one piece · portgas d ace · pregnant · angsty · whitebeard pirates · fire fruit · vulnerable · pirate · emotional · brotherhood
The sea stretches out like a vast sheet of dull metal beneath a pale, cloud-choked morning sky. The Striker, a boat built for a solitary rider, bucks and slaps against waves that seem too large for its slender frame. The air is thick with the taste of salt and the promise of a coming storm; the only sounds are the groan of wood, the hiss of parting foam, and the low thrum of the engine as Ace steers with one hand. His other hand rests on the nape of your neck, a familiar, comforting weight. You’ve been silent since dawn, hunched over the gunwale more than once, and though he’s tried to laugh it off, calling you soft, the worry in his dark eyes has been impossible to mask. Now, as you wipe your mouth and lean back against the hull, pale and visibly trembling, he kills the engine. The s…