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Yamato’s eyes remain trained on the street, but you can see him flinch. “I’m not part of Laugh Tale’s army.” he says; and then, after a brief pause: “But if you’re wondering whether I’ve been sent to look over you by your father you’re not wrong.”

“You’re a professional bodyguard?” you ask, not fully knowing why yourself; maybe it’s all so strange and scary and dangerous that you feel the need to talk about something else for a moment, as if small talk could save you from the nightmares you’re already sure are going to populate your nights for years to come.

“Not exactly. I was born in Wano Country, and left home when I was a kid, but then a man, a great man, adopted me, and taught me to fight; he taught me all I know actually.” Yamato explains, affections filling his voice “His name was Kouzuki Oden, an old friend of Ace’s father; he died three years ago, and a while later the King called me, asking my help to protect his heir. He told me Ace wanted to attend university here, alone, so he had me come, become his flatmate so that I could make sure he was safe.”

Ace grunts, but he remains silent; a glance is enough to make you realise the revelation that the person he was closest to in the city together with you, who he considered his best friend, has lied to him since day one and perhaps considered him just a job, a protectee rather than a friend, is enormously painful for him, enough to make him bow his head and cover his eyes with a hand as poor Ace is forced to re-evaluate the last year and a half of his life, the only illusory freedom and independence he thought he was enjoying away from his homeland, and the realization of his father’s betrayal. 

Despite your own anger and heartbreak, your first impulse is to comfort him, to take him in your arms and tell him that he’s going to be alright, and to cry if he wants to, it’ll make him feel better and you’re not going to think any less of him for it, when suddenly you recognise the buildings the car is racing past -a bodega you sometimes stop at to buy dinner when you return home late, a small park you like to go to sit and read and feed the ducks, the stop you take the bus at- and a cry escapes your lips: “Stop!”

Yamato actually complies, slamming the brakes hard enough for your body to be catapulted across the cabin and into the windshield, if not for Ace’s arm quickly reaching out to keep you in place.

“What is it?! (name)?”

“I need to go take my clarinet.” 

“What?”

“It’s at my place, here around the corner.” you explain, already well aware of the absurdity of your request and still unable to stop “Please, let me go take it; I’ll be quick, I promise.”

Yamato, obviously, refuses. Firmly, but much more kindly than you would be able to be in his position, he tells you that while he knows of your attachment to your clarinet, and that having it with you would make you feel better after what happened tonight, a powerful terrorist organization is hot on your tails, and he must bring you to safety as soon as possible, and then report to the King to ask for further instructions. Any stop would be both a waste of time and an unnecessary danger, since your enemies -you have enemies now, you reflect, people who want to hurt you, kidnap you in the hope they can then exchange you with Ace or even kill you to destabilize him; you have enemies now, and you don’t like it very much- know where you live and could have sent someone to wait for your return. Stopping to pick the clarinet would put you all in danger, and he can’t in good conscience let you go retrieve it. 

“I promise I’ll send someone to take it soon, and we’ll find a way to return it to you.” he adds kindly, but you shake your head. You’re being unreasonable and you know it, and you stubbornness could mean your death as well as Yamato’s and Ace’s, but with everything you have gone through tonight, the attack and the fight with your boyfriend and the realisation that now your life is in danger as well, you feel the need to have something to cling to, like you used to do as a child with your teddy bear whenever you woke up from a nightmare, something to reassure, or at least delude, you that your life is not completely over and you still have something to go back to.

“I can go in alone, you guys remain in the car; if something happens you can drive away and leave me there, I’m fine with it.” you counter-offer, to which Yamato vehemently opposes, saying that while his duty is to protect Ace, he can’t in good conscience abandon you. 

“Please, (name), be reasonable. I know you’ve gone through a lot tonight, but…”

“We’ll go.” Ace says.

“Excuse me?”

“We’ll stop at (name)’s apartment to retrieve her clarinet and then go.” your boyfriend elaborates. He’s not looking at you as he speaks, and there’s something in his tone that you have never heard before and that it takes you a moment to recognise: solemn, firm, even slightly haughty. It’s his prince tone, the one you can almost see him use in Laugh Tale, ordering around his father’s employees; you don’t like it, at all, but you know he’s using it to support you and earn your forgiveness, which you can’t help appreciating “You heard her, she’ll be quick.”

“Absolutely no, Ace.”

“Yamato, either you drive there or I’ll get out this moment and I start screaming I’m prince Ace, please come and kidnap me.”

He’s completely, deadly serious, and you feel almost guilty for Yamato who, after a brief but intense battle of wills through the car’s rear-view mirror, sighs, mumbles that he signed up to be a bodyguard, not a baby-sitter, and steers the car towards your apartment.

