that she was just very shy, not mute.
Still annoyed the boy.
"Oh," Came the soft reply. Ace's head snapped over towards her, and he stared at her in pure shock. It was too intense for her though and she looked away, rubbing at her arm as she shuffled her feet in small steps back.
"Hey, wait, don't go." Bored out of his mind, and finally having her attention, he didn't want to let her just run off now. He was so close to hearing her voice. Though he wasn't sure why it bothered him, it did. He needed to know.
She took a cautious step forward, and then another, until she was standing out in the open with him, looking out at the ocean. They stayed that way, quiet and contemplative of their own thoughts until she finally spoke.
"The ocean looks beautiful today."
It was the type of comment that Ace wouldn't think twice about. Maybe nod in agreement or just ignore it. If Luffy had said it, sure. If Sabo had said it, maybe he would've just grunted a response. But here was (Y/n), someone whose voice sounded like an angel's. It was his first time hearing it and he just felt this tugging in his chest. He wanted her to talk more, to just say anything if it meant she would speak again.
"One day," She whispered, taking a seat on the edge of the cliff, tucking her dress beneath herself. Ace moved without even thinking about it, taking a seat next to her.
"One day I'll go out to sea. I want to be the freest person in all of the world. No more being trapped." She said the last bit quiet and Ace leaned in a bit, trying to make out the expression on her face but all he could see was determination. A determination to leave an old life behind and find a new meaning. The way she held onto her own hands was proof enough how much she needed to leave.
"Well, when we leave, you can come with us. If you want." He knew what it felt like to feel trapped, to feel alone. All he had were his brothers.
And then he didn't.
Weeks later, they lost Sabo and when him and Dadan made it back to the hideout, Luffy cried that (Y/n) was nowhere to be found. She hadn't come back since she heard the news. She had darted off and even the other bandits couldn't find her.
Ace, though heavily injured and tired after the long trip, took off towards the cliffside, hoping above all hope that she was still waiting there, watching the waves like always. That he would see her (f/c) dress blowing in the breeze and she'd be wearing that little bow him and Sabo had stolen for her.
She wasn't.
It wasn't until he was a part of the Whitebeard's that he saw her again. He hadn't given up on her. All he could do was chase after anyone with (h/c) hair or freeze in place when (e/c) eyes would catch his. They were never her. So he kept looking.
But there she was, sitting in a bar, a bottle of sake next to her and a full cup. Though she was downing her own cup of it, it seemed that cup was for someone else.
He wasn't even certain it was her, but she sat in her own corner, quiet and tired. She looked like her, and acted like her. Maybe?
He sat down next to her, holding another bottle of sake.
"Didn't seem right to let you drink all alone. I can keep you company if you want."
She glared at him, mouth opened to tell him to leave, but then she caught sight of freckles and that smile and she froze in place. He froze as well, realizing that he had been right and now he didn't even know what to do. He had been looking for so long that now he was at a loss.
"Ace?" She asked, leaning towards him a bit as she studied his face and expression. He stared back, taking in just how much she had grown up. Seems she wasn't just some little girl anymore.
"Hey (Y/n). It's good to see you again. Luffy's gonna be mad when he realizes I found you first."
In all the time he had known her, unless she was around Makino or Sabo, she didn't smile. So when she leaned back and looked away with a smile on her lips, he felt his breath catch in his throat. He made her smile.
"How is Luffy?” She paused. “How are you?"
He doesn't know how long they sat there, catching up and talking. He regaled his tales of fighting Whitebeard and becoming a commander while she talked about her fights with some marines. Even saw Garp a few times.
It was between the laughter and the bottles of sake, that Ace realized how important she was to him. Her laugh, her smile, her little quirks and the person she became. She wasn't like the little girl who hid behind Makino anymore, but she definitely didn't give off the rowdy pirate vibe. Just a tired girl who wanted some peace.
"I thought I'd find him. Thought maybe he wasn't dead, just gone. I've looked everywhere though."
In that confession, he knew the words she couldn't say. Sabo was really dead. The silent admission that she had finally given up, Ace felt that deep in his heart. He hadn't given up, but he had stopped looking. Just the sight of a top hat and goggles could make his stomach churn. It hurt them both, but they just shared another bottle of sake.
When it came time to leave, Ace held out his hand and asked if she would come with him. With a sad smile, she took his hand and they walked out of that bar together, Sabo's cup still sitting at the table.
If they had just turned around, they would've seen a sad blond, holding a cup of sake to his lips and looking down at a trinket in his hands. A locket with a picture of himself and a little girl. If only he knew who she was.