A few months ago~
At the Moby Dick
Thatch POV
Ugh. I can't believe Teach would try to kill me for a Devil fruit. The black spots in my vision keep appearing. I slumped to the floor on my knees. As I was about to pass out, I felt something tingling from around my neck. With my weakened strength, I reached inside my chef's uniform to find a crystal necklace glowing.
Huh, isn't this the necklace that (First Name) gave to me on her last visit? Why is it glowing??
Before I could think any further, I saw some light coming from my wound. I don't feel any pain from it and I checked that the wound is all healed up. I was shocked but it seemed that it couldn't heal my fatigue as I felt my eyelids becoming heavy.
I lay down on the wooden floorboards on my back and gripped the necklace close to me with a smile.
"(First Name) saved me. Doesn't matter if it's a coincidence or not. I can't wait to rub it in others' faces"
___________________________________________________________________
Flashback~
"What's this, (First Name)?" Thatch questioned while inspecting the necklace closely.
"That's a crystal necklace. The crystal is from my island although I still don't know its properties yet, I just think it could make up for a necklace. Who knows? You might be the first one to find out" you replied.
You pushed the necklace, insisting to keep it close.
"You should put it around your neck. If you're embarrassed about others seeing you, you could just hide it in your uniform. Besides, it might just save your life" You grinned widely close-eyed causing the blood to boil up on his cheeks.
________________________________________________________
Present time~
"Ora~ I'm surprised that the necklace I gave to him saved him from certain death. Now I got some useful information on the crystals" you hummed.
"If it weren't for that . . .Thatch wouldn't be alive by now" Ace's head was down then perked up. "I heard that a bounty hunter named Scorpion had actually taken him down and I'm here to see if the rumor is true" Ace sighed, his voice sounding stressed.
"So you'll be joining us then through the desert?" Nami asked with her head cocked to the side. Ace hummed and nodded in response.
"Mind if I come along? I got nothing else to do anyway" you questioned.
"Won't Crocodile notice that you'll be following us?"
"Pfft. No need to worry about him. I made him . . .distracted for a while" You smirked just thinking about it.
At Rainbase, Crocodile sneezed while he was focusing on the paperwork. "Who is this person talking behind my back?"
______________________________________________________________
After reaching the end of the water, the Going Merry was docked as everyone changed into their desert outfits and set off to Yuba. You wouldn't worry about the heat too much since you're pretty used to it thanks to the changes in the Grand Line waters.
Through the desert, Luffy was complaining about the heat as the rest of the crew were annoyed by it while you and Ace looked at each other and gave out deep sighs at the sight of Luffy being bullied by the whole crew minus Vivi who was trying to calm them down.
When the sun set, everyone started to camp for the night. It was so cold that almost everyone huddled together to warm up, leaving you and Vivi awake. You were cuddling Ace while stroking his raven locks as he snored on your lap.
"Say, (First Name) . . ." Vivi called out in a soft tone to not wake the rest up from their sleep.
You tore your gaze away from the sleeping freckled boy to the blue-haired princess. Vivi's cheeks tinted pink at the sight of you looking at her and only her but shook her head to get rid of those thoughts.
"What is it, princess??" you called out in amusement at the sight of the princess being flustered.
"W-well, you grew up with Ace and Luffy, right??" the princess questioned. You hummed at this and nodded. "Yea but only for a year till I set out to sea before them"
"Has he . . . always been this way??"
You chuckled. "I guess you could say that. Luffy may be a little stupid and naive sometimes but to be honest, princess. He hasn't changed at all. Not one bit. He always has that charm that draws people in. Even me" you then laughed as you reminisce your memories with the boys.
As you continued chatting with Vivi throughout the night, the princess listened very attentively to your childhood stories with the boys, neither of you noticing that Ace woke up a little to the sound of your voice and was smiling brightly into your stomach.
He continued to pretend to sleep and nestled his face deeper into your thighs, his stomach filling with butterflies when your fingers started to run through his hair again, scratching gently on his scalp.