Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

I miss you; I'm so sorry

…

On the Moby Dick, particularly in the kitchens was a woman.

An average woman.

Yes, that was it. Average. In every sense of the word.

Well, as average as a pirate on the Moby Dick could be.

She wasn't exceedingly powerful for someone on a Yonko's ship, nor was she ridiculously beautiful like most female pirates. But she was an amazing cook, the kind that could turn scraps into a mouthwatering feast, one that would never waste a single thing. She was in charge of leading the kitchens and had the task of personally creating all of Whitebeard's meals, so that the large man would stay healthy. She didn't have the best personality, but she wasn't on the Moby Dick for being nice anyway. She was picked up because of her skill in the kitchen and despite her harsh attitude, the Whitebeard Pirates loved her. Even if most of them did cower in fear whenever she passed by.

CRASH!

A blur came flying through the kitchen doors, before roughly colliding with the floor of the large mess hall.

"What did I tell you about coming inside my kitchen?" A woman with matching dark hair and eyes said, a threat laced between her words. She donned a red kerchief over her head and a neatly tied apron, her hand holding a pan that she used to beat the hell out of the idiot's, well the idiot, that was stupid enough to enter her territory. This had been happening for quite a while now and her already short fuse had burned out long ago.

"Oi, oi! Go easy on him Head Chef!" One of the currently eating Whitebeard Pirates called out.

"Did that idiot try something again?!"

"Why can't he just request food in a normal way?"

"This happens every single day… When will he learn?"

"This is Ace we're talking about here."

"Oi! Second Division! Control your commander!"

"HAH?! He's the one supposed to be controlling us!"

"Owwww!" Ace, in all his shirtless glory, whined as he rubbed the side of his head where the woman had hit him. The man completely ignoring all the remarks that had erupted all around the galley. "That really hurt this time."

"Step inside my kitchen again and I'll let you starve." She said with a scathing glare, before –as always- turning on her heel and scurrying back into the kitchen.

"I won't do it again." He lied to air, the chef already back inside her domain where she continued to quickly work on Whitebeard's breakfast. "Owwww…" He continued to whine as he rubbed at the large lump on his head, adjusting his hat as he took his customary seat next to the other Commanders. There were only a few of them, the others most likely still sleeping like the lazy asses they were.

"Ya never learn do ya, kid?" Fossa, Fifteenth Division Commander, said as he slapped him on the back repeatedly. The harshness of his repeated blows almost making Ace's face hit the table. Fossa blew smoke right in the younger man's freckled face as he continued, "She can't fight all that great, but haven't ya been hit with that pan enough times ta know that it fuckin' hurts?"

"You really should stop bothering, Rem-chan." Izou stated, lacking all of his usual girlish enthusiasm. The okama was still sipping at his coffee, Ace had noticed long ago that he just wasn't the same until he had that first cup of joe in the morning. Izou was one of the woman's closest friends, they had been picked up from the same island. "Weren't you taught to respect those older than you?"

"She's only twenty-four." Ace countered, "Not much of a gap."

"She's like my little sister." Came Izou's immediate reply.

"And I'm just trying to be her friend." Ace said with an extremely large friendly grin as Izou looked at him suspiciously. "It's not like I'm trying to get in her pant—"

The man fell asleep.

"GURARARARARA!" Whitebeard laughed loudly as he looked over at his sleeping son.

"You better not be." Izou muttered his threat to air as Rem came out holding an extremely large tray of food in one hand and a coffee decanter in the other. The woman placing the food before Whitebeard who grinned widely at her.

"Eat it slowly, you damned old man." Came her harsh words as she moved to refill Izou's coffee, the okama muttering a small 'thank you' as the fresh smell of caffeine took over his senses. "And don't you dare leave the bitter gourd on your plate."

"You're a million years too early to tell me what to do, brat." Whitebeard said with a large grin, before eating the entire helping of bitter melon in one disgusting bite. Chewing it slowly, despite his words and how much he hated the taste.

"Hey, Rem." Fossa called, pointing at the sleeping Ace. "I think all the blows to the head that yer givin' em is makin' him stupider."