The complex is silent, wrapped in a shroud of darkness which is perfectly normal given the hour, but that elicits a shiver down your spine, as it did when you were little and you were scared of the patch of unknown under your bed. You swallow, heart pounding, and try to brace yourself with the thought that you’ll surely feel better once you have your clarinet back. You wait for Yamato to pull the car near the sidewalk, take a deep breath and “Alright, I’ll be quick.” you say, and open the door.

Ace does the same.

“You stay here!”

“You heard the lady, we’ll be quick.”

“Ace, I’m not joking, you close that door or I swear I’ll punch you in the face!” Yamato seethes, enraged, but it’s already too late, because your boyfriend has slammed the door behind him; he walks around the car to reach you and then joins you in front of the steps leading to the complex door.

Neither of the two speaks, but Ace follows you inside, and then along the fortunately short and completely empty hallway leading to your apartment on the ground floor. Your hand trembles slightly as you retrieve the key from your bag and it takes you four attempts before you can finally insert it in the lock, but a minute later you and your boyfriend are together in your room, the clarinet safe and sound in your hands. 

“Thank you.” you murmur as you slip it inside its case, which will protect your beloved instrument from bumps and falls - a necessary precaution, since this night is proving to be much more hectic than you had imagined “For forcing Yamato to stop here; I’m sorry if I’m wasting your time.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it.” he says; and then, after a brief pause: “I’m the one who should apologise.”

“You really should. For what you never said, and what you did as well.”

“I know, I…” Ace sighs as he runs a hand through his hair, a tell-tale sign of his frustration “I shouldn’t have told you that horrible thing; I know you’re not that sort of person, it’s just… well, I was reeling, everything happening in the span of a minute. I’m not saying I never had people caring about me beyond the fact I was a prince, but… well, you can imagine it wasn’t always easy for me to trust people, and knowing you had always known and never said anything… well, it was destabilizing.”

“Would you have preferred I told you as soon as I realised?” you ask, genuinely curious, and Ace admits that in fact he would have, even though he knows he doesn’t have a right to complain since he kept his entire life secret from you.

“Believe me, it’s not like I didn’t trust you, and it’s not even because I’m ashamed of my home; quite the opposite in fact. It’s just that I came here to be myself; not a prince, not a future King, not a person who has been treated differently since the day he was born… I wanted to be Ace. Just Ace. A guy who likes photography, who works to pay bills, goes to school… and feels happy a beautiful girl has asked him out.”

Silence falls between you. Out on the street Yamato is probably aging a decade for every minute you linger, but you do nonetheless, because this very moment could decide the future of your relationship, and that is more terrifying than any killer hot on your tails.

“He was the one I wanted, you know. Just Ace.” you murmur, your voice barely rising above a whisper, eyes downcast on the hand that has found Ace’s, squeezing it gently “I liked you, I thought you were handsome and funny and kind, and I wanted to know you better and spend time with you; that’s all I cared for, since day one and more and more as we got to know each other. No matter how much I enjoyed visiting your country and was… curious, I think, about what it means to live a life like yours, you being a prince was not one of the reasons why I decided to ask you out. If anything, knowing your identity could have deterred me from doing it, if at the time I had stopped and thought about it for a little longer.”

“Well, as far as I’m concerned I’m pretty happy you decided to go on with it.”

“Of course you do; I’m the one who couldn’t stop wondering whether her boyfriend was going to break up with her because he had a throne to sit on, halfway across the world.”

“Do you really think I would do that?” Ace asks, visibly wounded “(name), you know what I feel about you, and what sort of person I am. Do you really think I would go out with you for six months when I already planned on going back home as soon as I got my degree?”

You don’t think so, not if you make an effort to think clearly without letting anger and fear cloud your judgement, but that, unfortunately, is not enough to reassure you. “Maybe you didn’t mean to.” you point out softly “Maybe you didn’t expect to be asked out, said yes on impulse, and then you felt too happy to break things off, even though you should have. Unfortunately we aren’t always able to live our lives the way we’d wish to, and some choices are made for us, whether we are princes or commoners.”

“Fuck, (name)...”

You have already spent several minutes longer in the apartment than you promised Yamato you would, so you and your boyfriend decide to postpone the conversation until you’ll be back in the car. “Is there anything else you want to take, since we’re here?” Ace asks, and you shake your head, clutching your clarinet’s case as a warrior would do with his sword when surrounded by an army of enemies. You leave the room quietly, walk past the doors of your flatmates’ rooms, both fast asleep, and walk back to the complex’s entrance. 

You can already see Yamato’s car through the glass door, but before you can pick up the pace to reach it Ace’s hand takes yours to pull you back. “By the way, I know you have plans for your future and everything, and of course I’ll support whatever you decide to do, but…”

“Yes?”

Ace's grin peeks through the darkness of the hallway, as beautiful and tender as it was the first time you saw it. “Princes have relationships too, you know; they can even get married if they want to.”

