Archive of Our Own

In an ideal world, Justice would never rest. The special force dedicated to upholding it against superpowered threats, M.A.R.I.N.E. (Metahumans, Aliens and Reality-warpers Inhibiting Evil), worked in shifts to best provide around-the-clock protection to the civilians against the forces of lawlessness, chaos and evil.

However, they were short-staffed at the moment, and while Justice should never rest, well, Isuka had to, and fast. After the so-called “Summit War”, a major Crisis filled with inter-dimensional beings out for the destruction of their universe…

(something about their specific universe having had an ‘evil’ origin, and so all the innocent people in it had to die to pay for a sin older than the big bang- that those invaders dared claim their genocide was Justice made her furious)

It left a bitter taste in her mouth, to have fought alongside criminals and supervillains, but there had been no other choice. Either everyone in their universe fought together, or they would cease to exist. Kaido would have nothing to conquer. Big Mom would have no sweets. Whitebeard would not have his “family”.

And yet, as she clocked out of G-2 base, she almost wished the entire universe had been destroyed, because then she wouldn’t have to deal with the idiot standing on the sidewalk, arm full of flowers and beaming at her like he was a living sun.

That mental image wasn’t entirely wrong. They had precious little information on “Fire Fist”- no origin for his powers, no known civilian identity, nothing important- but they knew exactly how hot his flames could burn. He’d burned brightly, like a dying star, to protect the town from an attack- hellfire for the invaders, but not even the smallest spark hurt anyone standing below him.

He fell, like a mortal that had dared to intrude upon the gods, and Isuka had been the one to find him. The mysterious Fire First, who hid his face using the heat from his powers, responsible for numerous counts of destruction, of violence, robbery, eating and running… Was just a man. He couldn’t even be older than twenty. And he’d saved everyone.

There would be no Justice in having him taken away in chains, so Isuka had swallowed back everything her mentor had taught her about taking out evil at any cost , and listed one Portgas D. Ace as a normal civilian who had been caught in the attack and needed medical help. Just one in a billion of other ordinary people who’d been hurt for no reason.

But Ace was not an ordinary man, as the giant bouquet of vibrant red tulips he was holding seemed to prove. For about a week now, every time she’d finished her shifts, he’d be standing by the entrance to the G-2 base waiting for her. 

(if she'd known, when she had decided that she would be the one to bring Fire Fist to Justice, that all she had to do was not turn him in when the universe was at stake and he'd bring himself to her doorstep, she'd have gotten so much further in her career)

“Ensign Isuka! Good work today!” Ace cheerfully greeted her, as if he was just a normal person and not a high-ranking commander for a villain organization, offering her the flowers. She was running out of space at home to keep them.

“Why are you still coming here every day, Portgas?”

“Hah? You saved me and all my crew during the Crisis! I’m grateful!”

It wasn’t as if she fully hated the attention. Justice meant to protect others, sure, but it was always nice to get some thanks for all the hard work she put in. Not to mention that setting a good example meant more people might choose to join the M.A.R.I.N.E.s someday, instead of allying with criminal organizations.

This was still too much.

“There’s a limit before gratitude turns into harassment!”

“Haras- Wait, that’s not my intention, at all! I’m sincerely grateful!”

Isuka sighed, tired.

“I know. That’s why I haven’t pursued any further measures… But this is enough, understand?”

For a moment, Isuka had hope that this was it. He’d stop coming around as a civilian, and she could go back to trying to arrest him for the actual crimes he committed under a secret identity and everything would go back to normal.

“No. I refuse.”

“You can’t refuse something like that!”

As a challenge, Ace leveled his bouquet at her, as if he were pointing a weapon.

“Then you’re gonna tell me something you actually want! And when I grant it, then I’ll accept you’ve accepted my gratitude!”

Forcing herself to remember that she had no conclusive evidence of his villain status, and as such, stabbing him right there would qualify as attacking a civilian, Isuka quickly ran through her mental list of wishes, selecting the most impossible one she could think of.

“If that’s the case…” Isuka brandished her rapier at him, mimicking his pose with the flower, “I want tickets to Sabaody Amusement Park! And I don’t want to see you until you get them!”

Ever since the Crisis, which destroyed most of the area, what had once been a popular tourist site quickly became almost impossible to get into. Tickets would disappear faster than cadets when they heard news Vice-Admiral Garp would be visiting a base. 