"He's hard headed, the kid won't understand any other way." Rem knocked on her own head as if to prove some kind of point.

"Can't argue with you there." Eighth Division Commander and only Fishman on the ship, Namur said over a mouthful of food.

"Wha-!" Ace suddenly shot up, frantically looking around him. "Oops, I fell aslee-!" An empty bowl of rice collided with his head, making him fall to the ground as Rem stepped over him and back into the kitchen. All the other Whitebeard Pirates sweat dropped at her openly hostile attitude towards the young man.

"She's mad at you." Namur stated as he watched Ace rub his sore forehead. "Just stop going inside her kitchen, idiot."

"No way!" He replied with a wide smile. "Rem is actually really nice! I bet she's just being shy!"

They all raised an eyebrow at his optimistic attitude. How in the world was Rem shy? The woman's tongue could silence even Marco at times and she spoke to Whitebeard as if he were some kind of petulant cabin boy. She was as blunt and brutally honest as they came. Was this kid dense? Or had he finally taken too many blows to the noggin?

"I mean it!" Ace defended.

"Riiiight…" Came the sarcastic reply.

"Whatever you say, Ace."

"Just hurry and eat already."

"HEEYYY!" Ace complained loudly, complete with a pout. "I'M BEING SERIOUS HERE!"

"That's the worst part." They all said in unison.

"Oh! Where's Marco?" Ace suddenly asked, looking around for the man. Marco wasn't the type to wake up late. He had too many duties on the ship for him to be getting up in the afternoon. "Or Thatch? Thatch works too."

"He's with Thatch in his room, like usual." Fossa answered as he raised an eyebrow at him. Wondering why he was asking for the two commanders. "Why?"

The Second Division Commander didn't hear his question though as he rushed out of the mess hall to head towards Marco's quarters.

Ace sighed loudly as he placed his forehead down on one of the tables in the large mess hall. The place was completely empty, everyone either asleep already or out on the new island they had just recently docked on. He had just told Whitebeard about his relation to Roger, something his Pops took a whole lot better than he had expected. It felt like a weight off his shoulders, but somehow made him uneasy. Was that really all his Pops' thought on the subject? He would accept him, the son of his enemy, just like that? Ace's mind was clouded with doubt and he wanted –needed- a distraction. Something that would take him away from the thoughts plaguing him.

Clank.

He looked up to see a plate piled high with meat before him. His dark eyes meeting the cold eyes of the Head Chef. Ace had never spoken directly with the woman who controlled the kitchen and organized the menu for the entire crew, but he had heard that she had an extremely bad mouth. The kind that couldn't get a word out without insulting somebody, one that was never taught any proper manners.

"Is that for me?" He asked stupidly, his eyes not leaving the woman. Izou had told him that her main job was cooking for Whitebeard, which was why his Pop's food was always different or came fresh off the stove.

"I could hear your loud stomach all the way from the kitchen." She said, eyeing the Second Division Commander and his ridiculous hat. What kind of person wears an orange cowboy hat? Just…why? This was the man whose stomach was said to be the portal to a different dimension, a bottomless pit that could and would devour anything in sight. The same man who had broken the lock of the refrigerator during his first night here. "So eat and shut it up. It's bothering me."

"Thank you." He said politely, as he swallowed the largest piece of meat whole. His eyes widening at the juicy taste. "HEY! THIS IS REALLY GREAT!"

She raised an eyebrow at his happy shouting. "It's just leftovers."

"Well, they're different from what the cooks normally make." He replied over a mouthful of food. She was lying about them being leftovers, he could tell. The taste was completely different, so it must have been something that she made and they couldn't have been leftovers from Pops' because Whitebeard never left anything on his plate. The meat was still piping hot too.

"You're imagining things." She muttered, watching him eat for a moment.

"Why are you still working at this time?" He asked as he ate the last bit of food, before saying a small 'thanks.' He was glad for the distraction that she unknowingly provided, that coupled with the good food had his mood lifting. He could go back into his usual beat now.