You have no time to ponder over the meaning of those completely unexpected words, because Ace is now pulling you towards the street. You came in, took the clarinet and left without encountering danger, and no one saw you; your little mission was successful, or at least this is what you think…

… until the bullets start flying the very moment you and your boyfriend step outside. 

Yamato leaves the car, and you can distinctly read a curse word on his lips before he raises the gun he’s holding with both hands and returns the fire. “Stay there, you two!” he orders, but you can see no less than four men emerge from the surrounding alleys, and Ace has stepped closer to the car to help his friend, firing the gun he has taken from the intruder.

You, completely unharmed, can only run, your head bent low, until you’re safe inside the cabin; a scream erupts from your lips when you feel the bullets hit the car’s sides and the window next to you. What happens if they -once again, whoever they are; you were so busy discussing your and Ace’s relationship to decide who was to blame that you didn’t think of asking your boyfriend who wanted him dead, and why- slash the tires, which would make the car unusable and prevent you from running? Are you going to be killed? Or kidnapped, to be then subjected to forms of torture your naive mind can barely imagine…

And then a sound more terrifying than any other reaches your ears: a cry of pain. 

“Ace!” you scream, and a moment later your boyfriend has crawled onto the back seat next to you, crimson drops falling from the torn sleeve of his shirt and onto the faux leather of the car seat “You're wounded!”

He grunts, pain filling his eyes as he grabs his arm to staunch the bleeding. “I'm out of bullets.” he informs you as he discards the gun on the car’s floor. The same, it appears, can be said for Yamato, since the shooting coming from your part has ceased, which means, you realise with dread, that you have no way of stopping them from approaching, get you all out of the car, and execute you instantly “We need to go!”

The front door slams; the engine starts with a roar; the tires grind on the asphalt; the car, riddled with bullets, shoots away, chased by the screams and the shooting of the men from whom you have escaped for the second time tonight.

No one speaks for a while, until you have left the city limits behind you and the car is speeding towards the highway, the streets empty save for the occasional night traveler; you have, almost without realising, carried the bag with the take-out dinner Ace has brought from the restaurant with you, but hunger has abandoned both of you. 

Your pursuers seem to have lost you, at least for the time being, but you feel physically unable to relax, as if danger could spring out as soon as you lower your guard. The silence inside the cabin is so thick you can almost feel it weigh on your shoulders; your clarinet is safe and sound in your bag, but because of your stubborn request to go take it, Yamato and Ace have risked their life.

“Ace is wounded.” you inform him, and Yamato grunts, his hands clutching the wheel, his eyes that once again observe you through the rear-view mirror. 

“Is it bad? The truth, don’t play it cool with me.”

You and your boyfriend examine the wound together, and you’re relieved to see it’s superficial enough, the bullet having only grazed him, even though it does need to be seen to. Yamato tells you to take the first aid kit hidden among the empty beer cans under the passenger seat. “Take care of it, (name). You know how to, right?”

You point out that as a vet student human patients are something you haven’t been taught to take care of, but you’ll do your best. “At least I won’t have to shave you the way I would with a dog.” you tell Ace as you open the kit to get to work, and your boyfriend laughs softly, still in pain, silently looking on as you clean and bandage his wound. 

You start to relax once the car reaches the highway. “Where are we going?” Ace asks, speaking for the first time; and then, clearly reticent: “You need to tell my father about this?”

Yamato does, and it’s a duty he does not relish. “Anything you want me to tell him?” he asks as he retrieves a phone you’ve never seen him use from his bag. You see your boyfriend tense, his expression suddenly somber as if this, having to decide what to tell his father, were the hardest moment of the night, more than the aggression in his apartment or getting involved in a shooting outside yours. 

“Just tell him I’m fine, there’s no need to mention I got hurt since it’s just a scratch.” he decides in the end, and Yamato promises he will pass the information. 

To the surprise of you both, a hidden button raises a partition between the front and back seats, something you thought only limousines had, even though in this case it’s probably more of a security matter than one of privacy. “Sorry guys, it’s a work call.” Yamato says, turning to smile at both of you before the opaque glass barrier separates you “I’ll see you later.”

Ace sighs, leaning forward to take his head in his hands. “Fuck, this is a nightmare…”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I guess; I mean, I’m safe, which means I shouldn’t really complain, but… I don’t know, it’s all happening at once and I don’t know what to think. I’m just sorry you got caught up in this mess, (name).” he adds, turning to look at you; he takes your hand and pulls it to him and kiss the back, a gesture that brings a smile to your lips, despite everything “We’re going to fix that; I don’t know how, but I promise it’s going to be alright.”

You appreciate his conviction, and you know nothing of what has happened -or rather is happening; you are far from having left the danger behind you and you’re painfully aware of it- is his fault, but you can’t help fearing that your life after tonight will change forever, and you’ll never get to return to what you had. Your classes, your job, the music competition you planned on entering next month even though you knew you had zero chances of winning… all of it dissolved into nothingness, as you’re whisked away to who knows where to protect you from whoever is trying to kill, kidnap or torture you to hurt your boyfriend.

