It had been one month since Ace, Sabo, and Luffy had said farewell to Shanks, and unfortunately, a particularly persistent rainy season, along with the necessary repairs to their treehouse, kept causing the two boys to postpone any further seaside adventures. However, even a squall wasn't nearly enough to keep them away from Luffy, and the two often waited out the storms aboard their ship, tucked away in the cozy cave near the beach, and brought pillows and sleeping bags with them so that they could camp out on the deck if need be.

In that time, the two friends had started to talk more with their boat fairy, telling him more about their island and the creatures on it, and Luffy would "oooooh" and "ahhhhh" at the notions of lions as big as his entire hull and bears whose claws could cut ribbons through the rigging. Sabo started bringing books aboard the ship and spent hours showing Luffy pictures of what the lions and tigers and bears actually looked like, causing the klabautermann to burst into laughter as every animal he saw was more weird-looking than the last. They also told him stories of Dadan, Mayor Woop Slap, and the other people of Foosha Village, and eventually, they hesitantly told Luffy more about their adoptive grandfather, who was "just as strong as a bear and twice as hairy." Luffy hadn't been too happy when they had firmly denied his requests for them to eat the man, but under the pressure of his puppy dog eyes and irresistible pout, they promised that next time they visited the village, they would bring him back a souvenir instead. That seemed to cheer him up long enough for the two to distract him with another story, preferably about pirates.

Since meeting Shanks and his crew, the young klabautermann seemed to have developed a fascination with pirates, and begged for more and more stories about them. Ace and Sabo did their best to tell him some of the more well-known tales, and Sabo eventually procured a book of famous pirate stories and songs that the two would read to the enraptured ship spirit. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Luffy was most interested in anything to do with Shanks, and could be heard humming Binks' Sake long after the sun went down.

One night found the two boys and their boat spirit laying on the deck of the Luffy, staring up into the endless starry skies of the first tranquil, clear evening they'd had in quite a while. They had brought the boat out of the cave, attaching it to an extra-long rope that they then secured to the sturdy stalagmites inside the cave mouth. A small, well-contained fire was comfortably crackling on the deck, and the boys were curled up in their sleeping bags, enjoying the scent of sea salt in the air as they swapped more stories of their adventures.

"–So then we run out of the restaurant, and the owner is yelling at us for not paying, and Ace has an entire lamb shank in his mouth that he refuses to spit out! He looked like he would rather choke than risk losing the food!" Sabo laughed as Ace groaned in embarrassment, clearly reliving the memory.

"But Sab, it was soooooooo good! You would've done the same thing!"

His best friend just chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, somehow I doubt that."

Luffy was laughing loudly, his grin overtaking his face. "I bet he looked really funny!"

Sabo grinned in response. "Yeah, it was great. His cheeks were all puffed up like a chipmunk. It was hilarious."

Luffy's laughter subsided as he looked at Sabo quizzically. "Hill-air…"

"Oh. Hilarious. It means really, really funny."

"Ah! Ok. Mystery solved."

Ace just shook his head. Anything that he and Sabo couldn't easily explain was deemed a "mystery" by the curious klabautermann, and while it was nice to teach him things, it was also somewhat sad just how ignorant the spirit was. He wished Luffy was a little more wise to the ways of the world, but then again, if he knew what was in it… He shook his head again, giving a small sigh. If he was being honest with himself, he wished he could share Luffy's bright outlook on life, but he had seen and heard too much to share in that blissful optimism. He rolled up in his sleeping bag, suddenly feeling a little cold, and shifted until he found a good position. "Anyway, it's late. Let's sleep."

Sabo shot him a concerned look, but when he ignored it, the other just sighed and grabbed a bucket of water, dousing their flame. "'Night Ace."

"G'night Sabo."

"'Night, Luffy."

"'Night, Sabo! 'Night Ace!"

"G'night, Luffy. Oh, and Luffy?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't stare at us while we're sleeping. It's weird."

"Oh. Ok."

After a few hours, Ace's eyes snapped open. He sighed and sat up, rubbing a hand down his face. It was far too early for him to be awake, and yet here he was, sleep eluding him once more. As quietly as he could, so as not to wake Sabo, he freed himself from his sleeping bag and stood at the bow of the ship, facing out toward the ocean and silently watching the moon. A minute later, two sandaled feet pattered over to him, and the red-clad klabautermann came over, standing next to him in silence. Ace didn't bother looking over.

"What d'ya want?"

"Nothin'. What do YOU want?"

The seemingly innocuous question threw him for a loop. He wanted lots of things; to be free, to be out from under his father's shadow, to have an answer to the greatest question he'd ever known, to have enough money to travel, to be a pirate… and yet, in the moment, he said none of those. Instead, his traitorous tongue decided to answer all by itself.

"I want to be loved."

"…"

The cacophonous silence was deafening. He wished he could just take the words back, but there was so much in what he had (and hadn't) said that they just lay there, raw and bleeding out on the deck.

The klabautermann smiled. "Well, me n' Sabo love you, so that's a start!"

Ace quickly turned to face the spirit, neck twinging in protest. His lips moved as if to speak, but no sound came out for several moments until finally he could slot his thoughts into place. "B…but my dad, he's…"

"Gold Roger, right? The Pirate King?"

If Ace was struggling to find words before, he was rendered speechless now, only a squeak managing to escape him. "Y-you knew?"

Luffy picked his nose. "Yeah, 'course I knew. When you wished on me, you wished to be remembered for bein' yourself, not Gold Roger's kid, and Sabo's books have lots and lots of stories 'bout the guy. I'm also pretty sure Sabo already figured it out 'cause he's smart like that and you talk about it in your sleep."

Luffy leaned on the railing, staring deeply into Ace's eyes. As if hypnotized, Ace found that he couldn't look away. "Me n' Sabo, we don't care who your dad is. Ace is Ace, and we love Ace for who he is. I don't even know your dad, an' even if I think he's cool 'cause Shanks had lotsa stories about how he was the freest and I like freedom lots-yeah, he told us those whenever you left to go hunt-I like Ace more 'cause you made me and loved me enough to make me appear and you talk to me and tell me about stuff and don't let me be lonely and I like talking to you, so… yeah. I love you. And Sabo does too. So that makes two!" Luffy grinned, his trademark smile stretching across his face, practically reflecting the light of the moon.

Ace could feel tears starting to form and he shook them away. "I…it really would be better if I was around? You really want me here?"

Luffy took his hand and held it loosely, and although Ace couldn't physically touch the spirit, he could almost feel the soulful warmth he had come to associate with the little klabautermann. "Yeah. Being lonely is lots worse than being hurt. I know what being lonely feels like through your wish, but also 'cause you guys don't stay here all day and some days you can't come at all." Ace felt a twinge of guilt at that, but Luffy gently put his ethereal hand over Ace's own in a gesture of comfort. "But it's ok, 'cause you also make sure I don't have to feel that way for long, so that's nice. And I don't want you to be lonely either. You have us now!"

Ace could feel a small smile creeping onto his face, and he wiped away more tears. "…Thanks, Lu. I'm glad you're here." A yawn suddenly escaped him, and he blinked in surprise. "Oh, uh… guess I should go to bed. 'Night. Again." He turned and went back to his sleeping bag, getting in and finding the right spot.

As he drifted off to sleep, he could have sworn he felt a gentle kiss pressed to his forehead, and a laughing voice saying that he was glad Ace was here too.