The night was quiet. Leaves tussled in the wind, and stars shined brighter than ever. The moon, crescent-shaped, gave a soft glow to the soundless forest. Everything and everyone was at peace.

"Pfft-hehe."

Well, everyone except our main character...

"Take that stupid buttface." A childish giggle rung throughout the silent forest, breaking the calm atmosphere that one ordained it.

"Brat!? Where'd ya go!?" An angry voice yelled out and along with it, an angry man,"I'm gonna kill that little..." he mumbled, slipping over fallen branches and overgrown plants; searching furiously for our young trouble maker. "16 and that boys still a pain in the arse."

Slight movement over towards his left caught his eye, he grinned maliciously at the bushels of greenery. "I've got you now..." he whispered, slowly advancing towards the shuffling; taking cautious steps.

Just as he neared the bushes, the shuffling stilled. He waited in anticipation for the right moment to strike. 'That's right...' he thought, 'just keep still so I can...'

"Catch ya!" He said aloud, using his hands to part the bushes in the middle with a victorious grin, only to find a single white bunny rabbit nibbling on a newly found carrot.

"Ugh, you little! Sho! Sho!" He ushered out, shooing the adorable creature away; highly aggravated.

He stood back up from his crouched position and gave way to a loud grunt, "You may have won this time... but I promise you, one day I'll catch you, and I'll make sure you never get to see the light of day again!" The man yelled, glaring all around him not really knowing what to look at.

"Tsk. Darn useless kid..." He muttered before storming away, taking the tense atmosphere along with him.

Meanwhile, 7 yards above the man, sat a teenage boy. The boy, dressed in rags, rolled his eyes as he took a bite of the ruby colored apple held in his grasp. His Snow White hair swayed with the wind as his emerald eyes held nothing but amusement. His fine tan skin glistened in the light as he let out a humorous chuckle, "That man never looks up..."

And with that, he jumped down from up top the tree and landed hard on forest floor below. Stretching out his back, he sighed as he received a victorious 'pop' sound. Once that was done with, he turned in the opposite direction from whence he came and started trudging past the trees; skillfully avoiding overgrown tree roots that decided they wanted to rebel and live above ground. He knew this forest like the back of his hand.

"Gah!" He yelped, falling straight off a cliff.

I guess I'd be helpful if he had any sense of direction.

He coughed and groaned as he landed flat on his stomach. "Yep, that's gonna leave a mark. Not like I have enough already, let's just add some more." He joked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

He winced, sitting up. Ignoring an incoming migraine, he paused before standing up and looking around. His eyes widened as he realized he made it to the ocean. A ghost of a grin made its way onto his lips as he ran forwards towards the open blue.

He opened his arms wide as he ran, letting the breeze relax him down to his core. It wasn't til he felt the icee wet ocean crash into his feet did he snap out of his relaxation. He tensed and took a few steps back.

And that was the problem. The whole reason why he never built a boat and hightailed it on off that stupid island. While he loved the idea of sailing far away and never looking back; meeting new friends and family along the way. Something stopped him, and that something was his fear.

Thalassophobia - The fear of large bodies of water.

It was a huge inconvenience, seeing as he lived on a small island in the East Blue.

He sighed moving his feet in the water, feeling the wet grainy sand tickle his toes. He laughed, feeling free. He absolutely loved that feeling, it was the whole reason he snuck out of the village.

Hearing a chuckle behind him he froze.

"And to think I was trying to hide from you."

He spun around to face the intruder, shoulders tense and guarded, ready for some kind of attack.

He was met with confusion once he lied eyes on the being. He thought it would've been one of the villagers, maybe he wasn't careful enough and someone followed him, but instead, he was met with an unfamiliar face. Well, that wasn't exactly uncommon for his little island. There were pirates stopping by here quite often. The only difference was that this person wasn't the usual big, bold and ugly. In fact, this guy wasn't that big. The guy was only an inch or two taller than him, his hair looking almost identical to his -except the strangers was dark brown instead of white- he sported little childlike freckles covering his cheeks. His eyes weren't anything special, just your average dark brown; but somehow he still managed to get lost in them. It's as if his eyes were pulling him in the more he stared at them.

The stranger rolled his eyes, "You know it's rude to stare."

His eyes widened as he snapped out of it, noticing that he was indeed staring, his face flushed as he looked away, "S-sorry..."

The guy gave a short laugh then extended his hand, "Portgas D. Ace. Ace is what my brothers call me, and you are?" Ace questioned as he shook his hand.

"I- Uh... "

'Brat!?'