"Does it matter?" She retorted as she turned and began walking back to the kitchen. "Now, get out of here, cowboy. I don't want idiots who aren't going to eat loitering around."

"WAIT! HEY!" He called as he chased after the woman, only for the kitchen door to be slammed in his face, hitting his nose and making him fall to the ground. "WHO SAID I WASN'T GOING TO EAT?! I'LL EAT MORE!"

"I can't waste food on your bottomless stomach." Her voice called out, Ace could hear running water and the clanking of dishes. Was she washing plates?

"I'LL HELP YOU IN THERE IF YOU WANT! OH AND THANKS A LOT FOR THE FOOD! CAN YOU COOK FOR ME AGAIN?!" He yelled loudly, not sure if she was even listening to him. When she didn't reply, he sighed quietly and sat with his back to the door, waiting for the woman to come out.

He later found out that the kitchen had stairs leading to her room.

…

"REM!" Ace called when he saw the chef heading out to the island, Izou beside her.

"Hmmm…?" Izou was the one to respond, raising an eyebrow at the fire commander. "We're going clothes shopping, do you want to carry our bags?"

"No." Was the immediate reply. "I wanted to ask Rem to cook me something."

"HAAAH?!" Izou yelled, attracting the attention of the others. "She's Pops' personal chef, you idiot!"

"I heard she cooks for you and Marco too! Even for Thatch sometimes!" Ace complained with a frown.

"I've known her the longest!" Izou shot back. "Marco, and some of the other commanders are special cases."

"I'm a special case too." Ace said with a frown, crossing his arms to further emphasize just how childishly upset he was.

"You really are." Rem insulted, finally speaking up.

"AH! You're talking to me." Fire Fist said with a large grin, his eyes crinkling in happiness. The woman only rolled her eyes at him, the action had his grin widening.

…

"Need some help?" Ace asked, but didn't wait for an answer as he picked up the large barrel the woman was debating how to get onto the ship.

"I didn't say yes." She said with a glare.

"Don't be stubborn." He replied with that stupidly bright smile. "Let me help you."

"I'm not going to cook for you." She muttered as she began walking up the plank that led up to the ship. "Don't expect a thank you either."

"Yea. We'll see." He said smugly as he followed after her.

"Are you sure you won't just fall asleep and drop that?" She said, while eyeing him carefully. His narcolepsy was a real pain in the ass, it was a wonder he was still alive. Though, perhaps Pops' mark that he proudly showed on his back helped play a role in his survival.

"No wa-" He fell asleep, the barrel rolling into the ocean.

…

Rem glared as Ace walked up to her, a woman under each arm. The noise from the banquet was just ridiculous, but she didn't mind since she was used to the loudness of the Whitebeard Pirates already. Rem was seated with Haruta off to the side, the two women were drinking to their heart's content.

"What?" She asked in that usual brash way of hers and he immediately let go of them to give her that annoying grin again.

"Marco gave me the food you made for him."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked towards the Phoenix who seemed to be in one of those somber moods again. It happened once in a while, only Thatch seemed to know the causes of it though. Rem wasn't nosy enough to pry into the first division commander's affairs, but when he wasn't eating then it became her problem as well.

"It was good!" Ace said with glee as he tried to get the woman's attention back on him.

"It wasn't for you." Was the only thing that left her mouth.

"I'll get you to cook for me one of these days! You'll see!"

"Don't you get tired of this?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the freckled commander.

"FOOD IS A SERIOUS MATTER!" He said childishly, his lips forming a serious frown.

As a chef and as a person, she couldn't argue with that.

…

"You don't want her cooking for you, yoi." Marco muttered. The two were seated across from each other in the noisy galley for lunch.

"You say that, but she cooks for you every day." Ace complained. "The only other ones she cooks for every single day are Pops and Izou. What makes you so special?"

Marco grinned slightly in amusement at his mate's childish tone. "You sound jealous, yoi."

Ace scoffed.

"She cooks for Pops' cause he's the Captain and deserves the best." The Phoenix explained, "Izou, she's been with the longest."

