Ace's POV

When I was holding her, I decided I needed to tell her about the nightmares. Maybe if I told her the nightmares would stop?

"Aoi?" I said.

"Hm?" She hummed, looking up at me.

"I-" I was cut off by yelling from the other side. Aoi and I ran over, her slipping the teddy in to the small bag she always carried with her.

On deck was a woman with dark blue hair that hung down to her knees. She was beautiful, but for some reason, I found myself afraid of this woman.

"Who are you? How did you get here?" I heard Marco ask her. The woman turned and saw Aoi... Then grinned.

"Aoi-chan!" The woman called. Aoi and I stood in shock.

"Oh, come on now, Aoi-chan, don't tell me the life of a pirate made you forget me after all I've done for you." The woman said. I looked at Aoi.

"How could I possibly forget you, Kaiyo? You saved my life." Aoi said with a smile. The woman with dark blue hair, Kaiyo, threw herself in to Aoi's arms. I then noticed the woman was actually three inches taller than Aoi. I smirked because it made Aoi look even cuter than she already was. Aoi and Kaiyo laughed happily.

The women parted from each other and wiped their eyes, though they were still grinning.

"Aoi-chan, you know this woman?" Teach asked. Aoi nodded.

"Guys, this is my old friend, Kaiyo. Kaiyo-sama, my crew and family, the Whitebeard Pirates!" Aoi said with a bright grin. I tried not to let it show, but I felt very suspicious of this Kaiyo woman.

Aoi was from another dimension. So then that meant that Kaiyo was either from the dimension of Kirayan, or Aoi was lying about who this woman was.

"Aoi, I thought you said you didn't have any friends where you were from?" Marco asked.

"Well, that's because I thought Kaiyo-sama was dead." Aoi said. Everyone stared at the two women.

"It was a huge fight. Aoi-chan got kidnapped by a gang of bandits and they were gonna kill her, so I came to help her, but I got stabbed and thrown in to the ocean." Kaiyo explained.

"How did you survive?" Haruta asked.

"I was wondering the same thing." Aoi said. Kaiyo grinned.

"You're never gonna believe me, but the Sea Goddess herself saved me. She healed me and gave me the power to turn in to water and craft items from water." Kaiyo said.

"That sounds a lot like Aoi-chan's power from the Water-Water devil fruit." Teach said. Kaiyo looked at Aoi with wide eyes.

"You ate the water-water devil fruit?! You were chosen by the Sea Goddess to use that power?!" Kaiyo said. Aoi grinned sheepishly.

"Show me!" Kaiyo requested. Aoi took a step back and summoned her water armor around herself, then formed her water sheild and sword.

"Whoa! So cool! Can you control sea water?" Kaiyo asked.

"Not quite." Aoi said.

"And what about freezing the water, can you do that?" Kaiyo asked. I widened my eyes and looked at Aoi. She could do that?

"I've been working on it, but so far it's only small things, like the tip of my whip." Aoi said. Everyone seemed to relax with how Aoi and Kaiyo just got absorbed in talking.

"Kaiyo." Pops said.

"Eh? Oh, yes?" Kaiyo asked.

"Would you like to join this crew and be my daughter?" Pops asked.

"Oh, God. Please say no. Please say no. Competing with other men on this ship for my girlfriend's attention is easy. But if another woman and childhood friend joined? I'd never see her! Say no!" I pleaded in my mind. Kaiyo smiled up at Pops.

"Thank you for the offer, but my husband is actually waiting for me on the next island. I'm afraid I have to decline." Kaiyo said.

"Oh? You married? Who?" Aoi asked.

"Umi Kawa." Kaiyo said. Aoi gave her a look.

"Really?" She asked.

"He's not so bad." Kaiyo said.

"He tried to kill me." Aoi said.

"Well, to be fair, everyone in our home town tried to kill you." She said.

"Touché, my friend." Aoi said.

"No worries though, Aoi-chan. Kawa has changed since then." Kaiyo said.

"Well, how about you stay with us until we get to the next island? It seems you and Aoi have a lot of catching up to do." Pops said. Kaiyo smiled.

"That's very kind of you. Thank you." Kaiyo said. Aoi grabbed both my hand and Kaiyo's hand.

"Come on, Kaiyo. Ace and I will show you around." Aoi said. She dragged us off towards the cabins. And directly in to her room.

"Um, Aoi? I'd like to talk to you alone." Kaiyo said.

