Chapter Text
Dawn
The first time she met Ace, he was on fire.
It was a sunny day in late spring, allowing her to sit on a little wooden bench on the pier in a patch of sun, reading through the newest acquisition for her little travel library: A Zoologist’s Little Adventure, detailing Dr. Fassman’s findings on the exceptional fauna on Raijin island. Waiting for a merchant ship that would take her to the next island, she had settled down to read, and had just reached the section about a rare kind of gecko that had adapted to absorb lightning and store the electricity for an indefinite amount of time.
She was just turning a page, and next thing she knew something barreled into her, knocking her and the bench over with full force. Her yelp of surprise was suffocated by the weight pressing on her and the armrest that was poking painfully into her side, her head bumping somewhat fierce against the ground. For the first moment, she saw only stars and feebly tried to free herself from whatever was on top of her.
Through the fog of dizziness, a male voice reached her ears: “Shit! I’m so sorry, Miss! Are you alright? Ah, fuck… I mean, oh no! Wait, I’ll help you up!”
The weight lifted off of her instantly and when her vision cleared up again, she looked into the dark brown eyes of a young man not much older than her, scrambling to lift her – or rather, her and the bench she was now somewhat awkwardly sprawled on – up again. He did so with unexpected ease, as if neither of them weighed even a gram. For some reason, she noticed he had freckles. And the warmest smile she had seen in a long time.
Then he bowed to her. “I am but a humble country boy…! Ah… I apologize heartily for the inconvenience caused by my sudden impact…!”
Sucking in air greedily to fill her depleted lungs, she was just about ready to give him a piece of her mind, when she noticed a stinging pain in her fingers. Her eyes just about fell out of their sockets, when she realized that the book she was still clinging to with one hand was ablaze. With a breathless shriek she dropped it to the ground, looked up again and now saw that the young man was coated in flames, too. Trousers, hair, hat and all!
“You’re on fire!” she shouted, as if he hadn’t noticed himself already and dove for her water bottle still sitting on the ground. In one quick movement, she splashed it onto him, realizing immediately that the few drops of water would never ever help him put out that fire.
“Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit…!”
Looking around frantically, she comprehended that the only option she really had was to suffocate the flames instead. Ripping her jacket off of her with so much force she winced, she already moved to press it down on him, desperately trying to smother the flames on his chest, simply because they were the easiest to reach. “Stop, drop and roll, damn it!”
How was that even possible? Had somebody poured oil on him?! How had such a nice day gone to hell in a handbasket this quickly?!
“Oi, Miss…!” The guy caught her hands in his, his skin feeling way too hot on her, but from one moment to the next, there was no more fire. He simply looked… drenched. Well, as much as somebody who was barely wearing anything could be. Besides his black Bermuda trousers and the open, yellow dress shirt he wore, there was not much cloth on him. Droplets of water were still dripping down over his well-defined abdomen, where they hadn’t soaked into the shirt. A well-defined abdomen that didn’t show any sign of burns. Neither did his clothes. What the…?
Doubting her sanity for a good moment, she barely saw the heavy oak chair suddenly propelled towards him and didn’t manage more than a “Behind you…!”
She saw the moment he realized the danger, and also the one where he squared his jaw, pulled her against his chest and quickly moved to shield her with his body. There was an audible crash when the wood hit him over back, shoulders and had, but he didn’t even flinch. She, on the other hand, did so very much, expecting him to get his skull bashed in. Bits and pieces of wood were raining down around them.
“Are you alright? Just give me a moment, Miss…!” he spoke against her ear, then let go of her hands and spun around, still right between her and whoever had thrown that chair.
“Stop it, you asshole! Can’t you see there’s people here?!” His tone had gone from remarkably – even weirdly – polite when he addressed her, to absolutely furious in an instant and the next chair that was thrown at him, he picked clean out of the air and smashed it down on the ground.
“Listen, you punk…! We said you’ll need to give us all your treasure if you want to live!” somebody growled. Who, she couldn’t see, since his broad shoulders pretty much blocked out her view of them. He was taller than her bit a bit, and definitely had a lot more muscles than her. Also definitely more of an attitude problem.
“And I said I don’t care! Shove it!” he bit back, bracing himself.
She heard screams and saw people running away from the pier, towards the city. Hesitantly peeking around him, she finally managed to put two and two together. Facing him was a group of older men that didn’t seem overly friendly; they wore torn clothes and were armed with pistols and swords. Some of them had a jolly roger stitched onto their clothes, a skull which’s teeth were looking like a piranha’s.