“ That I can accept!” Ace beamed, hopping up the steps to the base’s door, shoving the flowers into Isuka’s hands, and dashing back down. “I’ll see ya when I get the tickets!”

Turned out that was the next day.

It was unbelievable! Isuka had basically expected to never see him again after demanding a task like that. And then she stepped out of G-2 Base, and there he was, grin taking up most of his face and waving a pair of tickets in the air like they were a checkered flag and he was marking the finish line at a race.

Isuka marched down to him, who smugly offered her the tickets, grabbing them and looking them over, using every technique on identifying counterfeits she knew, and… They were real. Completely, honestly, real tickets to Sabaody Park, valid for entry any day of the week. Freaking VIP passes.

She could only fall to her knees, utterly defeated.

“... How?”

“Ah, friend of my brother’s, you know how it is!” ( she did not )  “So, when’re you free to go?”

“... My next day off is Tuesday?”

Ace seemed oblivious to her shock, making sure one of the tickets was firmly in her grasp, and taking the other for himself.

“Then Tuesday, 10AM… Grove 44 alright?” The park was huge, having eight large areas called ‘groves’ to fit the theme of a giant, magical forest, each with their own numbers of gates. Isuka blankly nodded, confirming she heard him.

“Great! I’ll show you the best time you can have there, promise!” The living sun in front of her beamed, before happily strolling off, leaving her to her shock.

Punctuality was vital for the M.A.R.I.N.E.s. The phrase ‘ early is on time, on time is late, and if you’re late, Nika help you’ could be often heard in their halls, especially to the new recruits.

That said, that was official business, this was- something, not a date!- something casual, and Isuka had no idea what to wear. After all, even if she couldn’t properly log it, he was a wanted criminal, with vested interest in her. There was always the chance this was nothing more than an elaborate trick, to take her hostage or something!

But also. She really wanted to go to Sabaody. She’d been planning on saving and trying to reserve tickets for her next PTO, and to have them just handed to her like that was a literal dream come true. She’d triple-checked that the tickets were legitimate, so all she had to do was pick an outfit.

Easy. Super easy. 

She was fifteen minutes late, because of course she was. How it took her so long to just go for something simple, yet practical ( sneakers, shorts, stylish floral print shirt, sunglasses ) would remain a mystery. And yet! Fire Fist was nowhere to be seen!

Ugh, villains. No respect for other people’s time.

He eventually showed up some ten minutes after Isuka did, clearly winded and barely able to talk.

“Di… Did you… Wait long…?” Ace managed to get out after a few breaths, finally looking up at her with an apologetic smile on his face.

“... Not that long.” Isuka said, since she hadn’t been exactly on time herself. But still, “For someone so excited by this, I’d have expected you to get here early.”

Ace laughed, rubbing his head sheepishly, “I did get excited! A lil’ bit too much, ended up triggering a narcolepsy attack. I’m really sorry about the hassle.”

Narcolepsy, huh? That would explain the photo floating around on social media of Fire Fist, in full villain outfit, Whitebeard mark at full display, completely passed out with his face smashed into a pile of food.

But he wasn’t here as a villain! Isuka was not supposed to add information obtained in such underhanded ways like this to his profile. She shook her head before she got any worse ideas.

“Well, no harm done. Let’s just fix your shirt up, and go in, ok?”

Ace blinked at her, looked down at his own floral shirt. It had every possible button undone- even the sleeve ones!- and looked back at her, confused. “What’s there to be fixed?”

Merciful Justice, what did she expect from a man who’s villain outfit consisted of nothing but shorts and a hat?

“... Never mind.”

“No, seriously, what’s wrong with my shirt!?”

Sabaody was like another world. It had definitely changed after the Crisis, but its unique architecture, with stalls and rides built directly into the giant mangrove trees that made up most of the park, made it mesmerizing in a way few other places could match. One could easily live there, considering how there were stores for everything you can imagine- And all of that was bathed in the rainbow lights of the sunbeams passing through the giant bubbles.

Of course, despite the appearance of a magical separate land, it didn’t really have things like farms of its own, so naturally the food vendors had to buy their food from the outside, setting up delivery schedules and routes through the park and its natural, uneven terrain. It meant that buying all the food a vendor had before lunch was rude. A problem, even. Something that might even get you chased by a line of angry vendors, forced to run for your life as they realized the man you were with had cleared their daily stock while you were at the register.

