-2-

╒══════════════════╕• Answer Truthfully •╘══════════════════╛

═══════

After a long day at work, the girl was sleeping peacefully inside her small house when something wet started dropping onto her cheeks. At first, she ignored it and chose sleep over the feeling of being drenched with some type of liquid, until a loud boom of thunder reached her ear, making her jump.

Waking up all of a sudden made her feel dizzy , making the girl unaware to what was going on. It took her a couple of seconds to fully grasp the situation she were currently under after hearing the whistling of the winds and the angry crash of the waves. It finally sinked in her head that she was stuck in the middle of a thunderstorm, alone and unsafe.

Fear struck her small form like a bolt of lightning as she watched her little house shake from the wild wind. The posts weren't strong enough and the roof she made was barely holding on, the walls were being pulled from it's nails while her body was starting to get soaked from the rain.

The silver head was too afraid to move but the thought of dying then and there was more fearsome. Opening her wooden door with a weak hand, it immediately swung open, revealing the harsh swaying of coconut trees. Seeing the situation outside, she took a step back in her house, deciding that it was best to stay inside and wait for the storm to calm but when her foot met the wooden floors of the shed, it was too late. The roof and it's walls were now broken, flying away in the air, the wind blowing them.

Having no more house to stay at, even with wobbly legs, she made a run with no particular destination. She just wanted to find some secret cave somewhere along the jungle that she can use for the day until the raging storm passes by but it's been minutes and the girl still can't find any.

The rain made her vision blurry, making it impossible to locate where she was currently at and the muddy ground wasn't helping either as it makes her steps heavier. With a shaking form releasing out heavy breaths, she never stopped running until she saw a clear area.

A glint of hope shined in her eyes as she made her way towards the direction but only to be crushed when she realized where she was.

The opening wasn't the town, she was at the coast.

As soon as she took a step outside the woods and at the sandy beach, the wind got extremely rough, the crashes of large waves only got louder and the rain only poured heavier. She turned around to go back inside the jungle when something dark started clouding her surroundings.

Hearing something loud, like a roar of a train's engine, she slowly turned around to see where the noise was coming from and when she saw what was the cause, she suddenly wished she didn't.

A wall of sea water was making it's way towards her direction.

As fear and misery engulf her small body, something inside her veins suddenly pulsed.

The girl's eyes widen when she saw a faint color of gold radiate from her body and towards the waters. When the light passed through the wild wave, it suddenly paused.

Not only did the wave stopped but also the blowing wind and the raging rain.

She realized that everything had froze midair.

The girl had no idea what had happened but with the current state of her surroundings, she suddenly had the opportunity to run away from the coastline and back in town, where she'll be safe.

As her vision of the town got clearer while running with heavy breaths, her eyes were starting to fall and tiredness was starting to fill her body.

She was a few steps away from the entrance of the city market when her body collapsed all of a sudden, immediately falling unconscious.

═══════

Helping herself with a glass of water, she sighed in relief, a bit freshen up as she wipe off the sweat on her forehead.

After six hours of hammering, twisting, dusting, wiping and mopping, she finally done rebuilding and cleaning the whole of the bunkhouse, restoring it back to it's old self. The woman was just now placing the tools she had used back inside a cabinet and after that, she'll proceed on her new task: cooking.

Before going all out on physical labor, she made her way outside the house to gather some vegetables that can be used for making soup. Pulling out the some carrots, potatoes, cabbages, turnips and mushrooms from the basket, she started cutting them in bits, one by one.

Finishing the first step, she started putting out wood on the stove, fanning it every few seconds for the fire to burn. When she got the exact heat she was aiming for, she placed a pot of water on it, waiting for it to boil before placing the vegetables.

The woman was staring at nothing as she wait, tapping her fingers against the wooden counter when a ringing sound reached her ears. Leaving her place from the kitchen, she started walking around, finding where the noise was coming from. The ringing was getting louder and louder as she walk closer to the bunkhouse's bathroom, opening it's door, the noise doubled in waves.

The ringing was it's in loudest volume at the far right corner, where her wash bin was placed. Pulling out her dirty clothes, she rummaged through the pockets, all was empty until she suddenly felt something buzz against her hands. Taking it out, it was then she realized that the sound came from her small snail pod that she forgot was still with her.

Clicking it's shell, the snail immediately stopped ringing, a silent line taking it's place. The caller was silent, until she let out an awkward cough making the person on the other line sigh.

"Flare."

Her eyes immediately sting hearing the person's voice. It was the first time in a while that someone called her by that name and it was sad to hear it in a sorrowful tone.

"I, I'm sorry I didn't contact you for the past three days-yoi. We, we were busy about - "

"Marco," Flare breathed, all of a sudden feeling heavy as she call out the man's name making him silent. She raised her head, flickering the tears that was starting to form away from her eyes before continuing.

"I know, I understand." She whispered, trying your best not to let your voice crack.

