"I'll take one please." You hand the man the exact amount of money before taking the ice cream cone from him and leaving to find the others. Ace's head appeared from over your shoulder and licked the part that was dripping.

He licked his lips and hummed in thought, "(F/F) ice cream, huh?"

"Yeah, I love it!" You giggled.

The doctors released you yesterday after a good night's sleep and now you were being dragged around again by Luffy. Chopper, who cried so hard yesterday after seeing that you were still alive, now suffered a terrible case of brain freeze. A large scoop of ice cream still resting on his tongue, he held the sides of his head as he screamed in pain.

"Tony-ya, I told you not to do that." Law sighed unimpressed.

"MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP!!" Chopper shouts, shaking his head but only worsening the condition. If you looked closely enough you could almost see the goosebumps on his skin. Ace laughed which made you smile.

Today was sunny and it was the perfect chance to try out the pools. You wore your (F/C) bikini, covering your exposed skin with a towel, and dipped your foot in the sea pool. The salty smell of the ocean brought a soothing atmosphere as you took deep breaths before throwing the towel away and cannonballing into the water.

Ace sat by the edge of the pool, his legs dangling in the water, watching you as you walk over to Law and tipped his air bed over. He fell into the water with a splash, making Ace laugh uncontrollably at the dark haired man's face of 'you are gonna die for that' look.

Shanks and Makino were over by the bar near the pool. They were watching over you guys, well, at least Makino was. "Shanks, honey, what are you looking at?" Makino asks sweetly. A strange eerie purple aura came radiating from her as her smile was nothing like the sweetness in her voice.

Shanks gulped and sweat dropped, he was a dead man. "N-Nothing, sweetie!" He lied.

However it was obvious that he was checking out the girls in their swimsuits. Corazon sweat dropped upon feeling the heavy atmosphere and quietly left the bar to sit beside Ace at the pool.

His body was see through in the bright sunlight but it didn't seem to faze the blonde as he continued to stare blankly at him. Ace was observing you and Law splashing each other, earning a huge wave from Luffy's cannonball to get you both to team up and take him down. He smirked and looked at the corner of his eye, finally realizing Corazon's presence.

He shifted in his seat, trying to ignore his gaze. Corazon chuckled and took out his boogie board, writing something down while Ace continued to pretend he doesn't see him.

"You should tell her how you feel." Corazon wrote and slid the message between him and the ghost. Ace glanced at it and blushed, "So you can see me." He murmurs grimly.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." He wrote.

"That's, uhh, nice of you." Ace blinked then reread the first sentence he wrote on he board. "She doesn't even remember me though." He sighs and rolls his head back to look at the sky.

"Were you guys friends before?"

Ace looked down to read the note then looked back up at the sky. "No, we met only once." He smiled as the memories of your chance encounter flashed through his mind. For weeks he couldn't get your face out of his mind, he remembered how it drove him mad that he resulted into only admiring you from a distance.

"I've loved her for this long...watched her from afar...now that she finally notices me I..." He trailed off, eyes closing as he let out a dejected sigh. Corazon frowned at him then looked at you in the pool playing with the boys.

"Still. You should let her know before you disappear." Corazon wrote the message and smiled sadly, setting the board down on his lap. Ace takes notice of this and leans over to read the message. His eyes widen at the last word written and scowls at the man.

"What do you mean by disappear?" Panic twisted his stomach, but Corazon shook his head and refused to reply.

He stood up and left to find Robin and Franky, leaving the ghost alone to his thoughts. Was he going to vanish like smoke right in front of your eyes? How much time did he had left? The feeling of hopeless dread sank into his heart, was he never going to see you again?

He pulled the rim of his hat lower to cover the sadness in his eyes as you came over with a cheerful smile. "Hey, Ace, we're going to eat lunch now." You whisper to him but it was as if your words didn't reach him at all.

A cloud blocked out the sun and you blinked confusedly at the clear apparition. "Ace? You okay?" You ask worriedly.

Ignoring all the calls of your friends, shutting out the world's noise, you stood beside the raven haired man to listen to him and only him. Onyx eyes traveled from the ground to your own (E/C) colored orbs gazing at him. He forces out a smile and stands up, taking your hand in his as he pulls you to the impatient group.

You fall in step with him and quicken your pace when he broke into a jog, releasing your hand as he looked over his shoulder with a smirk on his face.

If anything, he would rather just enjoy his last moments with you until that day. Even if you won't return his feelings, he'll love you until the very end.

"Come on, princess! I'll race ya!"