“Fine, then we’ll teach you a lesson…!” One of them snarled and then all hell broke loose. They came at him at once, but when the first one reached him, he jumped forward and socked him in the chin, immediately downing the attacker. Before he could even draw back his arm, the next one was upon him and then the next one. More and more of them were streaming towards them from the dock just down the road and while she had no doubt he’d manage just fine against a few of them, there was a few too many for her taste… not to speak of the things they threw at him time and again.
When a table came hurtling towards her, she readied to jump to the side, but even before she moved, he was in front of her again, catching it in mid-air and suddenly is was ablaze in a pillar of fire. Involuntarily, she took a step back.
“That’s more like it…” He grinned and threw it back at his attackers with full force, making them scram out of the way, toppling over each other. “You okay?” he asked and quickly looked at her over his shoulder. She wordlessly gave him a thumbs up, not sure if she really was, but, hey, at least she’d not been hit flat in the face by a table? His answering grin was dazzling, to say the least.
This, she decided, was surreal.
Just like that, he was back in a mass of arm and legs and a full blown brawl, and while he threw more punches than he had to take, she saw blood gushing from his nose and yet another fist connecting with his jaw.
She should probably have turned tail and ran, somewhere where she wasn’t in table-throw-distance anymore. But somehow, she was reluctant to leave just like that – his opponents were very clearly making up for their lack of fighting talent with sheer numbers, and she didn’t really think that was overly fair. Plus, somehow, she felt like she shouldn’t leave.
When she saw the glint of a sword being drawn behind his back, she moved before she even knew it, drawing her own fighting knifes from its sheet on her thigh and next thing she knew she’d caught the blade aimed at his back with her knife, using both hands to stop it, before it made contact with herself.
“Oi…!” He pressed out behind her, and a quick look over her shoulder confirmed that he looked at her with clear surprise and a hint of worry. With a grunt, she pushed the sword away from her and moved to stand back to back with him.
“I’ve got your back,” she told him firmly and licked her dry lips when she saw how the man she faced let a sly smile slip on his lips. Clearly, he thought she’d be easy prey. Her gaze darkened. “Don’t worry, I can pack a punch if need be.”
It wasn’t more than a moment before she had to prove that bold statement to herself, blocking another swing with the knife in her left hand, and immediately letting her right fist flash out, concentrating all her fury to her knuckles. They connected with his temple and he was out like a light. Losing no time, she immediately settled back against the freckled guys back again. Thank God idiots like those low-life pirates always underestimated her.
“Alright. Holler if you need me,” Freckles answered between two punches and she could practically hear the grin in his voice.
They fell into an easy rhythm, punching, moving, and dodging. Initially she managed just fine, diverting their attacks with her knife or hands, using their momentum against them and striking before they recovered, but once they grew wary of her and the longer it dragged on, the harder it got. She felt sweat trickle down her neck and was too slow to avoid two attacks, thankfully only punches. One against her side, and one against her shoulder, when she didn’t manage to divert them in time. Huffing, she prayed that there was an end to them, she felt her arms shake. She’d never fought so many opponents, and her punches grew weaker. Just when she was too slow to catch another blow in time, she felt a hand on her arm and was pulled back quickly, the fist swooshing past her nose way too closely.
Breathing heavy, she looked at the freckled guy and realized, that the flames were back, dancing over his skin, flickering deceivingly gently. He was bleeding from his nose and his lower lip was split, but he offered her a wide grin. “Thanks, I’ll take care of the rest!”
And he did. Fire erupted from his fist, as he punched it forward and within a minute he had downed the three remaining pirates, all the rest had either fled or was lying on the ground, unconscious.
Her hands braced on her knees, she tried to catch her breath and watched him closely as he dusted himself off. He hadn’t even lost his hat. He looked considerably less exhausted than she felt and she felt a pang of annoyance.
He walked over to her and then, suddenly, bowed deeply to her again. “Nice to meet you! My name is Ace! Ace D. Portgas! Thank you very much for your help! I’m sorry I knocked you down before – I didn’t expect that big guy to throw me that far!” As he spoke, some blood dripped to the ground.
She shook her head, bewildered. That was the problem he saw in that whole scenario?!
“That’s okay, I guess… it’s… maybe not your fault?” She wasn’t sure, honestly. This had turned into a very confusing day. Also, her knuckles hurt. Also also, her rips hurt.
As he straightened, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I hope I didn’t squish you. Are you hurt?”
It really was too bizarre. He was ridiculously polite, considering their situation, and while he had squished her, that certainly was still the most pleasant part of the last 15 minutes. She minded the idiots trying to punch her in the face or slice her with a sword much more. She couldn’t help it, she laughed. He looked confused for a moment, but then smiled.
