Chapter 27
Ace vaguely remembers you running away from the Red-Haired Pirates to their warehouse barrels and hiding there, asking if you could sail with them for a while. After that, they did sail with you for a time, but you didn't stay long, disembarking on an island that was relatively welcoming to outsiders.
Perhaps because the time we spent sailing together was relatively pleasant, Ace, now a member of the Whitebeard Pirates, would occasionally wonder how you were doing when he stood on the deck lost in thought. Just like now, Ace gazed at the boundless sea until Thatch appeared, interrupting his reverie.
"What's wrong? Why are you standing here in a daze?"
"Nothing, I was just thinking about something."
Ace's words made Sachi laugh out loud: "You're not still thinking about challenging Daddy before, are you?"
Sachi's teasing smile earned him a helpless yet somewhat embarrassed look from Ace.
"How can you talk like that?"
Faced with his youngest brother's complaint, Sachi, as the older brother, smiled and patted Ace on the shoulder, his teasing words devoid of malice.
"It's because of your past record."
Unable to deny his dark past, Ace swallowed his words of rebuttal. Just as he was about to say more about you, a raft in the distance caught his attention.
Although they were still some distance away, Ace's excellent Observation Haki was enough to see the people on the raft. Not only Ace, but Sachi, who was standing next to him, also noticed the raft gradually approaching the Moby Dick with the waves.
"Are they enemies?"
Sensing no hostility and seeing only a raft and a person, Sachi, ready for battle, asked Ace for his opinion. Ace didn't answer, and like Sachi, went on alert. Then, as the raft drew closer with the waves, Ace recognized the person on it—it was you, the one who had parted ways with them six months ago.
"Wait, this looks like someone I know!"
Unable to discern whether the unexpectedness or the joy of reunion outweighed the other's feelings, Ace jumped onto the deck and waved to you on the raft. But you, who would have responded to his call, remained motionless. The raft, too small to navigate from your island, was swept away by the next wave. It wasn't until Ace clearly saw the raft surfacing that he realized something was wrong.
Sachi, who also witnessed the whole thing, hurriedly grabbed Ace's ankle as he instinctively prepared to jump into the sea, his scolding tone tinged with helplessness.
"Have you forgotten you're an ability user? If anyone's going, it should be me!"
Before Ace could answer, Sachi, seemingly helpless yet complaining, took off his absorbent coat, jumped into the sea, and swam towards the only remaining raft.
-
In your hazy consciousness, you hear voices, both male and female. You dare not open your eyes, afraid of hearing the terrifying drumbeats. Only when the sounds in your ears disappear, and the drumbeats that linger in your mind vanish, do you dare to open your eyes. But before you can fully open them, the incandescent light, which has kept your eyes from being exposed to light for so long, makes them close again.
The female voice that hadn't left you spoke again, and she thoughtfully dimmed the lights for you.
"You're awake? Don't get up yet. You've been asleep for more than half a month, so it's normal to feel weak."
The light and lively female voice was followed by the male voice heard in a hazy state of consciousness.
"Give her some water, but don't let her drink too much."
During the conversation, you finally opened your eyes after your eyes adjusted to the light. The first thing you saw was a beautiful blonde nurse who was giving you her gentlest smile.
"Don't worry, although this is a pirate ship, we won't do anything to you."
After extracting the key words from the nurse's conversation, you paused for a while before nodding to her to indicate that you understood. Following this, a doctor named "Marco" examined you, then a nurse gave you water. After Marco left, the nurse told you many things about your unconsciousness.
She said that Ace, who had given you a ride, found you. Because he was a Devil Fruit user, Sachi pulled you out of the water, and then Marco and she, along with other nurses you hadn't seen before, took care of you.
Your brain, slowed down by drowsiness, managed to analyze the information in the nurse's words with her patient explanation. Before you could finish, the nurse took the half-full water glass from your hand. When you were puzzled, she responded with a smile that could heal the soul.
"You can only drink half for now, or you'll throw up."
"I know you're hungry. Sachi will have someone bring you food later. You can rest here for a bit."
Even if you're still confused, you'll nod in agreement as the nurse explains word by word, which makes her laugh.
"They'll be happy to see you like this. Hopefully, they won't scare you."
"Them"? Forgive me for not understanding what the nurse is saying yet, but after she leaves, you'll know who she meant by "them." Because after the nurse left, three men who looked like pirates just by their faces and attire crowded around the window, openly scrutinizing you, their eyes filled with curiosity about your awakening.
"Really awake? I thought he would sleep for a few more days."
