Soliloquy of the Broken Soul

Straw Hat Hallucinations

Ace was the first to wake up from the threes nap. He sat up slowly and stretched his arms out with a yawn. Glancing down he saw both Sabo and Luffy still curled up tightly next to each other.

Ace smiled at them and then steadily got off the bed, trying not to wake his sleeping siblings. He walked over to the door and opened it, cringing when it squeaked a little. He spared a look at his brothers and sighed in relief when he found them still snoozing soundly.

He continued out the door and shut it quietly behind him. He rubbed the rest of the sleep from his eyes as he walked out the short wooden corridor and onto the bustling deck.

Ace looked out to the sea and found the sun hanging low in the sky, pink starting to etch its way into the horizon. It was about two or so hours until sunset.

Ace then assumed that they'd been asleep most of the day..... Five hours or so.

Wow, we really were exhausted, Ace thought to himself as he walked over to the ship railing as to get a better view of the ocean.

He stood there a few minutes in a serene state as he watched the sun slowly dip closer and closer to the sea, the crew working diligently behind him becoming the perfect white noise.

Then, Ace's stomach let out a ferocious growl, instantly dampening the tranquil mood.

Ace sighed and moved away from the railing, heading towards the kitchen for some grub. Now that he thought about it, he and his brothers had slept straight through lunch. By the looks of things, it was just about dinner time, maybe even just past it.

Ace hoped with all his heart he had not indeed missed dinner time, because he was positively starving.

As he came upon the Galley, he opened one of the double doors that led to it and entered them. He headed straight for the bar that lay in front of the kitchen, hoping to find Thatch and ask for some sort of snack at least.

The ravenous ten-year-old hopped up eagerly onto one of the bar stools in the hopes of getting a bite. Once he was seated comfortably, Ace peered into the kitchen to see if he could spot Thatch somewhere in the mass of cooks.

Lucky for him, he didn't have to wait long. Thatch, noticing the lone kid, walked up to him out of pure curiosity. When Ace spotted the large haired chef, his dark eyes lit up.

Thatch leaned on the opposite side of the counter and smiled brightly.

"What's up kiddo? It's not often we catch you without your brothers," Thatch asked cheerfully.

Ace smirked back. "They're still asleep and I was hungry. I have no idea what time it is- can I please get some food? I'm starving!"

As if to prove his point, Ace's stomach let out a loud rumble just as he finished speaking.

Thatch laughed as Ace was unnerved by the interference and continued to stare straight at him.

"It's around six, and we're just about finished cooking dinner," Thatch answered

Ace seemed to glow at the fact that he had in fact not missed the last meal of the day, and it made Thatch simply giddy. Unable to control his laughter he turned away slightly as Ace bubbled his cheeks in annoyance at the reaction.

"Tell ya what kid," Thatch chuckled while wiping a tear from his eye, "you go wake up your brothers and bring them right here to the bar, and by the time you come back I'll have enough food for all three of you to feast on."

Ace beamed at that and nodded rapidly before jumping from the stool and dashing out of the galley, calling behind him, "I'll be Right Back!!! You better keep your promise Cook Guy!"