“Can’t you stop eating everything for one second?!” Isuka begged, continuing to chase after Ace, who naturally had experience in running from the law- and angry food stall owners.

“Oh, you want a bite? Sure!” Ace missed the point, but managed to nail Isuka on the face with a box of Grasen rice crackers he tossed over. Isuka now regretted ever recommending the damn things to him as she nursed her injured nose.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it!” 

After losing their pursuers, the two collapsed on the nearest available bench. The one good thing was that Ace had been somewhat upfront about his bad habits, and left his wallet in Isuka’s hands. It was either a massive show of trust, believing that she wouldn’t root around his personal things, or just self-awareness that they would be too busy for her to try anything. At least Isuka could be comfortable knowing all the food had been properly paid for with Ace’s money.

“Hey, Isuka,” Ace called out to her, gently taking her face in his hands when she turned to look at him. His hands were so warm they almost hurt- or maybe it was the heat rushing to her cheeks? “Your nose’s a little bruised, let me take a look at it.”

“You know first aid?”

“Ha, practical experience! My brothers and I were always getting into scrapes when we were brats, so we learned to patch each other up. Good news, nothing’s broken or out of place!”

Just as quickly as they’d come, his hands left her, and she clutched the dented box of crackers just a bit tighter. The wind felt cold against her burning cheeks.

“Well, good! It was your fault, anyway.”

“But I can make it up to you! Here, how did that old geezer do that again…?” 

Ace started rifling through the bags of food on him, pulling out some crackers, artisanal cheeses, slices of smoked meat, and making a sandwich carefully held in one hand, while he opened his other hand, palm up, and created a small flame on it.

“So… You’re a metahuman?”

Isuka got a noncommittal shrug in response.

“Dunno, Gramps never really got us tested. All I know is that I can make some little bits of fire, nothing too big or hotter than like, a stove, Sabo can make some other lil’ bits of fire, and Luffy-”

“-can make some little bits of fire?”

“Is made of rubber, actually! Fuck knows why.”

Wait. Luffy. Made of rubber.

“Your brother is Strawhat Luffy? You’re really admitting to me you’re associated with a highly wanted villain?”

“Hey, I’m a perfectly law-abiding adult! My brother’s messes are none of my business. What, you gonna arrest me for someone else’s crimes?”

Ace’s eyes narrowed dangerously, the flame on his hand flickering like a beast desperate to grow and escape, but Isuka barely paid it any mind, so insulted ,

“Of course not! How would anything like that be Justice? That’s the kind of thing I’d never do!”

And just like that, Ace was back to his jovial self, finding a napkin to wrap his impromptu sandwich and handing it to Isuka.

“It’s nice to see a M.A.R.I.N.E. with sense, Isuka, seriously! And I hope you enjoy this! My gramps might be a shitty geezer, but the man knows his way around a pack of crackers.”

(It was damn delicious.)

“What’s your grandfather’s name? To make something simple taste this good…! I should give him my compliments, if I ever meet him.”

“Oh, you probably already did. He’s Garp the Fist.”

“ Your grandfather is the Hero of the M.A.R.I.N.E.s?” (and raised multiple criminals?!) “So you’re the shitty grandson he always complains about!”

“He what! ”

“He complains with every new class of recruits, that he has a bunch of good for nothing grandsons who refuse to enlist, and that he prepared special training courses for them, but since they never show up he inflicts those hell courses on everyone, using those stupid-”

“-Fists of Love!”

“Exactly!” 

No fucking wonder the M.A.R.I.N.E.s had a hell of a time catching Fire Fist or Straw Hat, the menaces had been raised by a goddamn founding member of the organization!

“If that's the case, Isuka, I really gotta apologize. I’ve been dealing with Gramps’ shitty training menus since I was old enough to walk, and it makes me feel bad to know innocent saps who don’t know what they’re in for keep getting the full Garp Experience.”

“Bad enough you might actually enlist?”

It wasn’t really a joke. Ace was stupid, careless, narcoleptic, but he was kind and powerful , and a man that strong could help her do so much good in the world-

“Sorry, and no offense, but I’d rather die.”

And that was the last they spoke of that, finishing their food in silence (Isuka her sandwich, Ace everything else), and heading off to the rides.

