Chapter 3: Welcome aboard the Black Pearl

Ace had been out in the sea for three weeks and nothing had happened which bored him to death.

"WHERE IS ALL THE ADVENTURE, WHERE IS ALL THE TREASURE, WHERE IS ALL FIGHTING!" Ace suddenly stood up and shouted towards the sky in frustration.

"Sigh, maybe I should return so I can tell Luffy that piracy is all a scam..." Ace sat down looking sad.

What Ace was unaware of was that his ship and his flag had been seen by others from afar. Pirates and merchants alike all changed routes upon seeing his ship as it looked very scary.

"I should make a name for myself..." Ace said as he looked at his compass that had the words "Lougetown" on it. He couldn't find another compass on the little island of Fusha so He had to settle to go directly there.

Suddenly his Haki felt a lifeforce sneaking on top of his ship which confused him.

He walked to the side of his ship and found a small boat that had sneakingly hidden beneath his ship making it hard for anyone noticing it was there.

Ace suddenly turned towards the door that led to the captain's chambers as he felt that someone was in there, so he walked towards his chambers silently.

Inside his chamber, a redheaded teenager that looked to be about 15 was going through all the places where valuables might hide. She was a master thief and when she found this ship she felt like she found a gold trove.

Sadly she wasn't aware of Haki, so she didn't know that she could even get found out without anyone seeing her.

When she came aboard she only saw the backside of one man, and then there was no one else on the ship which confused her, but made her happy nonetheless.

'Easy steal.' she thought with a smirk. Looking towards the big doors that seemed to hold lots of valuables, she found the right moment to sneak in.

When she got in she saw a big captain's room with a nice looking bed, cabinets, and a working space with a table. she walked forwards and found a picture of three kids hugging each other and smiling.

One blonde, and two black haired kids.

'Is it his children?'She wondered.

She knew the risk of climbing on top of a pirate's ship as she had seen the black flag with a burning skull.

That had made her assume that the captain would be some evil looking old man, but who knew he would have a soft spot for his children.

'Although... his wife must have been with someone else...' she thought as she saw no parallels between the blonde child and the black haired ones.

Then she silently looked through all the cabinets.

'It's less than expected.' She thought, as she found a bit of gold and jewelry. The most valuable thing she found was a gold ring with a diamond on it.

'Nice!' She thought with a smile.

"Taking my ring, does it mean that you want to get married?" Suddenly someone spoke with a light tone from behind her.

"EEEEK" she shouted as she jumped away in fright.

'When did he appear behind me so suddenly, and how?!' She thought in confusion. Then it hit her, she had been found out.

"Ah, eh that's a misunderstanding, you see I was... EH, YOU'RE THE CHILD ON THE PICTURE?!" She first tried to justify then she became surprised at the fact that the old grumpy pirate she imagined was a young, not much older than her, teenager with a handsome smile.

"Hm... Yes that's me, about 8 years ago." Ace said thinking back.

The thief finally had a good look at the pirate.

He was about 1.9 meters tall, muscular with wavy black hair and freckles. He had black shorts on, an open pink shirt with two necklaces, black cape and a black hat with his burning skull symbol.

He looked kind except for his sharp eyes. But the thief was experienced enough to know that looks could be deceiving.

"So, are you going to put it back or do you really want to marry me?" He asks as he puts his hand on the sheath of his sword.

"I'm Sara, don't misunderstand, I'm just looking around..." She said nervously.

Ace looked at her short orange hair and the familiar tattoo on her shoulder.

"Sara huh..." Ace said.

"Yes..." She answered as she subconsciously hid her tattoo as she saw him look at her shoulder.

Seeing as he was still looking at her as if expecting her to put everything back to where they were, she gulped and started putting back everything she took. But her eyes never left him, afraid that he might strike her.

"Will you let me go... I'm just a fair maiden that made a mistake." She said with puppy eyes.

"Hmm, I think we've settled the score between us, after all, in the end I got my things back." Ace said with a smile.

"T-THANK YOU!" She stuttered, not believing that a pirate would be so forgiving, yet she didn't want to stay and find out if he was tricking her.

She hurriedly escaped.

Ace just chuckled as he saw her run away like a scaredy cat.

When sha ran out of his room, he started walking out as well, knowing what would soon happen.

"WHAT?! WHERE IS IT? YOU BASTARD, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BOAT!" He heard an angry girl's yell.

As he stepped outside he saw her fuming. She found that her boat was destroyed and parts of it were floating on the sea.

"Told ya' our score's settled!" Ace said in a chuckle.

"I GAVE BACK EVERYTHING!" She shouted in anger.

"And trespassed on my ship, and tried to steal my valuables, and lied about being a fair maiden." Ace finished her sentence.

"I AM A FAIR MAIDEN!" She became angrier for every second.

'She might awaken Haki if I'm not careful.' Ace thought and chuckled.

Yet, to the thief "Sara" it looked like he was laughing at her, which made her angrier.

"You're from the Arlong fish-scum pirate crew aren't you, take me there and I'll spare your life." Ace suddenly said in a hint of seriousness.

Sara suddenly lost the colour on her face and hid her shoulder even more.

"H-how did you know." She asked the obvious.

"..."

"Will you kill me..." She finally asked as he didn't answer her former question.

"Your pirate crew are scum that bribed the marines and took over an island. They did horrible things there... For that you deserve whatever I do to you, however if you take me to the village, I'll let the villagers decide your fate." Ace said pretending like he didn't know her situation.

After all, he had recognized her as Nami the instance he saw her.

She suddenly turned very meek and afraid, from her former brave self. Although she showed fear and nervousness before, Ace could feel that all of that was part of her act. Yet, right now, she had suddenly turned into a child with trauma.

"You can't... you shouldn't go there... you'll die." She said while looking down. This mysterious young pirate had seen through her identity as a crew member of the Arlong pirates that she hates and fears, and this had made her feel naked.

"Don't worry, I'm strong." Ace suddenly appeared in front of her and said. She got a fright and was about to raise her head but she felt him put his hat on top of her head, keeping her from looking up.

"Keep my hat for now, it's raining." Ace said before he turned around and walked into his chamber.

'Its raining?' Nami thought as she looked up. but there wasn't a single cloud in the sky.

Yet she felt "rain" drops fall down her cheeks.

Ace left because he noticed that her trauma was deeper than he had thought at first. She had started tearing up when he said that she was part of the Arlong crew.

He gave her some space, after all, there was nowhere to escape lest she wanted to jump into the dangerous sea with no land in sight.