You’re in trouble - no, you are completely and deeply fucked, and you want to cry, scream and punch someone or something, but you don’t, well aware that throwing a tantrum would not help; you order yourself to remain calm. 

“Can you tell me who that man was?” you ask Ace after a while, thinking that powerless as you are, it can’t hurt to at least know more about the attack you suffered and the reasons behind it “Who would want to hurt you?”

“The World Government.”

“The what?”

You are explained that the entity behind the attack to your boyfriend’s life is a secret organization that has been active in Laugh Tale and the neighbouring countries for a few decades, and that aims to impose their will over the rulers, both monarchs and elected officials, of the entire world to unify every person in a single global state. 

“But that’s absurd! A single government for the entire world? How would that work?”

“Believe me, I don’t know. Those of the WG are fanatics, but they are powerful, and ruthless, and have already carried out attacks to several countries in Laugh Tale’s region. Two years ago my father was one of the proponents, together with the President of Sphinx, of an international pact that allowed several countries to join forces and oppose the WG; and they, in turn, have sworn to make him pay.”

Which is why, even a person like you who knows nothing about international politics can easily understand, the organization targeted Ace, in order to both exact revenge on the King and destabilise his country, since your boyfriend is the only heir to Laugh Tale’s throne and his father is a widower. Ace adds that the man who was sent to kill him is actually one of the WG’s most dangerous members, an individual who is only known by the codename Akainu and has already several victims to his -so to speak- credit.

“Well, you have escaped him; that’s all it matters.” you say, putting the backpack aside and scooting closer on the car seat to wrap your arm around your boyfriend’s shoulders “As you said, it’s going to be alright.”

He doesn’t answer, his shoulders hunched as if an enormous, insurmountable weight were crushing him; to see an usually energetic, sunny person like Ace give in to despair breaks your heart, and despite your own distress you wish you could comfort him, give him the strength he needs to live through this night. Then a thought strikes you, crystal-clear and self-evident to the point you’re almost embarrassed it took you more than a minute to realise, and you feel like crying.

“You’ll have to move away, right? Leave the university, leave the city, since the WG knows where you live and it wouldn’t be safe for you to go back.”

Silence again, but Ace turns to wrap his arms around you, and he holds you, tight and desperate, as if to commit your scent and the weight of your body to memory until you’re forced to part forever. A kiss is pressed to your temple, and “These last six months have been the best of my life.” he murmurs “I loved living on my own, studying and having a life… but I’ve never felt happier than since I met you. I know a relationship between us would have been… complicated, for many reasons, but you were never just fun and sex, (name). I want to be with you.”

“And I want to be with you, Ace; but I don’t think I can, not if it means putting you in danger.”

You remain locked in an embrace for a while, just holding each other, and for a moment you feel the impulse to ask Ace whether there are universities in Laugh Tale that have a faculty of veterinary medicine, but then you realise how crazy it sounds. Leaving your life behind to move across the world to follow a man you have known for six months; would you really be able to do it, no matter how deep and intense your feelings for Ace are, especially knowing that you’d be in danger every time you meet? 

Hearing your boyfriend mention marriage made you indescribably happy, but you can’t and mustn’t forget that you have dreams and plans for your future, plans that would be much harder, if not impossible, to realise if you were with Ace, since it would be difficult for a prince’s wife -a princess- to run her own veterinary clinic, or to join an orchestra to play with as a hobby. You would have to sacrifice your own happiness to be with him, and you’re not sure you could do it, no matter how much you’ve grown to care for Ace, especially only six months into a relationship. 

It might be unromantic, and it does make you feel like a hypocrite, since you knew he was a prince when you decided to ask him out, but it’s true. Ace is very important for you, probably even more than you’ve allowed yourself to realise as your relationship developed and you couldn’t help facing the future difficulties it would encounter, but you’re not ready to abandon everything you are, everything you’ve ever wanted, to follow him into the unknown. 

Not yet, at least. 

“You think your father will be worried about you?” you ask after a while; the car is now speeding through the night, southward, and while you have no idea where you’re headed since the partition has blocked both the sight of Yamato and the sound of his voice, the road is clear, which suggests your pursuers have lost you. 

“I’m sure he will. He…” Ace rubs the back of his head, suddenly ill at ease “He’s a good person, all things considered; he’s a good King, cares deeply about his people, and he’s a surprisingly easy-going man, you know, the sort of guy who buys you a beer at the pub and prefers having barbecues in the backyard rather than a formal five-hour banquet with other head of states and celebrities.”

“He seems like a wonderful man.”

