As that day ended, Ace decided to wait for (Y/n) until she gets off of work. He doesn't have to wait long, but while he's waiting, Luffy comes over, "Ace! Want to go somewhere together? There's something I want to talk to you about."
"Ace?" Luffy furrows his eyebrows when he doesn't get a response, so he follows his brother's line of sight and let out a laugh, "I see... well, she can come along. I'm sure she walks home, so she'll have to go in one of our cars a-"
"What are you talking about? I don't want her to come with us, I just need to thank her once again. That's all," he face flushes slightly, but not enough to notice if you didn't know him as well as Luffy does.
"Sure~" Luffy bounds over to the (h/c)-haired woman and leans on her desk. "(Y/n)! Ace and I are going to get some dinner and we'd like you to come with us!"
"You and..." her eyes slide over to Ace and she gives a soft smile. "Ace. Of course, if you'll have me, I'll come."
  "I asked for a reason! Now, my car's a mess, so you'll need to go with Ace! I'll see you guys there, I'm going to go grab us a table!" Luffy turns around and runs off, the woman laughing before standing up.
  "Your brother is a strange one, Ace," she grabs her stuff after she clocks out and meets up with the black-haired male again. "He's cute, but he's an adult."
"He gets that compliment a lot," Ace moves the hair that was in front of his eyes before he follows her to the elevator. "Did he tell you were we were supposed to meet?"
  She turns to look at him, a look of shock all over her face, "No, but I thought he had told you."
  "He probably texted it to me, and if not, I'll just call him to ask," he hits to button for the first floor and waits for the doors to close. "I'm sorry he dragged you into this... it's all-"
  "I wanted to come," she lets out a sigh. "I started working here because I heard the pay was great. I haven't been able to pay my way with the job I was working at... because my mother just died. She was sick, so we all knew it was going to happen... but I didn't expect it to happen and for my sibling's to leave right after. I'm trying so hard not to loose the house my mother cared so much about, so I've been stressed out and I haven't been able to get out of the house."
Ace stares at her for a long time, until the elevator reaches the last floor, before she turns to him and smiles faintly, "Did I go too far and tell you too much?"
"No, not at all," he nods for her to leave the elevator and follows he through the doors. "I'm just shocked that you're going through all of that... now I feel selfish."
"Don't be," she brushes a strand of hair away from her face. "People have different ways dealing with these things. If it weren't for the fact that I was the one left in charge of all my mom's possessions, I'd probably be a mess. Maybe I'll never be able to grief for her the way I was supposed to be able to..."
"I don't think I've ever mourned my mother. By the time I knew what death was, she was dead," Ace unlocks his car doors and opens the passenger's side for her. "It's strange to think... but I'm almost certain that it would've been better if I was never born."
"Don't say that," she places her hand on the car and looks at him over the car door. "If you do, I'll slap you. Everyone deserves to be born. That's why we're here. Nothing we desire is ever given to us right away, we have to search for it first."
He lets out a sigh and scratches the back of his head, "Alright. If you say so... I certainly don't want to get slapped..."
He closes the door after she's inside and walks around, texting Luffy were he's supposed to be going. He also gets in the car, but he doesn't get a response right away, so they just sit there for a while. Ace can't help but stare at her; this is the woman, the one that saved his life. This is her? He never expected her to be... this pretty. Or even nice.
"Are you okay Ace?"
"Yeah. Just fine. Luffy just texted me back. Let's get going."

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.
~Marcus Aurelius

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