Flare already knew what he was about to say, after all, before the war even happened, Whitebeard himself contacted her through a letter, telling his last words and last wish.

Edward Newgate gave the woman a short message, thanking her for being a great daughter even though she only stayed with them for two years. The old man also explained in the letter how he cherish and love all of his children, that he was ready to fight death himself just to save them. After what had happened to Thatch, he was willing to die for them so that no one will ever follow his late son's tracks; dying without even having a chance to fight.

Whitebeard was the parent Flare have been longing for for so long. He knew who she was, he knew she was part of the marines, he knew that she planned on killing him yet he still thought of her like his own. He still gave her the love she never thought she deserved and the woman was more than thankful for him treating her that way.

He and his crew were her family. They have asked Flare stay multiple times before but each time they do, they were only taken down. It was not because she doesn't want to be with them anymore, it was because she can't. Flare can't choose them over her position because the navy will not only kill her, but the pirates she's with as well.

In the end, the crew and her parted ways, lives turning to it's way before.

"I'm sorry, I can't go there. I'm sorry I was no help during the war." How she said those words without stuttering was surprising for her.

"No, we understand, at that time you had no choice but to watch, we know that you too are hurting-yoi." Marco, with his ever soothing voice spoke making her heart hurt even more.

The line went silent as Flare tried her best not to cry, all things that happened during the war was running in her head like a movie making her already gloomy state worse. Shaking her head to snap out of her trance, she spoke.

"So.. How was the funeral?"

"It went well and was peaceful, Red Hair together with his crew helped us through it." Listening to Marco, she mentally thanked the yonko for his kindness towards her sworn father and brothers.

"Where?" Flare asked, leaning a bit against the bathroom sink, wiping a lone tear that escaped her eyes.

"He and Ace's graves are buried at an island near sphinx-yoi. I thought if there's some place pops would choose to rest at, it would be near his homeland-yoi."

"Portgas?" The name of the young pirate reaching her ears suddenly made her feel at the edge. It felt weird hearing information about his tombstone when he's literally on the other room, healing his wound with sleep.

"Yes, we also took him out the marines' island with the help of Red Hair. We decided to rest his body besides pops, after all, they're father and son that fought the same war-yoi" He ended his words with an unstable tone, making Flare's brows twitch unconsciously. Something was off and she was worried it has something to do with her potion.

"Is there a problem?" She voiced, trying her best to hide the curiosity under her tone.

"Well, it isn't much of a problem but there's something that's bothering my mind even after the burial-yoi." Flare can hear the frown from his voice, making her feel a little nervous.

"Care to speak it out?"

"It's about Ace." Her breath hitched for a second, her relaxed body starting to tense.

"I know you don't personally know Ace, since he joined the crew right after you left, so I know this may sound weird but Ace always had a bracelet inside his pocket, it has a pendant that has a picture of him and his two brothers inside when they were kids. I was planning on giving it to Luffy since it can no longer be kept by Ace but it went missing." He made a breather as a couple of things being pushed was heard through the snail.

"It was impossible to be taken by the marines, it was sealed and clamped inside the pocket, it wasn't easy to spot. So I'm confused on why it wasn't in there."

Flare's stomach fell and her hands immediately turned cold. She was sure that the potion she created can copy anything that the other party owns, making her question what went wrong and why didn't a duplicate for the bracelet was made.

Before even trying the potion on a person, thr first ever mixture she made was used against a pig. She tried imitating herself and it turned out successful. Everything under her physical appearance was duplicated by it, but one thing caught her attention while examining it; her watch wasn't there.

"Tell me, was that locket hand-made?" The urgency in her voice was all too visible making the man on the other line answer with curiosity.

"It was made by Ace himself -yoi, why?" Flare closed her eyes shut, after hearing Marco's answer, everything was now clear for her.

Her duplication potion can copy anything the body has, but one thing it cannot duplicate are things that exist in the whole world alone. Things like self-made clothes, jewelries and other personal items are impossible to imitate, just like her watch, that was personally made by Whitebeard and Fire Fist's bracelet which he made himself.

"Flare, are you still there-yoi?" She was snapped out of her thoughts when Marco suddenly spoke. Pushing herself against the sink, she made her way out of the bathroom and straight towards the room beside it.

"Marco, I'm sorry if I'm going to cut our talk short, so-something just came up, I'll call you back."

Flare hung up the call, not waiting for him to respond. Hiding the den den mushi inside her pocket, she went near the sleeping form of the ravenette.

Without second thoughts, she started rummaging through his baggy shorts' pockets, trying her best to find the said bracelet. It was clearly hard to find, she checked his pockets for three times before catching something that felt like chains of the wristlet.

The same time Flare pulled out the silver wristband, something cold grazed your shoulders making her freeze.

It felt like fingertips.

Slowly turning her head towards the raven's face, there she saw a pair dark eyes solely looking at her, a confused frown etching onto his face as he slowly opened his chapped lips and in a weak raspy voice he spoke,

"What are you doing?"