“He is. He loves me very much, and I do too, but for some reason… I don’t know, sometimes a man casts a shadow so large his child can’t help resenting him because they can’t see the sun. Our relationship has always been difficult, especially since my mom died.” Ace explains. He closes his eyes for a moment, as if the mere mention of that terrible loss had brought the pain back in full force “She had been the glue keeping the family together, and with her gone… it’s like the two of us didn’t know how to go on. When I told him I wanted to go study abroad, live on my own and learn to take care of myself, my father let me go… or at least I thought I had, even though he had sicced a baby-sitter on me.”

“Yamato saved your life tonight, Ace, as well as mine.” you remind him, and your boyfriend nods, admitting that he has no right to protest, even though he can’t help feeling the revelation like a betrayal from the person he had until now considered his best friend. 

He sighs as he rests his back against the seat. “This is all a fucking nightmare.” he mumbles “This night must be the worst of my life.”

“All of it?”

“Well, no, you’re right; and I’d happily get shot again if… you know…”

He grins, with that boyish smile of his that has the same effect on you that he had six months ago, and you smile back before turning to look outside the window, just in time to catch a glimpse of a location marker illuminated by a solitary streetlight, carrying the name of a place you’ve never been before, a part of the country you barely know basic information about. You’re far from everything you’ve ever known, your family and school and home, and you don’t even know when you’ll be able to go back. Tomorrow you’ll have to call your parents, like they expect you to do like every Sunday, but what will you say when they ask you how you are and what you are busy with? What will you tell them if they ask about this young man you have mentioned a couple times already, and are you going to bring him home for the holidays, (name), we’d really like to meet him…?

“You’re destined to become a King.”

The words slip from your lips, unbidden, but you can’t bring yourself to mind, even though you just need to turn again to see your boyfriend squirm. 

“I am. At least, that is what people expect of me; what I want no one ever bothered to ask.” 

“Ace…”

“Life is not a fairytale, you know? I know Laugh Tale is a beautiful place, it’s my home, and the throne is my destiny since I am the only heir; I’ve always done my duty, ever since I was a kid, and my father has never pressured me, but… I don’t want it. I want to be free, live my life, work to support myself, without any special treatment or a wealthy family to pay my bills. That’s why I came to this country to study.”

“Because you wanted to be like everybody else?”

“That too; but mostly because I don’t plan on going back.”

Silence again, because there are many things you’d like to tell Ace, but you know it’s not your place to, especially not at a moment like this, not when he needs to be supported rather than challenged. Because of this, as well as your own need for comfort, you take his hand, and he turns to look at you, too upset and tense to even pretend to smile, but then Ace kisses you, gently at first and then more deeply, enough to tear a moan from your lips that his swallow avidly, and all you have lived through on this night that seems to be neverending -your newfound intimacy, the attack, your escape, the shooting, the revelation of Ace’s identity- is a pressure mounting inside each of you and that transforms that simple kiss in a supernova ready to explode.

Ace’s arm slips around your waist, pulling you on his lap. A new kiss follows a breathless moan of his name, your hands finding purchase on his shoulders as you move to sit on him, your thighs spread at the sides of his; your mouths meet again, and again, all the guilt and frustration and anxiety coalescing in something hard and scorching and desperate burning inside your bellies. Ace has never been more handsome than he is now, his hands firmly holding you by the hips, his pupils dilated with lust, his black hair more unkempt than ever, a hickey you have bitten onto the side of his neck earlier tonight. Ace has never been more handsome than he is now that you’re about to lose him, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it, and all you have left is feeling him, as much and as long as you can.

Your position and the limited space inside the cabin prevents you from easily taking your shirt off, but Ace quickly, and happily, comes to your rescue, lifting the fabric to expose your bra, which is nimbly unclasped. “You learn quickly.” you comment with a smile, since only a couple hours ago Ace fumbled with that same clasp until you took pity on him and helped him; your boyfriend grins wolfishly, and a moment later his fingers and then his mouth have found your breasts, and your ability to speak in complete sentences is lost forever.

Ace sucks on your breasts as if his life depended on it, his eyes fixed on yours daring you to look away, his tongue playing with your painfully hardened nipples. Something clenches inside you, and you roll your hips, desperate for the friction you have already grown addicted to after a single, intense coupling, and Ace smiles. “It’s alright, baby.” he murmurs “I promise you’re going to enjoy this.”

You spend a couple of hectic minutes kissing furiously and touching each other, your hands and mouth savouring and worshipping every part of your boyfriend they can reach -his untamable hair, his freckles, his smile- but the tent pressing against your core proves that he’s anxious to find relief between your thighs as much as you are. Your joint efforts manage to unbutton and then slip off his pants, and then Ace’s beautiful, perfect cock is in front of you, proud and hard, just a little longer than average but pleasantly thick. He starts pumping himself and you watch, mesmerized, liquid fire pooling between your legs as you follow the up-and-down movement of his hand, a drop of pre-cum already falling from the tip.

You lick your lips, and “I want to take you in my mouth.” you confess, well aware you may have the space but certainly not the time for that, and Ace grunts, breathless, his body trembling under you.