"And you?" The freckled commander asked.

"I'm just lonely." He said with a careless shrug.

"Eh?" Ace muttered, completely confused by the response. "I don't get it."

"What are you two talking about?" Rem suddenly intervened as she held a delicious smelling bowl filled with steaming stew for the blond commander in one hand and a bottle of sake for Whitebeard in the other.

"Nothin, yoi." Marco replied with an innocent grin as Ace looked jealously at the Phoenix's lunch.

"I want that too." He nagged, looking over at the woman who completely ignored his whining voice to make her way over to their Captain.

"Cold as always." Marco remarked, his voice mocking as he let his lethargic eyes follow the woman. "What an ice queen."

"No, she isn't." Came Ace's defense for the woman, he always did that.

Marco placed his chin in his hand and gave his younger mate a small grin, Ace didn't need to tell him that, the Phoenix already knew. "I know, yoi."

"HEEEEEYYYYY!"

Thatch and Marco who had been talking about nothing in particular snapped their heads in the direction of the rude calling that was coupled with a resounding 'bang' as the door to Marco's room slammed against the wall. The Phoenix was about to reprimand whoever it was that dare come into his room without knocking, but he restrained himself when he saw Ace and the completely panicked expression he had adorning his freckled face.

The two commanders raised an eyebrow at their younger mate.

"What's with you, yoi?"

"Someone eat your food again?" Thatch teased as he took a sip of his drink. He sat on the chair beside Marco's small desk, as the owner of the room lay sprawled out on the bed, his blond head hanging off the edge. Giving him an upside down view of the fourth division commander. "Or did another one of the cooks get mad at you for trying to raid the fridge? You eat way too mu—"

"IT'S NOT THAT!" Ace yelled at the pompadour haired man. His freckled face heating up in embarrassment.

"Then what, yoi?" Marco tried again.

Only for the second division commander to avert his eyes and cross his arms over his bare chest. The shirtless man closing the door softly behind him as he took a seat on the floor by their side. His brow furrowed in concentration and lips sealed tightly. The two older commanders waited for a moment, but when he didn't speak, they continued on with their conversation, before they were rudely interrupted. Ace would speak when he wanted to. There was no rush, they could wait all day.

"So, I saw someone interesting on the news today." Thatch said with a happy little grin, wagging his eyebrows repeatedly.

...

...

...

...

"...Is that so?" Marco muttered, his eyes closing at what his pompadour haired companion was implying.

"That was a long pause." He said, his grin growing wider by the second.

"Do you want your head through a wall that bad, yoi?"

Thatch only grinned cheekily in return.

Ace raised his eyebrows at the open hostility shown by the Phoenix Commander, before he mentally shook his head and went to what he finally had the nerve to ask. "Hey, guys."

"Hmm…?" His mates hummed in unison, Thatch looking at him directly as Marco kept his eyes closed. Ace knew that the blond was listening though.

"…Have you ever been in love?"

Marco opened his eyes and snapped his head in the direction of the freckled commander as Thatch spit out the generous sip of grog he had been in the middle of swallowing. Marco shot the brunette a scathing glance at the disgusting mess he had made in his room, a look Thatch didn't notice as he began coughing uncontrollably. Ace got up and began patting his back rather harshly, only making his coughing fit worse.

"I'M OKAY! I'M OKAY!" Thatch choked out, wiping his mouth on his sleeve as Ace once again took his seat on the floor.

"Why do you ask, yoi?" Marco questioned, one eyebrow raised at the raven haired man before him. Ace's usually smiling lips were turned downward, a look of utter concentration on his face.

"I just… wanted to know what it was like." Came the unusually vague reply, no matter how ridiculously polite the man was, Ace wasn't known for beating around the bush when it came to... well, anything.

Thatch raised an eyebrow, before gesturing with a smirk towards the blond spread out on the bed. "Marco knows all about that."

Ace's eyes widened in surprise as he directed his dark gaze to the Phoenix Commander who had once again closed his eyes and donned that indifferent mask. "Marco knows?" He questioned, he had never even seen the blond with any women for more than a night. "Who?"

