Protectors [One Piece Fanfiction]

Jaya Island with Ace

A/N: we're at 200 reads!! thank you so much everyone!

Jaya Island with Ace

A while back, right after Ace had left Alabasta he called a certain Vice Admiral using a den den mushi, "Plain white rice."

"Ghost pepper aglio olio," the voice on the den den mushi replied.

Portgas D. Ace smirked after hearing the voice, "Let's meet at Jaya Island," he said, getting straight to the point without mentioning the name of the person he called. "Okay, I'll be there in a day," the den den mushi spoke again with the same voice, "Alright, I'll see you then," Ace smiled as he hung up.

He laid down on the sandy beach of Jaya as he slowly awaited for the arrival of the person he had called. Ace gazed at the starry skies as he thought about many things, he wondered where Blackbeard went, unluckily, Ace arrived at Jaya a bit too early. He had a feeling that catching Blackbeard wouldn't be easy but he was determined to kill him no matter what. Ace was angry and stressed, he needed to take revenge for his crewmate, Thatch. With those thoughts, he drifted to sleep.

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The next morning on the lawless island, Ace had woken up and was already bored from waiting, when was the person he wanted to meet arriving? Then he heard the whooshing sound from a motorized boat coming from the sea, she had finally arrived. The water operated jet ski-like speed boat whirred to a stop when it reached the shore and the person who was riding it hopped down. She sported a pair of shorts, a white tank top which was coated with a denim jacket and a pair of her usual white boots. The girl had her hair down, unlike her usual ponytail and her neat fringe. Her pink hair rested over her shoulders and the right side of her fringe was tucked behind her ear.

"That took you long enough, Irin," Ace teased.

"I said a day, and yet I arrived here in less than 24 hours! I guess I should've taken longer then!" the girl huffed with an amount of pettiness. Ace laughed and hugged the pink haired girl who then smiled while she melted in his hug, "Come on, let's get you some food!" he exclaimed, dragging her towards the town, in search of some food.

As they walked around, in search of a bar, Irin couldn't help but feel as though something was wrong with Ace. He was less talkative compared to how he previously was and he seemed more tired than the last time she saw him. However, she knew what was stressing him out, she knew about what Marshall D. Teach had done and she wanted to help Ace, but he didn't allow her to. "Something on your mind?" she asked as she turned to her left to look at the freckled man, "It's nothing," he replied.

"Liar," Irin smiled with a tint of worry in her voice.

Ace chuckled softly as he looked straight, "Just thinking about where I should go next to look for that bastard, Teach," he said seriously, Irin couldn't help but to feel more worried. He was so obsessed with finding and killing Blackbeard that he didn't seem like himself anymore but that wasn't what Irin was worried about. She worried if he had been getting enough sleep or if he had been eating well lately. Ace was someone she cared about deeply. Without realising, silence befell them and Irin's face was contorted into one which showed deep concern.

"Wipe that look off your face, I know what you're thinking. I'm fine, so don't worry about it," Ace reassured as he placed his hat onto the girl's head, patting her head while doing so. She looked at him with her eyes slightly widened and a slight blush dusting her cheeks, she then looked away hastily, "Would you rather I just leave you be?" she mumbled. Ace only smiled at her antics and continued walking beside her, not replying to her rhetorical question.