"Ace knows where I'm from, Kaiyo." Aoi said. The darker blue haired woman looked at me with wide eyes.

"How?" She asked, her voice going from innocent and sweet to commanding and dark.

"Chiyori revealed it." I said.

"Chiyori?" Kaiyo asked.

"The Rift-Rift Fruit user that tried to kill me." Aoi explained.

"Oh, I see. And how did you take Aoi being from another dimension, Ace?" Kaiyo asked me. I stared at her.

"I was suprised at first, but she belongs right here, and that's all I care about." I said. I saw Aoi smiled from the corner of my eye.

Kaiyo looked between the two of us. First to Aoi, then to me, then back to Aoi, then back to me.

"So you two are officially a couple?" She asked. I tensed Aoi put her hand on my shoulder.

"It's alright, Ace. Yes, we are officially together." Aoi said. I nodded and wrapped my arms around her waist to confirm what she said.

"About damn time." Kaiyo said.

"Okay, I'm sorry. But just who the hell are you?" I said, dragging Aoi closer to me protectively. "And how do you know Aoi?" I asked. Aoi cleared her throat.

"Ace... You're talking to the Sea Goddess herself." Aoi said. My eyes widened.

"You're-" I started. Kaiyo nodded.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't m-mean to offend-" I started. I was cut off by the Sea Goddess's laughter.

"You have quite the taste in men, Aoi-chan." She said. I stared at her in bewilderment. Aoi was absolutely speechless. The Sea Goddess walked up to me and cupped my cheek with her hand.

"A very kind heart, yet protective of those he loves. A good listener even if he doesn't come off as one. Hmm, and doesn't look to bad, either. Very attractive." She said. I felt my face heat up. Aoi coughed to gain our attention.

"U-uh, tha-thank you." I stuttered out. The Sea Goddess smiled at me.

Then kissed me.

I was shocked in to silence as Aoi squirmed.

"Hey! He is my boyfriend! There's no way you would ever let me kiss your husband!" Aoi protested as the Sea Goddess pulled away from me.

"Sorry, I was just curious of what a mortal with a pure heart tasted like." She said. I blushed and burried my face in Aoi's hair.

"Aw, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you." She said. I felt Aoi's fingers in my hair. I looked up from her hair and looked the Sea Goddess in the eyes.

"I'm honored, but please, do not do that again. I belong to Aoi and Aoi alone." I said. I heard Aoi's breath hitch. I began to fear that I may have possibly offended the Goddess and she would be taking Aoi away now.

"Oh, my. Kind, pure hearted, attractive and loyal. You better treat him right, Aoi." The Sea Goddess said. I felt relief wash over my heart and held Aoi closer to me.

"She does." I said, kissing her cheek. As I pulled away and rested my head on Aoi's shoulder, I smirked as she blushed.

"Also, that was quick thinking with the name you have me out there. Kaiyo." The Sea Goddess said, trying the name on for size.

"Yeah? I spaced out on the Japanese translation for Sea Goddess so I just went with the Japanese translation for Ocean." Aoi said.

"I had to sift through your memories to find a good name for my husband. I'm glad you temporarily forgot the translation. Imagine all the men on this ship calling me Umi-sama for a week." She said. At this point in the conversation I was lost.

"Anyways, why are you here? Have I done something wrong?" Aoi asked. I held her a little bit tighter when she said that. She patted my arms around her stomach, assuring me everything was fine.

"No, you've done nothing wrong. You're actually getting rather good at controlling your power. You should master it in no time. Though, there is something that you and I need to discuss alone specifically. I'm sorry, Ace. Aoi's ears only." She said. I didn't move. I still needed to tell Aoi about my nightmare. And I still didn't entirely trust this woman. After all, it was the Sea Goddess's devil fruit that almost took Aoi away from me before she was mine.

"Ace." Aoi said. I held her tighter. She shifted in my arms and cupped my cheeks.

"Hey, it's okay. We'll talk later, okay?" She asked. I stared at her. I sighed through my nose.

"Okay." I said. I reluctantly released her. She walked me to the door. I stopped before I walked out. I quickly leaned in and captured Aoi in a kiss. I felt her fingers tangle in my hair.

"I love you." I said as I pulled away.

"I love you, too." She said. With that, I left the room, still worried about her. I just hopped the next time I entered her room, a bloody body with blue hair wasn't waiting for me.