3rd person POV

The next morning, Ace and Aoi began to head back to the beach where Ace's boat waited silently. Aoi stopped as they were a few steps away. Ace turned and looked at her.

"You coming?" He asked.

"You still want me to come with you? After everything you heard?" She asked. Ace stared at her for a moment.

"Um, duh?" He said.

"Isn't there anything you want to ask me first?" She asked. He thought.

"Well... There is one thing I want to know..." He said.

"I'll tell you anything and everything. All you have to do is ask." She said. Ace looked her in the eyes with a look of hurt in them. Aoi felt a pang in pain in her heart when he did.

"Why didn't you tell me you were from an alternate dimension?" He asked. Aoi looked down, trying to make sure he didn't see the pain in her eyes, knowing he'd tell her not to tell him, and she had promised to tell him.

"Ace... If I had told you I was from an alternate dimension, after getting past the fact that I wasn't insane and I proved I was from another dimension, would you have tried to find away to send me back? And answer honestly." She asked. Ace thought for a long time.

"Would I have tried to send her back if she told me right off the bat? I really like Aoi, I couldn't imagine life with out her. No, I wouldn't have... Would
I? But, I guess I would have thought that because she was from another dimension, I wouldn't think she belonged here." Ace thought. He sighed.

"...I guess I would have..." He admitted. Aoi turned away, not wanting him to see how much that hurt her.

"That's why I never said anything. I don't want to go back." She said.

"Why? Don't you have friends? Family?" Ace asked.

"Don't you remember anything? My mother was a prostitute, my father was the most famous drug dealer in the world. They both died when I was eight after my mother's "employer" killed them, then I killed him in self defense. My whole life after that, adults kept their children away from me. Saying that I'd either fuck them, sell them drugs, or kill them, just like my parents or the man I killed. People in that dimension hated me, Ace. Some even tried to kill me twice a week. No one would even give me a chance." Aoi said, tears starting down her face.

"So... You were like me..." Ace said.

"No." Aoi said.

"No?" Ace asked. She shook her head.

"When you were little, you had Garp and Dadan and Makino and Luffy and Sabo. They all love you. Then you had the Spade Pirates, and now you have the Whitebeard Pirates. When I was little, I had no one. I didn't even have a teddy bear. You had people who loved you from the very start, but I had no one, Ace! You have people that love you so much that they are willing to die for you, but if I go back there, there are people waiting to kill me. And after they do, there won't be a funeral. There won't even be a grave. No one would have been affected by my death there." Aoi said, tears pouring down her face, drowning the sand at her feet.

"Aoi..." Ace started. She didn't turn. She couldn't face him.

"Ever since I came here... Ever since I met you... I felt like... Like people actually care about me. That it's possible for people to love me, and care about me. But... Still... I never had what you have, Ace." She cried.

"What... I have?" He asked.

"You have a little brother that loves and adores you. You have the biggest pirate crew in the world practically in love with you. The only people that actually hate you are the people that hate all pirates and don't give them a chance. Everyone loves you, Ace. Even people from Kirayan's... My... Dimension love you. But me? I had no one from the very start. As a child, I was afraid to go to sleep at night because I was afraid that I'd wake up to someone strangling me or that I wouldn't wake up at all." She said. Ace stood in complete shock. Was that really true?

"Is... Is that really true?" He asked.

"Would I gain anything by lying to you at this point, Ace?" She asked. Ace realized she was right. Why would she lie now that her whole life was on display for him right now?

"I was jealous of you, Ace. You grew up with brothers that loved - no - adored you. And Luffy still adores you. You're practically a god in his eyes, he loves you so much. But me? I had nothing. Not even a teddy bear to hug at night when I was scared. In my dimension I was hated." She said.

"Stop saying that!" Ace demanded.

"What? That I was hated? Ace, I promised to tell you the truth and that is the truth!" She said, finally turning and facing him. He saw the tears rolling down her cheeks. He dropped his bag in the sand and took two long strides to her and grabbed her by her shoulders.

"Stop calling Kirayan's dimension yours! You are not Kirayan Ocean the Second! You are Ocean D. Aoi and you belong here!" He snapped, tears filling his own eyes. Aoi was shocked in to silence. Ace loosened his grip on her when he realized he could have been hurting her.

"You belong here.. Where you are loved.. Where I will always protect you." He said softly. Aoi broke and dove in to his arms, hugging him and sobbing in to his chest. Ace wrapped his arms around her and held her against him.

"Please... Don't leave me..." She sobbed. Ace made her buckle her knees and made her lie on the sand.

"I'm not going any where." He said, lying beside her. She sobbed in to his chest until she ran out of tears. After she calmed a bit, Ace gave her a drink of water.