Flying fish like motorbikes, roller coasters, a bounce house maze made of the bubbles released by the mangroves, Sabaody had it all, and Ace seemed to know the best possible times to get to them to deal with minimal lines and nab the best seats.

But for Isuka, the best part was always the Ferris Wheel. To be able to just sit back and enjoy, watching the streets of the park light up as night fell, so high up the throngs of people moving to find places to watch the upcoming fireworks looked like streams of color… And she already had the best seats in the house.

She sat opposite of Ace, both of them turned to face the sky instead of each other as the show began, bursts of fire coloring the sky.

“Hey, Isuka,”

“Yeah?”

“Why didn’t you arrest me during the Crisis?”

The lights of the fireworks danced all over Ace’s features as he looked at her, serious like she’d never seen him before. Until now, he’d always denied any connections to crime, downplayed the scope of his power, and now here he was, not Portgas D. Ace, but Fire Fist Ace, and Isuka felt angry. 

“Are you going to take me hostage, Fire Fist? Kill me, maybe?” This was the perfect place for it, so high above the crowd, with explosions masking any noise, the fireworks hiding the colors of his flames if he decided to end her, then and now.

“That’s not what I asked.”

“Then why are we here?”

“Because you’ve been trying to arrest me for years, and when you have falling into your lap you just let me go? Log me as a civilian? It doesn’t make sense!”

“Because you weren’t a villain that day!” It burns to admit, and she feels ashamed to even think it, but that’s the truth. “The world was ending, some of our own agreed with the invaders and tried to help destroy everything, and you were protecting people, not just your Whitebeard friends, but everyone! Nobody on Banaro Island was hurt, because of you! 

What kind of Justice would it be to repay that with iron and chains?”

Isuka didn’t realize she had stood up until she realized she could no longer see Ace’s face, the angle and his hair hiding his expressions entirely. Starting slowly, but building fast, his shoulders began to shake, followed by his entire body, and he laughed , wholeheartedly and slapping his legs.

“You’re amazing! I knew you were a good person from the start, but it’s so relieving to hear it from you!”

“... Why? ”

“Because,” Ace stood up, holding her hands softly, a thumb tracing over her scar while he looked her straight in the eyes, “I’ve liked you for a while now, and I’d be really sad if you turned out to be a shit person after all this pinning.”

Slowly, Isuka pulled her hands away.

“I’m not going to pretend I could change you. Or even want to try. You’re a villain , Ace. A thief, a thug, and even if you try not to hurt people… That mark on your back. It’s never coming off.”

“... You’re right about that.”

“In another life, maybe, but… I can’t ever be with anyone like Fire Fist.”

Sighing, Ace threw himself back onto his seat on the Ferris Wheel, Isuka sitting in hers carefully. They didn't talk for the rest of the ride.

“... I at least hope you had a good time today.”

“It was the most fun day I’ve had in years. Thank you, Ace.”

And that was supposed to be it. A day of dreams, where she could be out and about with a man she’d grown to admire, who managed to make her see past his villainous exterior and into his real self, but just a day. Just a single day’s dream.

Which is why Isuka legitimately could not believe her eyes when she clocked out of work the next week and found Ace once again standing in front of the base, she stopped moving for a second. 

Idiot. I can’t believe him. Did I travel back a week in time? What the fuck.

“Ensign Isuka! Thank you very much for affording me some of your time last week! I’m really glad I was able to properly thank you for your heroism!”

Isuka jumped down the stairs in front of G-2, pulling Ace down by his shirt so he was level with her.

“What are you doing?!”

“Making my intentions clear! All that day showed me was that you’re more amazing than I thought. I want to date you, properly!”

“I think you and I are remembering Sabaody very differently, because I remember us talking about how it could never work .”

Ace’s face lit up, and he leaned in to conspiratorially whisper, as if he’d had the most genius idea ever. “No, you said you could never be with Fire Fist . I’m just Ace, a guy who works as a bike mechanic. Heroes get all sorts of leeway with secret identities, why can’t I?”

“Because!” And then Isuka remembered to lower her voice, matching his whispers, “ because you’re not a hero.”

“You said I was, that day. Can’t you give me a trial run, at least?”

“I…”

“If you don’t wanna, I get it. You can just say it, and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth before I’m done speaking!”

“Then what do you say?”

Isuka took advantage that she was still holding onto his shirt, and pulled him down. This was a bad idea. She knew that. But right here and now, she was done talking.