"Believe it or not, kid. It's a R—"

"Look… I'm not in love and I never have been okay, yoi?" Marco quickly interrupted Thatch who was about to reveal something stupid. The relationship he had wasn't love. Not even close. It was just some harmless fun. "Thatch just likes to read too much into my actions."

Ace looked towards Thatch to see him grinning widely, before he turned back to Marco and pouted at his mate's secretive attitude. He wouldn't pry though, Marco would tell him if and when he wanted.

"Your making me sound like a stalker!" Thatch complained, that wide, triumphant looking grin still on his face.

"But do you know what it's like? Experience-wise, I mean?" Ace quickly interrupted when he saw Marco open his mouth to reply to Thatch. The two were already straying from the topic and he wasn't sure he'd be able to bring it back up again without them asking questions like why he was even asking these kinds of things in the first place.

"Love?" Marco asked as if wondering why the much younger man was bringing it up again. "Romantic love?"

Ace nodded vehemently.

"Isn't it supposed to make you all warm and fuzzy inside?" Thatch tried as he rubbed over his heart. "And make you act stupid and go… 'kya kya' like what the nurses do?"

"Huh…?" Ace said, rolling it over in his head. Was that really love…? Well, he did feel that way about food. But, he was pretty sure that he wasn't that into food. Maybe he should have asked Izou instead, he seemed more reliable, but the fire commander just knew that the okama would needlessly pry until he got him to confess everything.

"There are a lot of different kinds of romantic love, yoi." Marco said, tone indifferent as always. "I think what Thatch said is more like… puppy love."

Ace only furrowed his eyebrows more, the Phoenix was only making it more confusing. He opened his mouth to respond, but Thatch beat him to it. "What do you call yours?"

To the freckled commander's utter surprise, Marco rolled his eyes.

God, Ace was curious.

"How many times do I have to tell you, yoi? I'm not in lo—" Marco's rare irate voice was interrupted by Thatch.

"Yea, yea. We get it." The pompadour haired man was still grinning in triumph as Marco narrowed his eyes at him. "Just answer Ace's question."

"Just how am I supposed to answer that, yoi?" Marco muttered in a fit of rare annoyance that he only usually had when dealing with either the Marines or rival Yonko. He spoke quickly as if they were words he had been wanting to get out for a long time. "Thinking constantly about the next time we can see and be together again, being jealous cause she's off on her own adventures surrounded by different men, not being able to experience anything without wishing she were here to see it to. That isn't love, yoi. It's longing."

Ace looked at his brother with wide eyes, just how long had he been thinking those things? Thatch on the other hand couldn't seem to wipe that extremely giddy grin off his face. "So…" Thatch began, his mind running a mile a minute as he asked the questions that would get the blond talking even more. "Why not tell Ace what it's like when you two finally do see each other."

Ace watched his mate carefully, the blond taking a moment to breathe in and out deeply as if trying to gather his thoughts. "I can't explain it, yoi. It's like... I can count on my fingers all the reasons we should have ended… but I'd rather use them to touch her."

Ace's eyes widened even more as Thatch's grin did the same, because apparently that was possible. "Ace, yoi." Said man snapped his head up towards the Phoenix who was once again back to his usual indifferent voice as if he had not just let his emotions get the better of his usually flawless self-control. "Just stop thinking about this, yoi. Thinking complicates things, especially for idiots like you."

"HEEEEYYY!" Ace yelled as Thatch started laughing his ass off.

"He's got a point though." Thatch said as he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, Ace shot him a glare as if daring him to call him an idiot. "Unlike this one," Thatch pointed a finger at Marco. "You're a hothead. Just do what you usually do. Feel."

It was already beyond obvious to the two older commanders that Ace was in love. He wouldn't be asking such stupid questions in the first place if he weren't. They also had a pretty good guess at just who he was in love with too.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to be feeling though." Ace admitted.

Marco and Thatch groaned loudly.