'Useless waste of space...'

'Pain in the arse.'

He frowned. What was his name again...?

'Freak...'

'Dumb kid'

'Stupid boy!'

"...I... I don't remember..." he finally said.

Ace raised an eyebrow, "You don't remember you own name? Great... I've managed to find someone as dumb as Luffy..."

'Dumb boy!'

His brows creased, "I-I'm not dumb..."

Ace looked at him for a second before he smiled, "Right sorry. I joke like that with my brother and I... uh... never mind. Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

The surprise that showed on his face was almost comical. 'Did he just say sorry? To me!?'

Ace frowned, "Why are you looking at me like that...?"

"Oh-I... uh..." He pursed his lips in thought trying to change the topic, "Food."

"Huh?"

He smiled looking at him, "You hungry?"

Ace grinned at the thought of food and nodded, "Starved." He said laughing.

"Come on! Let me show you something." The boy said walking past Ace and heading back into the forest.

They journeyed into the forest and they talked. He got them lost a couple times because of his bad sense of directions, but after the 17th try, he managed to find his way back to the village. They snuck some food from different places. He normally did this by himself but this time -with Ace's help- He managed to get 3x the amount he normally got. They almost got caught once, but Ace managed to fight the guy off of him with his long metal pipe. He had asked where he got it from but all Ace did was smile at him with this knowing look. 🙄

Prov. Change to first person~~~

The days after that were exactly the same, we'd sneak into town and grab food. Then head back to the ocean. Ace managed to remember the route and we didn't get lost as often. After a couple weeks, we both grew attached to each other. He found out how the villagers treated me and proposed that I went away with him and sailed the seas. I was hesitant at first -because of my fear- but he reassured me that nothing would happen with him around.

The day before he was going to leave, we talked all night. We talked about his brothers Luffy and Sabo, and how unfair Sabo's death was. We talked about his caretaker, a mountain bandit named Dadan. He talked about a lady who lived in Foosha village -The village Luffy grew up in- named Makino and how she taught him manners. I had made a joke about how he probably hadn't learned much and he replied by hitting me upside the head so hard I could hear my skull crack.

Though, that probably was just my imagination...

On the morning of departure day, we filled up sacks and sacks of food. Ace was already done with his five sacks while I just had one more to do.

I was almost done filling up my sac when I was caught. Apparently, the villagers heard about me leaving the island and voted to stop me. I don't know why they wanted me to stay so bad when all they've done was treat me horribly. It had something to do with amusement, selfishness, and tourism; I didn't really listen that much.

It was when I was dragged to a cave and surrounded by the villagers chanting some creepy spell that I finally came to the conclusion that these villagers were actually insane. I mean, I knew they were harsh, brutal, and mean; but never knew that they were mentally insane.

After a few minutes of them chanting, I started to get anxious. If I wasn't heading to the ocean soon, Ace would leave without me, then I'll be stuck on this island forever.

I pushed, shoved, and bit the villagers but they all just shook it off and continued chanting.

"Let me go damn it!" I yelled, frustration weaving through my veins. I pushed harder at the wall of people blocking me from getting away.

In my frustration, I failed to notice that the whole cave started glowing a blue hue.

"It's working!?" One of the villagers gasped out.

"Hurry! box him in!"

I pushed harder at that, managing to push my head around someone and see through the entrance of the cave. I managed to spot a sliver of black hair running towards the cave before I was grabbed by my hair and flung into a wall.

My head made impact with the wall and that's when things started to fade. I groaned as my vision blurred, I heard Ace yelling but I couldn't react or say anything back. I saw a light blue light envelop the room before I passed out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I came to, the first thing I saw a blue wall.

"Wha?" I groaned as I sat up, rubbing my head. I looked around to see that I was still in the cave. I looked to the front of me in confusion and stood up. I walked over to the clear blue wall that blocked me from half the cave. I hesitated before poking it.

Nothing.

I poked it again.

Nothing.

I placed my palm on it, feeling it's smooth surface. 'What is this?'

"You're awake!"

My eyes widened, 'Ace!?'

I turned to my right and spotted Ace, standing up outside of the weird clear-blue wall.

"Ace!" I smiled walking over to him, "I thought you would've left already." I said, feeling relieved that he didn't. I reached to give him a hug but couldn't.

"What is this?" I asked frustrated that I couldn't hug Ace. I pushed my hand on it, trying to crack it or something.

Ace frowned puting his hand across from mine on the glass. "Don't, I already tried."

I frowned more just now noticing all the weapons lying around. Some were cracked and others were completely split in half.