“You will; fuck, (name), I promise you will.” he grunts. His hands fumble with the fabric of your skirt to find your panties, and looking him in the eyes you just know he’s considering the possibility of tearing them; then, probably remembering your situation, that you have literally no clothes save the ones you wear and that you can’t go around wearing a skirt and no panties for who knows how long, he relents, and simply moves them away to expose your core. His fingerpad presses lightly against it and

“Aace…!”

“You’re still warm since then.” he marvels, and all you can do is nod. You had no time to wash and clean yourself between your first round of lovemaking -two rounds, considering he also generously made you come on his fingers- and the desperate dash from the apartment, and normally you would find this state of things unpleasantly unhygienic, but not right now you don’t, because why wash a glass if you’re going to drink from it again ten minutes later?

“And whose fault is this?” you provoke him, your voice trembling slightly “I don’t think I’ve ever been this wet in my life!”

“Fuck, (name)...”

Fuck (name) is exactly what he should do, and you waste no more time before taking Ace’s erection in your hand and guiding it between your folds, your body easily welcoming it in. A sudden, sharp side movement of the car interrupts you, and your and Ace’s gazes meet in alarm and horror -oh shit not now please what if the WG finds us like this- but a moment later the car has returned to its previous speed, uninterruptedly moving forward.

“Maybe there was an obstacle on the road.”

“Yeah, maybe…”

The next minute, that you tacitly decide to wait to make sure you’re safe, is the longest of both of your lives, the tip of Ace’s cock touching but not entering you, and then your boyfriend’s hands rest on your waist once more, ready to push himself in, and he smiles. 

“Take my cock, beautiful (name).”

You obey, arching your hips to meet him halfway, and two vigorous pushes later you’re locked up to the hilt, Ace’s scream suffocated in the space between your breasts, your hands clawing at his back. You distinctly hear the sound of the partition lowering behind you -“What the fuck, you guys?!”- and then rising again, but you don’t really focus on it, feel embarrassment even less, because the rest of the world has disappeared, together with the pain and the guilt and the fear you have been thrown into tonight. All that matters is Ace, your Ace at least for a little longer, and the symphony of moans you are coaxing out of his throat as you ride him as if this were the last day of your life.

“So tight -hnnn- so damn tight…!” Ace moans as he rests his forehead against yours; he wraps his arms around your waist, loose enough to let you bounce up and down on his lap, his brown eyes hypnotized by the rhythmic sway of your breasts “Fuck, (name), yes… like this, baby, don’t stop, you take it so well, don’t you ever stop…!”

You don’t want to stop, not when you’re well aware this might be the last moment of intimacy and joy you and Ace have to share, but the decision is made for you when Ace’s movements start becoming erratic, every thrust of his hips more desperate and urgent than the last, as if he had reached his limit, as if his body were already struggling to keep itself in check. He’s going to come soon, you see it in the panic rising in his eyes -the panic of a man who considers it a duty to make sure his partner is satisfied before he lets himself go- and a moment later his hands grab you by the waist and pull

Oh fuck oh shit oh my yesyesyesyes

the movement forceful and even brutal, a claim that has your body slam into Ace’s, his cock still hard and slick inside you finding a tiny and delicious spot that makes time stop and the pressure mounting inside you reach its climax. Your body has a spasm, violent enough to make your boyfriend groan into your mouth; a moment later he’s spilling inside you, and you’re falling together, clutching to each other as you pant against him and Ace utters a moan that sounds like your name. 

*****

By the time the car finally stops, twenty minutes later, you and Ace have had the time to clean yourselves with the tissues you had in your bag and fix your clothes, but the air is still thick with sweat and the unmistakable scent of sex, so much that when he opens the door to let you out, Yamato groans. 

“I’ll send you guys the bill for the washing, you know.” he says, but the joke falls flat as both you and Ace notice the anxiety on his face, that your boyfriend’s bodyguard is no longer bothering, or able, to keep hidden. “You can get out, we’re safe.”

You both do, the darkness all around so intense it takes you a while to get your bearings: you’re in the middle of the countryside, surrounded by fields and spontaneous vegetation, the only sign of civilization a small plane parked a brief distance from you. A man is standing next to the wheels as if ready to take flight, while two others, with rifles slung around their shoulders, stand by, ready to intervene in case of need. 

“Captain Deuce is here to take you to Wano, Ace. You’ll be safe there.” Yamato says, and your boyfriend, who mentioned along the way his father would probably have him return to Laugh Tale to keep him close after the recent attack, frowns.

“Why Wano? And what about (name)? She needs to come with me.”

“It’s too long to explain; and don’t worry, (name) will be alright, we’ll make sure of it. I’m sorry, we need to move as soon as possible. Say good-bye, I promise you’ll see each other soon.”

Ace’s frown deepens; you feel him tense through the arm he has wrapped around your shoulders. “What is wrong?”