"Were you always this broody, yoi?" Marco insulted as he got up from his position. "If brooding had a tournament, you'd be its champion, yoi."

"NO I WOULDN—"

"That's it!" Thatch grabbed Ace's tattooed arm. "You're killing our moods with all this serious talk."

Marco opened the door and followed behind as Thatch began dragging a loudly protesting Ace through the halls of the ship. Others were looking at the three commanders with confused faces, but quickly let it go, thinking that Ace had probably just caused some kind of trouble again. "WAIT! WHERE ARE WE GOING?!"

"To get you hammered."

Ace placed his head on the table he usually occupied in the galley, before he sighed loudly, his mind drifting to Thatch's death. Teach was part of his division, he was his responsibility, it was his fault that he didn't notice Teach's true nature. He should have been the one to notice before anybody else. His bag felt heavy over his shoulder, he was glad that the rest of the crew was sleeping soundly or out patrolling the deck. It made what he was about to do so much easier. They wouldn't be able to stop him.

"I hear it again." Ace looked up when he heard the familiar voice, his eyes catching sight of Rem as she placed some of her home –ship- cooked food before him. He could see the food piled high, the meat dripping in his favorite sauce. But, for once, he wasn't hungry. "Your loud stomach."

"Sorry, Rem." He muttered as he took a small piece, he couldn't find it in him to show any kind of smugness at the fact that she cooked for him. He chewed thoughtfully as his mind raced with thoughts. Emotions of sadness, regret and absolute fury plagued him.

"Why are you still working at this time?"

She looked behind her for a second, she had been in the middle of cooking for the entire crew when she heard him. "Does it matter?"

"No." Came the unusually somber response, "I suppose it doesn't."

There was a moment of silence between them, before Rem spoke up once again. Truthfully, Ace was surprised that she hadn't left yet. He could smell the food she was cooking from where he was and he could hear something sizzling. Soon, it would burn and it would all go to waste.

"You're leaving." It wasn't a question.

"Sorry." He repeated.

"Stop saying sorry." She said with a narrow eyed glare.

He didn't speak, just continued to stare at the food she had prepared for him. Any other time, he would have been glad beyond belief that she had taken the time to cook for him. He hadn't been able to taste her cooking in such a long time. Now that he thought about it, was this what Marco meant back then? Did she only cook for her mates when they were feeling like this?

"If you're leaving, then take this with you." His eyes widened at her sudden words, before he looked up in surprise as she placed all the meat into a large bento that she got seemingly out of nowhere. Wrapping it up with the red kerchief that she usually kept tied tightly around her head. Her dark hair spilling over now that it was gone. "I want this back."

He nodded, standing and without another thought he grabbed her arm. Yanking her forward, to plant his lips over her own.

Letting out all his emotions over the past few months and feeling a thousand times lighter with each passing second. Her eyes widened in surprise for a moment, before she kissed him back. Sloppily and full of vigor. Tongues fighting as Ace deepened the kiss by tugging at her hair. Once they broke apart, she could see his usual grin, except this time it had a twinge of sadness behind it. A sadness every Whitebeard Pirate was currently feeling because of the sudden loss of Thatch, their mate, their brother. The same sadness that welled up in her own heart only now, hers was amplified because she knew that Ace was about to leave the ship.

His hand cradled her head as he whispered one last thing, before he left without another look back. Five words that had tears stinging her eyes as she heard the loud cries of her mates calling for Ace to come back with all their might and here she was, letting him leave without a word.

"Thanks for the food, Rem."

"I don't need someone to complete me, I just need someone to make things a little bit better every now and then."

A/N: I hope you guys liked it. Review, favorite, follow, do what you will. Thank you! This is my first attempt at a one-shot story, but because I am no longer that into the hotness that is Fire Fist Ace, I don't think I'll be able to write an actual multi-chapter fic about him.

I HAVE A MARCOXOC STORY CALLED 'HARMLESS FUN.'

It is multi-chapter and you'll be able to understand what Marco and Thatch are talking about. Rem will also be making an appearance there. It is the continuation of this one-shot, except it does not feature Ace.

DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!