Anxiety, fear, and desperation slammed into me all at once, "A-Ace..." I swallowed, feeling a lump in my throat. "I'm not going to be able to come with you... am I."

Tears slid down my cheeks at the realization. I looked up at Ace to see him trembling.

"Damnit. Damnit. Damnit. Damnit. Damnit!" He muttered pounding lightly on the clear wall between us, "That's not fair." He hissed, "We were supposed to sail together. You were going to be my first mate. We would've had a crew together! Its... it's not fair..."

'It isn't fair. Not at all. I had wanted to get off this island since I was old enough to walk, and right when I get a perfect opportunity to get away, this happens!? How is that fair!? Why did this happen? Why did the village do this to me? Why do they hate me so much? What did I ever do to them? Do they realize how cruel this is? That I might never see Ace again, that I might never see the person I love ever again, Do they not realize how much I'm suffering by not being able to even hug him... or hold his hand... or kiss him.'

"Damn..."

'Have I really fallen that hard already?' I looked up at Ace, watching as he slammed against the wall multiple times. 'Yeah, I love him. Which I why...'

"Ace y-you have to go..."

Ace stopped slamming against the wall and looked at me in confusion, completely out of breath. "Wh-what?"

I swallowed blinking back tears, "You have to go. You and I both know that. You can't... stay here."

"But-"

"No! What about Luffy? Weren't you going to meet him on the open blue? You can't stay here Ace, and besides... we don't even know how to break this wall down. What if it wasn't meant to come down. You know how the villagers are-"

"Which is why I have to get you out!" He yelled breaking my rant. "What did you tell me they did to you on your 7th birthday?"

I froze, "Ace. You know I don't like talking about that..."

"When you were 8?"

"Ace..."

"9!"

"......"

"10!"

"11!"

"12!"

"Stop."

"13!

"Stop!"

"14!"

"Ace..."

"15!"

"STOP!"

His eyes narrowed, "2 months ago."

I sunk to my knees in defeat, "What do you want me to say Ace? I didn't ask for this to happen! I really wanted to sail with you! But the fact is: I'm trapped in here... and I love you too much to make you stay..."

Ace looked shocked for a second before he smiled, looking amused, "Yeah, 'cause it's the perfect time to be confessing."

I snickered blushing. "What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic."

"Ha!" He laughed, "Yeah, 'cause this situation is totally turning me on."

I gasped, "Ace!"

He grinned, "What? You started it."

I rolled my eyes, smiling at him, "Hey, can I ask you for a favor?"

"I'm your boyfriend now so go ahead." He smirked.

"Well I wanted-... wait, you-"

"Love you too? Yeah."

'Damn it.'

I smiled pushing down the knowledge that I won't be able to even look at him anymore, after today.

"I never.... I mean, I don't remember my name. It's been bugging me since I met you and I still haven't been able to remember anything. I know it's kinda weird but, I was wondering if you could, maybe, give me a name?"

"Jayden!"

"Well, that was quick..." I laughed. "I'm guessing you thought of this before?"

He smiled, "I figured if you didn't remember your name then you'd have to find a new one. You look more like a Jayden to me, Jay for short.

"Jayden," I whispered, liking the way it sounded.

"Jace," Ace smiled.

I blinked, confused, "You just named me Jayden, why are you calling me Jace now? Did you forget my name already? You just gave it to me!"

Ace snorted, "Calm down doofus. I was telling you what our ship name would be."

I tilted my head to the side, "Ship name?"

"Ugh!" Ace groaned looking away from me, blushing, "Don't do that!"

I frowned, "Do what?"

"Don't look at me with your adorable doe eyes and tilt your head adorably!"

I deadpanned, "You need some serious help."

He chuckled.

There was silence for awhile before, "I-I'm going to miss you Ace." My eyes shined with unshed tears, begging to be free.

"Hey, follow my hand movements," Ace ordered, moving his hand in different directions.

I frowned, "Why?"

"Just do it okay, trust me."

I sighed, extending my arm so that it copied him. He moved his up, I moved my hand up. His hand rested on his cheek, my hand rested on my cheek. His thumb moved across his cheek, my thumb wiped my tears away.

"There, just imagine your hand is my hand. Now listen. We're not going to cry, alright? We can do that tomorrow. Heck, we can go on a rage rampage tomorrow and cuss everything out until were blue in the face. But right now... right now we're gonna laugh, we're going to smile, right now is our time. Right now is sacred. Okay?"

I nodded.

"Good," He smiled, "Now, let me tell you the time we lost Luffy while playing hide and go seek."