“I’ll tell you soon. Please, Ace, we don’t have much time…”

Your boyfriend makes it clear that he’s going nowhere before he’s told exactly what’s wrong - specifically, what Yamato found out during the car ride, since he looks a decade older than when you got in, and he must have had the longest phone conversation in history.

Yamato sighs; he has shared an apartment with Ace long enough to know that he can be extremely stubborn when he wants to, especially when something he deems important is at stake. Your friend gestures in the direction of the armed men, who silently take a few steps back to give you some privacy. You move to do the same, suddenly realising that dating the prince for six months and having sex with him twice doesn’t give you the right to be let in on the royal family’s affairs, but Ace’s arm keeps you still, an unimpressed gaze silently asking where the hell you think you’re going.

Soon after the three of you are huddled together. “Ace, I’m sorry, it’s… it’s about your father.” Yamato begins; he has the face of a man who would gladly bite his arm off rather than delivering this particular piece of news “He… he’s been kidnapped.” 

The abduction, you are informed, took place only two hours ago, almost simultaneously with the attempt on Ace’s life, no doubt so that the people close to one member of the royal family couldn’t alert the others and raise the alarm. The King was on his way back from a work trip, travelling in a less populated area of the country, when a small army of vehicles and men surrounded his car, forced him to get out, and threatened to kill him if he didn’t comply with their orders. King Roger defended himself, shooting two of the WG agents with the gun he always kept on his person and wounding three more with his bare hands, but then, when the terrorists threatened to massacre all the people he was travelling with, bodyguards and assistants and a couple of local officials he had offered a lift to the city, he finally acquiesced and let himself be led away. 

“They probably want to use him as a bargaining chip in exchange for some favour, which means it’s in their interest to keep him alive.” you reason, but your hope to reassure Ace, who has gone white in the face, fails miserably when Yamato points out softly that the WG must know the King will never hand the kingdom over to them, not to mention that he legally can’t. Given the fact that the enemies have launched an attack on both Roger and Ace at the same time, their intention must be to wipe out Laugh Tale’s royal family to plunge the country into chaos and, given the lack of a legitimate ruler, seize power with a coup.

To imagine the country whose beauty and culture you have learnt to love during your holiday and always thought back fondly to ever since is about to fall prey to an armed attack that will no doubt see its people suffer and be imprisoned and killed, breaks your heart. Ace, on his part, nods brusquely, his face expressing neither pain, or guilt, or fear -even though, he’ll later confess you, he’s experiencing all three of them at the same time, intensely enough he’s not sure what exactly is keeping him upright- most would expect in a moment like this, only grim, cold determination. 

“I need to go back. To go home.”

“But you can’t; you mustn’t. That’s what the WG wants.” Yamato points out grimly; he looks exhausted, and you know Ace will never question his loyalty after tonight, and his friendship even less “You’ve escaped capture twice already, you might not be as lucky next time. You need to go to Wano; Rayleigh is taking care of things, you know he’ll move heaven and earth to get your father back safely.”

Ace says that while he has all confidence in Laugh Tale’s Prime Minister, who is also his father’s best and oldest friend, he’s the prince and he has a duty to be there for his country, and for the people who will surely feel reassured the royal family has not been vanquished. “And if something happens, if he doesn’t… if he doesn’t come back, I’ll need to be there. I'm not going to hide and wait for someone else to fix this mess. I’m of age, I want to know what is being done to save my father, and I can become King in his stead if he dies; and I’ll make sure the WG rue the day they decided to hurt my people.”

You look at the young man by your side and who seems to have suddenly taken the place of your boyfriend; this man looks ruthless, willing to do whatever it takes to defend his people, and to sacrifice his safety, his freedom, his happiness, even his own life, to do the right thing. 

He looks like a prince, a future King, and while his arm is still clutching you, the warmth of his body -Ace always runs hot, as if he were perpetually feverish- seeping into yours through your clothes, suddenly you feel him distant, and the six months you have spent together nothing more than a dream. You feel stupid, and unjustifiably naive, for having hoped that a future, even just one in a million, actually existed for the two of you…

“Ace, I understand what you feel, but… for the sake of your kingdom, you need to hide. This is what your father would want.”

“I'm not sure, actually; but we’ll ask him when we bring him back. I'm going to Laugh Tale, Yamato; the subject is closed.”

Ace turns to speak to the pilot. “Deuce, right? Can you fly me to Laugh Tale?”

“I can, your highness; we have more than enough fuel.” the man, who doesn't look much older than the two of you, answers.

“Wonderful; and you can call me Ace, I don't feel much of a highness at the moment.” your boyfriend considers; then he turns to look at you, and dread settles over you, because that is the face of a man who is about to say goodbye forever, whether he wants it or not. 