Even though the teasing and stares were harmless, you instinctively pulled the blanket over yourself. However, the man who had moved closer to the window didn't seem to understand your unease and continued talking about you in front of you.
"To tell you the truth, although he's awake, he looks like he could collapse again at any moment."
Before you could even mentally complain about what the other person said, the man closest to him delivered a precise elbow strike, causing the man who seemed to be cursing you to clutch his stomach and cry out in pain.
"You jinx! How can you curse someone who just woke up like that!"
The man who told his companion to shut up tried to give you a friendly smile, but before he could even smile, the man he had just elbowed got up, grabbed his hair, and started arguing right in front of you.
"You think you can just resort to violence because you said the wrong thing? Don't go too far!"
"You bastard! Is that your excuse for pulling my hair?! If you're a man, slap me in the face!"
The way things were going was so bizarre that it felt like a horror movie to you, whose brain had just woken up and wasn't functioning properly yet. Not knowing where you were, you could only clutch the blanket tightly and hide by the head of the bed as the third man tried to break up a fight between two of his friends, which escalated into a three-way brawl, trying to minimize your presence.
Fortunately, the three-person brawl didn't last long, and was stopped by the man in the chef's uniform banging his plate around. Each of the three men took turns hitting him, more effective than an apple accelerating with gravity. After the three men saw what the man looked like, they stopped fighting, lined up, and shouted in unison, "Captain Sachi!"
As your consciousness barely returned, you remembered the name the nurse had mentioned, piecing together unfamiliar faces and names. Clearly, the man with the bread-shaped hair and chef's attire was Sachi.
"What are you making a racket in the infirmary? Didn't you see you scared someone?"
Sachi, who didn't have the energy to deal with you, seriously reprimanded his younger brothers. The three of them were very honest and admitted their mistakes as soon as you said them, apologizing to you one after another. After you subconsciously nodded and forgave them, the three of them laughed awkwardly and left the scene, leaving Sachi with a headache for his brothers who came to the scene on a whim.
"That's true... Marco has already told him, but he just won't listen."
After saying this helplessly, Sachi adjusted his emotions and expression and looked at you. He changed his attitude from lecturing his brother earlier and gave you a gentle but imposing smile.
"I'm sorry, those three were just very curious, they meant no harm."
With your throat dry and hoarse, coupled with the unexpected situation, you couldn't utter a single word. You could only nod to Sachi to show that you understood. Satisfied with your response, Sachi smiled back, put the food he had just taken from the plate back on it, and handed it in through the infirmary window.
"You must be very hungry since you just woke up. I made you some porridge, would you like some?"
Sachi didn't insist on coming in. Instead, he bent over slightly and stood on the windowsill, which felt somewhat cramped to him, to ask for your opinion. Even though you weren't hungry, you nodded in acceptance of his kindness, thanks to Sachi's very considerate treatment. Seeing this, Sachi placed the still-steaming porridge on the table in front of the windowsill and took the plate with him.
"It's still a little hot. Wait until the nurse comes back and then ask her to give it to you. I have to go now."
After you nodded to indicate that there was no problem, Sachi left the infirmary, leaving behind a bowl of still-steaming porridge by the once lively windowsill.
Perhaps because I had recovered from the previous situation, I didn't feel hungry when I woke up, or rather, my hungry stomach was whetted by the fragrant porridge wafting from the windowsill.
As expected, you were able to finish a whole bowl of porridge. And you did finish it, at the cost of vomiting due to indigestion from not eating for so long. Even though the nurse who cleaned you up didn't say anything, you couldn't help but feel ashamed of your behavior, having vomited after eating for the first time.
-
The events that followed your separation from Ace and his crew have been quite complicated, and at least for now, you're unable to organize your emotions and words to explain the past to Whitebeard in detail. However, you can't hide Crocodile's past and your time with the Red-Haired Pirates, even if Whitebeard and his crew probably already know before you tell them.
After hearing your reasons for wanting to stay, the white-bearded man sitting in front of you, as imposing as a mountain, glanced at you with his dignified gaze.
Even with an IV drip, Whitebeard could crush you with a flick of his finger if he wanted to. Beyond his sheer power, his sheer size and imposing presence are far more terrifying than Shanks'. But you can't be afraid, because Whitebeard is the destination of your arduous voyage.
Under the gaze of Whitebeard and the unrecognizable pirates, you clasp your hands together on your waist, try to raise your voice to control your trembling body, look at Whitebeard sitting in the main seat, and express your desire to stay.
"I will work on the ship to pay off my debts, please don't throw me overboard."
"Although I can't fight, I can do odd jobs. I'll work hard, please."
