My Own One Piece.

The Truth.

I felt my heart racing more and more as we continued to wind through the labyrinth.

"Man, I wish I had been paying attention to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire now." I thought to myself.

Ace gave my hand another reassuring squeeze as I rubbed my face.

"Maybe we should take a moment to rest." He said. I shook my head.

"I don't think that's safe." I said. Ace held my hand.

"But fighting her with out energy isn't smart." Ace said. I growled. The sun was up, so there was no mist that could roll in on us while we slept. However, I wouldn't put it past her to come kill us while we slept.

"Oi! Lady keeping us in here!" Ace yelled in to the air.

"Yes, Ace-kun, darling?" She asked, making me roll my eyes.

"Can you do me a favor?" Ace asked.

"Anything for you, Ace-kun!" She said.

"Uck. Gag me." I thought.

"Will you let Aoi and I sleep so we can face off on even grounds?" Ace asked.

"Well, of course! Taking Aoi-chan out while she's weak from exhaustion wouldn't be any fun!" The woman said.

"There, see? Now come on and get some sleep." Ace said.

"I don't trust her, Ace." I said.

"Do you trust me?" He asked.

"Of course." I said. He pulled me closer to him and forced me to look him in the eyes.

"Then sleep in my arms and know I'll protect you." He said.

"It's not me I'm worried about." I said. Ace squeezed my hands.

"You don't need to worry about me, Aoi-chan." He said.

"Of course I do... It's my job..." I said. I felt his soft lips on my forehead.

"Just relax and sleep. I'll keep an eye out." Ace said, sitting down and pulling me with him. He put me in his lap and held me aganist his chest, one hand massaging my shoulder, the other massaging my hip. Even though I didn't want to, I slowly drifted off to sleep.

I woke a few hours later as the sun went down, Ace snoring in my ear. I blinked trying to get my hazy mind to work.

"He's quite adorable when he sleeps, eh, Aoi-chan?" The voice rang out again.

"Damn it, Ace! Wake up!" I snapped as my mind finally came back to full consciousness. I stood up, waking Ace and pulling him to his feet.

"We need to move. Now." I said, holding his hand and dragging him with me as we ran deeper in to the labyrinth. We wound deeper and deeper in to the labyrinth, Ace holding my hand firmly.

"Aoi... You do trust me, don't you?" He asked.

"With my life." I said.

"Then what is it that this woman knows that your so afraid of her telling me?" He asked. I stopped in my tracks and took a deep breath.

"Where I came from... Before I was a pirate... Before you found me... I lived in a place where people hated the fact I even existed. No matter where I went, who I talked to, even if I changed my name and hair color, everyone would know who I was. Sometimes men attacked me in hopes that my mother had trained me to be a slut like her. Everyone else I ever met thought I was just like my father and would rob someone blind. And if they didn't think that, they thought I was a combination of both my parents. First I fuck someone and then I'd rob them while they were weak. No one bothered to know me for me. Then you came along and I suddenly felt like I belonged somewhere. I felt loved for the first time in my life. Marco, Thatch, Pops, you.... Everyone wanted to know me for who I was... I felt like I actually had a family... I don't want to lose that..." I said.