“I need to go.” he tells you gently as Ace’s hands find yours to raise them to his lips for a kiss on your knuckles “My country, and my people, need me. You'll be safe; and I promise I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

You look at him, heart pounding in your chest as you can already feel him slip from your grasp, when something unexpected, even magical, happens. Among the fear and heartbreak, you feel the same determination you see reflected in Ace's eyes fill your heart, and words you are sure of like nothing you've ever said before slip from your mouth. 

“I'm coming with you.”

“(name)...”

“I know this doesn't concern me, and I don't want to cause trouble or get in the way. But Laugh Tale is a place I have learnt to love, and… and I want to help you, Ace. I don't think you should be alone right now, and I don't want to hide in a safe house across the world wondering whether you're still alive or have been kidnapped. Please, let me come with you. I don't expect anyone to protect me, and I'll find a way to make myself useful. I know it's going to be dangerous, but… it's being away from you that scares me the most.”

You look at him, pleading and at the same time ready to march to the plane and climb aboard whether Ace likes it or not. You're leaving everything you know and care for behind to leap into the unknown, but it's perfectly clear to your eyes that your life -your classes, your job, your plans for the future- is lost, at least for the time being, since the WG is still pursuing you, and until things hopefully settle down, you want to remain by Ace’s side, supporting him in this difficult time like you know he would do for you. 

This has nothing to do with your future, and with your recent fears regarding the impossibility to balance a relationship with Ace and the life you want for yourself; your boyfriend needs you now, and you'll let no one, no matter how dangerous or powerful, stop you from being by his side. 

No one speaks for a full minute. Deuce and the armed guards witness the scene in respectful silence; Yamato sniffles and murmurs something about dirt having gotten in his eye. Ace's handsome face expresses both joy and desperation; the kiss he deposes on your forehead feels like a breath of fresh air. 

“I'll find a way; I promise.” he says. You slip a hand in his, and together you walk towards the plane, which is smaller than any aircraft you've ever taken before. 

“Are you sure this thing can fly us to Laugh Tale?” Ace asks, voicing your own skepticism as Deuce opens the door for you “No offense.”

“None taken. Don't worry, the Piece of Spadille will take you home safe and sound.” 

“Alright then…”

The plane’s cabin is slightly smaller than your bedroom, with only six seats for the passengers. You and Ace sit with your bags next to you and fasten your seatbelts. “Once we get there I’ll find some clean clothes for both of us.” Ace says, in a brave attempt to levity; he smiles at you “Your second trip to Laugh Tale is going to be much less relaxing than the first, I’m very sorry.”

You tell him that you’re well aware, and you don’t mind, because all you want is to help him. You have time to share a new kiss, short and sweet, before Yamato walks up to you. You’d expect him to be disgruntled and upset about your boyfriend’s stubbornness and your intrusion, but your friend simply smiles at both of you with something akin to approval. “You still have the gun?”

“I do, but it’s empty.” Ace explains, having kept the weapon he took from Akainu tucked into his belt ever since he shot the last bullet outside your apartment; he had it there, pressing against the seat, even as the two of you had sex in the car. Yamato gives your boyfriend a fresh magazine, which he expertly fits. This time there is no discussion about using the gun only in case of extreme need; you’re way past that.

“You guys should try to sleep for a while; it will take several hours to reach Laugh Tale.” Yamato points out before patting Ace on the shoulder and leaving to go sit next to the pilot. You retrieve a blanket from under the seats in front of you to lay it across your lap, but even though you haven’t slept a wink tonight neither you nor your boyfriend are sleepy in the least. 

“We’re gonna take off in ten minutes, I hope you guys don’t get airsick.” Deuce points out, headset in place, his fingers dancing on the complex instrument panel, flipping a switch, lifting a lever.

Your clarinet is still safe and sound in your bag; you retrieve it from its case, for no other reason that it does comfort you to hold it, and reflect that it’s a pity that you didn’t grab any music sheet from your bedroom when you had the chance, but you know several pieces by heart, enough to keep you entertained for a while. 

“Why don’t you play something?”

“Are you sure? Now?” you ask, and Ace points out that you have nothing to do for the next eight hours, and while the pilot will probably need peace and quiet to fly you safely, there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of music until take-off. 

“Alright then. What would you like to hear?” 

“Well, you know what my favourite piece is…”

Of all the places you have ever played or expected to play in a plane wasn’t even on the list, but this is clearly a night of new experiences for you. The soft notes of Petrichor Sonata fill the cabin, your fingers moving confidently up and down the instrument body; you have closed your eyes, the music as usual transporting you to a place where nothing bad can happen, and where you’re safe - a place you doubt you’ll have much time to take refuge in over the next few days.

You play until the roar of the engines swallows your music; Ace’s hand slips into yours. “It’s going to be alright.” he says, with the expression of a man determined to shed his own blood to keep his promise if he needs to, and you smile at him, intertwining your fingers.

“I know it will; we’ll make sure of that together.”