"You belong right here, Aoi. With me. With Marco and Thatch and Haruta and Izo and Pops and everyone. You are Ocean D. Aoi and as far as I'm concerned, that's who you have always been and who you always will be." Ace murmured softly in her ear, stroking her puffy red cheeks.

"Ace... Please... Don't tell anyone about this..." She begged.

"Tell anyone about what? If anyone asks, the rift-rift fruit psychopath tried to pit us against each other and in the end, we out smarted him." Ace said.

"And when everyone asks about my sudden strange behavior?" Aoi asked.

"He got in to your head and made you doubt yourself, but I'm going to make sure that you know how beautiful, strong and smart you are." Ace said. Aoi hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Ace." She said. He held her against him.

"Of course, Aoi." He said. They sat there for a long time, in comfortable silence. Her head on his chest, listening to his precious heart beat, him gently stroking her hair.

"We should head back, before everyone gets worried." Aoi said. Ace frowned, he wanted to stay here a little bit longer with her. He just wanted to lie on the beach with her, keep her all to himself, never let anyone hurt her again.

"Yeah... I guess so." He agreed reluctantly. They stood and Aoi shook the sand from her hair. She looked up at him.

"You're scowling." She said. Ace cupped her cheeks.

"I don't like seeing you cry." He said,

"I-I wasn't crying! I just got sand in my eyes!" She said, a bright grin coming to her face and a small chuckle passing her lips. Ace smiled at her, stroking her cheek, unknowingly making her heart jump to her throat.

"You look good with a smile on." He said. Her cheeks began to turn red, but this time from blush rather than crying. He chuckled and they went back to his boat. As she climbed on behind him, he remembered something.

"Aoi... You never really gave me your answer." He said.

"Huh?" She asked. He turned and looked her in the eyes again.

"When we first got here, I said "I love you, Aoi. And I want to be with you." And you told me you'd give me your answer after everything was said and done." He said. Aoi blushed again.

"W-well, Ace... I-I love you, too. A-and I want to be with y-you. I-if you still want me, th-that is." She stuttered. Ace pulled her against his chest.

"I'm so glad... You're all mine... I love you, Aoi." Ace whispered to her.

"Ace... There's something else I need to tell you." She said.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I've been training with Marco." She said. Ace scowled.

"Am I doing something wrong in training you?" He asked.

"It's just... It feels like you're so afraid of hurting me that you hold back." Aoi admitted. He squeezed her shoulders.

"It's alright. I have been holding back. If you feel like training with Marco is the best way to get stronger, then I support that. I don't want you feeling inferior." He said.

"R-really?" She asked.

"Yes, really. I trust you, Aoi. Just promise me that you'll tell me these things instead of hide them from me." He said.

"I promise, Ace." She said. Ace cupped her cheek and leaned in.

Aoi's eyes fluttered shut and her heart raced at a million miles a minute. Here it was, her first kiss with her first boyfriend.

His lips brushed against hers, then he closed the remaining space between them. His lips were so soft and gentle. Her heart threw itself around inside her, as if it were trying to escape her chest and go to Ace.

Ace slipped his hands down to her waist and pulled her small body up against his. He pushed his tongue past her lips and she opened her mouth, welcoming him in.

Soon, Ace had to pull away for air. They panted lightly. Ace looked down at Aoi with a small smile on his lips only for him to find her looking terrified.

"Aoi?" He asked. Aoi began to hyperventilate.

Then he noticed her eyes were white.

Aoi's POV

I watched helplessly from under the foot of Blackbeard as Ace died. Luffy's heartbroken sobs filling the air.

"No!" I cried. I wanted to move, but because of Teach's darkness, I couldn't move. He laughed.

"Bwahahah! You should have agreed to be mine, Aoi! Then this wouldn't have happened! You really are just a useless woman!" He laughed. I felt my whole body tremble.

"Go to hell, you son of a whore." I growled out. Teach merely laughed.

"In time, Aoi, in time. But at least I can greet the devil with strength rather than a nuisance!" He said, stomping on my back a few times. I felt a few of my ribs snap. I refused to scream. I told myself that he was wrong about me. That I wasn't useless. But the louder Luffy's heartbroken wails got, the more I began to think Teach was right.

I couldn't even save Ace. How was I supposed to protect Luffy? I really was useless.

The vision began to fade from my eyes and a pounding headache started. I felt my knees give out under me and I felt Ace's arms fly around me and I felt him jump back to shore and I felt sand touch my back.

"A-Ace..." I wimpered.

"Shhh... Just rest for now. We'll return once your headache goes away." Ace said, lying by me and stroking my hair gently. As I closed my eyes to rest as my boyfriend told me to, but the memory of the vison played in my mind.

I was useless.