PELAGIC - Ace x Reader x Law

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE: Eternal Vow

"Holy crap, have you shown Pops yet?!"

I had only ever seen one Devil Fruit in my life, and that had been my own. The mysterious purple fruit in Thatch's hand looked as though it was made up of swirling tear drops, layered one on top of the other.

"Yep! He said it's mine if I want it! I haven't quite decided what I'll be doing with it yet. Powers sound tempting, but I kinda like being able to swim." The man was beaming brightly, and I couldn't blame him. His find was only adding to the high spirits of the ship. "Well, I shouldn't be keeping you. Big day, and all! I just wanted to show it off!"

If I had been honest, his distraction was a relief. I had been pacing back and forth, filled with excitement and anxiety ever since I had woken up that morning. It was the day of my wedding, and now, with less than fifteen minutes before the ceremony, I was trying to keep my cool.

"I'm so happy for you, Thatch! Hey, to celebrate, why don't you let me-"
"Don't push it. I'm considering giving you your kitchen privileges back as a wedding present, but if I hear you ask even once, you'll end up with fish tails and carrot tops instead." He warned, but it was filled with a type of playfulness I had grown accustomed to over the past weeks. "You look gorgeous, (Y/N). Ace is a lucky man."

I wanted to hide my face behind my hands due to his compliment. I felt gorgeous, for the first time in my life. My dress was plain and simple, an off-white ruffled dress, cinched at the waist, the front of the skirt hitched up to just above the knee. Boots in a matching colour, reaching just below my knees, and some fine, sheer lace pinned into my hair for a veil.

Whitebeard's men - my crew - had gone above and beyond to try and make our wedding seem as conventional as possible, and I could never even begin to thank them enough.

"Alright, off ya go, yoi. The bride needs to finish getting ready. Congrats on the find, though, man." Marco shooed the ecstatic cook out of the room and shut the door, quickly returning to me and motioning for me to sit down. "Now, what are we missing?"

Looking down at myself, I tried to figure it out. I had something old, which was a string of golden beads Whitebeard had gifted me. He had told me they had once sat atop a hat he had worn in his younger days, and I had gladly doubled them around my neck.

I had something new in the form of lacy white undergarments, gifted to me by Ace. It was obvious it had also been a gift to himself, but I wasn't complaining at all.

"We're missing something borrowed and something blue." I announced, tapping my chin to try and think of a solution. I wouldn't have minded if we didn't have anything, but considering both Ace and Whitebeard had mentioned the tradition, I wanted to at least try.

"Hold that thought, yoi. I'll be right back." Holding his finger up for me to wait, Marco grabbed something and dashed out the door, leaving me to my thoughts.

I'm nervous, but not in a bad way...

I had never been as sure of anything in my life. Ace was the man I wanted to marry and spend the rest of my days with, but I was still anxious. Was it truly what he wanted? He wouldn't have been going through with it if it wasn't, but it was still a nagging thought in the back of my mind.

All of a sudden, Marco burst back through the door, a pair of scissors in one hand, and a clump of blue in the other.
"Ta-da! Something blue!" He grinned wide, and I had to squint my eyes to figure out what he was holding.
"Marco...i..is that a chunk of Deuce's hair..?"

Nodding proudly, he tossed the scissors onto his desk and approached me, kneeling down to begin threading it through the eyelets of my dress middle.
"It was the only blue thing I could think of that wouldn't take away from the dress, yoi." He explained with a snort, and I couldn't help but laugh. Poor Deuce.