As the only woman among the crew, you'd gotten used to the attention — the teasing, the overprotectiveness, the constant buzz whenever you walked into a room. But there was one man who always seemed to watch over you a little closer. Ace.

Portgas D. Ace wasn’t just the Second Division Commander. He was a force. Fire Fist. A name that could silence rooms. But around you? He was something else entirely.

You’d just gotten back from a chaotic little misadventure with Luffy and a few others — nothing too serious, just a harmless break of curfew and a few loud laughs echoing across the harbor.

You didn’t even hear Ace approach.

A warm hand clamped down on your shoulder.

“You’re past curfew,” he muttered, voice low and tight. Before you could explain, he grabbed your hand — gently, but firmly — and started walking, pulling you behind him with long, purposeful strides.

You blinked in surprise. “Ace, wait—”

“Tch. Why the hell are you hanging out with Luffy and the others past curfew?” he snapped, his voice louder now, heated in more ways than one. “Whitebeard will kill me if he finds out you were out there with them! I’m responsible for you!”

He stopped outside his quarters and turned to face you, still holding your wrist. His dark eyes searched yours, frustration written all over his face… but underneath that?

Worry.

Real, raw worry.

“You can’t just—” He broke off, biting his lip, visibly trying to steady himself. “Stop making my life harder than it already is.”

You noticed it then — the faintest tinge of red blooming at the tips of his ears, the way his grip trembled just slightly against your skin.

“Ace… are you blushing?”

His eyes widened, and for a split second, Fire Fist Ace — pirate captain, sworn son of Whitebeard, bearer of one of the world’s most dangerous Devil Fruits — looked like a boy caught red-handed.

He let go of your hand quickly, turning his face away. “No, I’m not. Shut up.”

But you could hear it in the slight crack of his voice. Feel it in the way he lingered a bit too long beside you. This man, feared across the seas, was fighting a battle not with Marines or pirates — but with his own damn heart.