The smile Ace gave was what comforted her the most. Even if she right now couldn’t smile like he did, she couldn’t help but feel like smiling a little. The warmth of Ace was not cause of his Devil’s Fruit, but because of his heart. She knew he had been through some hard time too, but he still had that childish and carefree personality, which she loved the most about him. It was different than that of their cook and it was far easier to talk to him or even cry in front of him. He didn’t judge her, didn’t freak out or tried to make her forget why she was upset. Instead he embraced her sadness and that was what drove it away.
And there it was. The teasing. He was definitely himself, when he could tease her like that, but it felt normal and natural, which was what she needed right now. Hearing those four words from his lips, she knew he meant it like she did. Red and puffed eyes looked at him, a small, but happy, smile played at the corner of her red lips. to have Ace’s brotherly love meant a lot to her.
She knew the moment he lifted the brim of his hat with a lit finger, that he was done with the heavy topic and she thanked him in her heart for it. Because it was so hard to talk about and it was as if he sensed how she struggled with finding words to explain it to him.
Her eyes softened, even if they were still puffy and red from the crying. “Only few does, as I am not much of a party singer. I do enjoy watching others sing and have a great time at parties. Knowing that you are so carefree despite being outlaws or maybe because of it, makes me happy.” She rose to her feet again and gazed at the sea for a brief moment, before looking back at Ace.
“The song is about all the struggle and hardship people either overcomes or are still fighting with. It’s about what others don’t see, but it’s there. In or heart and soul. Like a demon that is luring inside of us and threatens to drag all that get close to us down too. However …” She now smiled a little brighter to him. “The demon is wrong. The people we let close is those giving us the strength to fight it. You give me strength and hope, which silence the demons inside for a while.”
The smile was still there as she took his arm in her hands and leaned a little towards him. “This song is one I learned when I was a captain myself. On an Island where people often were attacked by pirates. I tried to protect them, but couldn’t. There was a big battle between pirates and marines. I lost half of my crew and the other half left afterwards, feeling unsafe with me. Yet I don’t regret trying to protect those people on that island. Even if I failed, I tried at least. So I sing the song to honor them and also to calm my demons. Though you are much better calming the demons than the song.”
She was not all that upset anymore and she could even tell him the part that also haunted her from time to time. How she lost her crew. Not many knew she actually had been a captain before, as she rarely talked about her past, especially this part. “Even if the song brings forth bad memories, it does make me remember a good thing too. How I became the daughter of Oyaji and a sister to a maniac, but great, crew like this.”