You hear your voice trembling as you try to raise it, and the surrounding pirates buzzing with discussion because of your words. They're betting on whether Whitebeard will spare you, and how long you can hold out if you do stay; their conversations are also interspersed with assessments of your abilities.
If you were in the Red-Haired Pirates era, you might have fled in panic because of these comments. But knowing that you can't survive on this sea with your dwindling pride, you can't back down. Dying once won't make you fearless of death; it will only make you more aweful of the feeling of being on the verge of death.
Whitebeard didn't speak, only looked at you with his imposing eyes, seemingly assessing your worth. You struggled to resist the urge to look away. At the same time, having finished assessing your worth, Whitebeard turned to Marco, who had brought you to him.
"Are we short of odd jobs on our ship?"
When asked, Marco glanced at you, and under your almost pleading gaze, turned to Whitebeard and gave his answer: "You know, old man, we don't lack menial workers on our ship."
Your taut nerves snapped at Marco's answer: Are you going to be disembarked? Are you going to have to eke out a living in this sea where even an "ordinary person" can't handle you? Before you completely lost the ability to regulate your breathing, Whitebeard turned to look at you, repeating Marco's words in a tone devoid of emotion.
"You heard it too, we don't lack menial workers on our ship."
Even though you already know the answer from Marco, hearing the reply that you can't stay again from Whitebeard's mouth stirs up fear of the future and grievances from so far in your mind, and the sour feeling in your chest makes it impossible for you to maintain a smile.
You don't want to accept this reality, but being rejected is the worst you could have imagined. You can only try your best to keep your emotions in check and nod at Whitebeard's answer.
The deck, which had fallen silent at Whitebeard's words, suddenly became lively again with his distinctive laughter. This was the first time Whitebeard had smiled at you, and instead of his imposing aura, he displayed the gentle warmth characteristic of an elder.
"So, as Ace's father, I will entertain the friends he brings."
"Just stay here and relax."
You should have been happy, and like the pirates around you cheering for Whitebeard's words, offered him your sincerest gratitude. But you overestimated your resilience and underestimated the pressure that had been building up on you. You, who prided yourself on your ability to manage emotions, thanked Whitebeard amidst laughter and cheers, but your voice choked with emotion as you lost control.
Through your tear-blurred vision, you see Whitebeard's bewildered expression, and Marco, who is closest to him, reacting with a headache.
"Marco,"
"Dad, calling me won't help. You're the one who made her cry."
The conversation between the two made you, who couldn't stop crying, unable to suppress your laughter, but because of your out-of-control emotions, you looked quite disheveled, crying and laughing at the same time. Compared to Whitebeard and Marco's reactions, the pirates watching from the sidelines reacted even more intensely.
"Dad made Ace's friend cry!"
"Luckily Ace wasn't there, otherwise the scene would have been incredibly chaotic."
"No way, she's crying and you're saying things like that?! Shouldn't you be thinking of a solution right now?! Aren't you the best at communicating with women? Hurry up and do it!"
"Slander! Is this the kind of communication I'm talking about?! Why don't you go and join me!"
The chaotic sounds made you want to cover your face, which was a mix of crying and laughing, until a gentle male voice rang out in front of you.
"Use your handkerchief to wipe it. My brothers mean no harm. I hope you won't mind."
You lower your hands from your face, and what comes into view is a handkerchief placed on a black glove. Following the hand with its distinct knuckles upwards, you find a man in a kimono handing you the handkerchief.
You don't know his name yet, but the handkerchief he offers is undoubtedly what you need most right now.
Thank you very much...
After hurriedly thanking the man, you took the handkerchief and wiped away the overflowing pressure and grievances. The man who handed you the handkerchief gave you a gentle yet helpless smile.
"You're welcome, Ace's friend. You can call me Izou."
Still unable to adjust your voice, you forced a smile, attempting to thank Izou with a genuine smile. Perhaps your crying was too pathetic, for your smile did not elicit a smile from Izou; his already handsome face showed a look of astonishment.
While you were still trying to compose yourself, too preoccupied to decipher the meaning behind Izo's expression, Sachi, who had taken care of you in the infirmary not long ago, walked over amidst the laughter of the pirates. His gaze fell on the handkerchief in your hand, which was wet with tears, and he looked regretful.
"Looks like I was a step too late."
A perfectly ordinary sentence, spoken with a tone of feigned regret, can make you laugh through your tears. Even Izang, who had just been frowning, chuckled at Sachi's teasing.
Judging from the current situation, you don't need to worry about disembarking for now. It's just that crying in front of a bunch of strangers... it'll probably take you quite a while to recover from that.
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