“I’ve been worse,” she answered evenly. Mind you, not in the last few months, but she’d been definitely worse.
“Maybe I should still bring you to a doctor? Oh, and thank you for trying to put me out! But I ate the Mera Mera no Mi, so I think you can’t really do that. Thanks for trying, though!” He bowed again and then stepped closer, looking her over carefully, worry furrowing his brow when he noticed her rubbing her ribs absentmindedly.
So he’d eaten a Devil Fruit. That explained a few things – such as the whole being on fire part. And the monster strength. She was so caught up in her thoughts, wondering if she could ask him about the fruit and if it really tasted as terrible as everybody said, and if he might tell her more about it, that she looked at him puzzled, when he waved a hand in front of her face.
“Are you really okay? Did you hurt your head?” The smile was gone again, as he very delicately tried to turn her head to the side with his fingers on her chin, to look her over.
She felt the heat rise to her cheeks and quickly waved him off, moving back a bit. His skin was really warm. Could she catch fire, if he touched her? She hoped not!
“Ah, no, sorry, I just spaced out there for a moment!” she apologized. Although he had reminded her, that she had indeed hit her head. When she felt around, she noticed a bump starting to form. And then she realized, in all the chaos she’d forgotten about a few things…
“Oh no, my book!” Scrambling past him, she looked around, but only found what was left of it. A smoldering pile of ashes, and right next to it, her jacket with a few burn-holes in it. She lifted it up and looked it over. Well. So much for that, then. Damn, she’d not even been halfway through the book. It had only just gotten good…! She wanted to know how the reptiles used the stored electricity…!
Ace quietly crouched down next to her, lips pressed together. She felt his gaze on her and tried to look a bit less mournful, unsure if she managed.
“I’m really sorry about your book. And your jacket. And your ribs,” he mumbled and looked like he felt extremely guilty. If he hadn’t, she might have gotten angry, but she couldn’t really blame him. It hadn’t been on purpose, and he had taken a chair to the head for her. Well, not that it had been aimed at her, but she could have ended up as collateral damage. The flames he probably couldn’t help. She wasn’t super sure if she could blame him for being thrown around and landing on her. Maybe partially.
“I’ll buy you a new one? I mean, the book and the jacket. The ribs, I’m not sure how I can make that up again,” he said and poked at the ashes.
“Ah, well… Could have been worse, right?” she asked rhetorically and when she noticed him wiping at his still bleeding nose, she ripped a piece from her already ruined jacket, offering it to him. “Here, you can stop the bleeding with that maybe.”
“You’re really nice!” He smiled and took the offered cloth, fumbling around to press it under his nose with a wince. “I’ll buy you ice cream! Or would you rather have dinner? Never mind, I’ll just buy you both!”
“Huh?” She looked at him surprised.
“For the ribs, I mean. Food always helps me heal faster!” he explained and she shook her head with a laugh. What a weird guy. But something about his smile was just magnetic, and she smiled right back.
It took them both a moment to realize the shouts coming from the little town, people were slowly coming back and there was a commotion further back. They heard somebody talk about the marines coming and both jumped up hastily.
“Oh shit! The marines! Quick, let’s go!” Ace grabbed her hand and started running, pulling her along. She barely managed to grab her backpack on the way, and they were off, running along the pier. The shouts behind them had gotten closer, demanding they stop. Shots were fired and they ducked their heads, increasing their tempo. She had a hard time keeping pace with him – he was pretty fast and her side really started to hurt now that she was running – but when he noticed her struggling, he immediately slowed down.
Once they were out of town, they were on a broad road leading up and along the slopes of the island and still way too visible, so she quickly directed him off the path and into the thick forest not far away from the road. They scrambled through the undergrowth, her stumbling and cursing and him as if he’d grown up in a jungle from a young age on. When her foot got caught in a root, he easily kept her from falling and when they finally stopped, both out of breath, they leaned against a giant tree, the world quiet around them.
They were both laughing, she wasn’t even sure why, and he watched her slink down along the tree, holding her side, both from having the stitches and her ribs hurting. Once again he crouched down next to her and seemed to think of something suddenly, his eyes widening.
“Ah! I haven’t even asked you…! What’s your name?”
She wondered when had been the last time somebody had cared enough to ask her that.
“Saki. My name is Saki,” she answered, and couldn’t help the smile that the warm and fuzzy feeling in her belly brought forth.
He stretched out a hand and she grabbed it, shaking it. “Pleased to meet you!”
“You’re strong!” he beamed at her. “Wanna join my crew?”
And just like that, it all started.