Guess what. This story is my tribute to Ace. Boy, you're the best.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, not even one piece (mwahaha.)

Chapter 1: Love Lessons

The girl watched with a bored expression on her cute face as the party was in full swing. She could have gotten there herself, stolen a few bottles of sake and just have a good time. Some of the men there were quite handsome, too. There was nothing against a little bit of fun, but today she just didn't feel like it, even if it would be no problem picking up one of those, pirate or not. They were all very drunk by now and the fact that she was good-looking would only help her even more to getting laid or whatever she wanted.

She stood up and strode over to the whole excitement. The hope to get a nice conversational partner could be abandoned by now, and she just helped some of them to lighten their purses – by taking all the money from the drunken somethings in front of her. And now she was bored to no end.

Sighing, she sauntered over to where she had spotted a bar sign – not that she needed a bar though, she could have easily stolen some bottles from passengers or some of the booths all around on the street, for it was a street party. Perhaps she could sit in some corner over there and watch the people laughing, fighting or flirting around. If she was bored nonetheless, she could still go to bed.

Yawning, she entered the bar, waved at a crewmate engaged in a seemingly hot discussion and found herself the remote corner she had been looking for. The couple in front of her seemed as if they would come at each other right now, and with a tired smile she wished they would leave before it got embarrassing. But apparently that was not what they thought about it. She watched in utter fascination when it seemed as if they would eat each other alive.

Go learn kissing, she thought disgusted and shook her head. Then she looked at a slumped figure to her left with a horrifying orange cowboy hat. Just some drunken body without any sense of fashion, she sighed, and just when she decided to return to the ship to go to bed, the drunken body slowly lifted his head and yawned with his mouth wide open. She stared in surprise at the young man who turned his head and noticed her glance.

"Whassup?" he asked dozily as pitch-black eyes looked at her with such an intense gaze that it sent shivers down her spine.

Interesting, she thought, now not wasting one more thought to her bed.

"Oh, nothing", she said calmly and mustered him. He wore black shorts and heavy boots, but no shirt, and the soft bar lights illuminated his bare chest in a flattering way. He looked really good with his deep brown spiky hair coming out of the ridiculously orange hat and framing his freckled face. Really, really good.

"I'm just bored." This was only half the truth, now that she had found him it was getting interesting.

"Bored?" He yawned again. "Me too. This wasn't even caused by my narcolepsy …"

"Narcolepsy?" she asked curiously and laughed. "Like … sleeping from one second to the other?"

"Yeah, exactly," he said and now it was his turn to muster her. She let him, though, this was nothing new and she had done the same with him, so why not.

He saw a girl of about sixteen, with long dark red hair dangling loosely around her arms and equally dark red lips. Her eyes were of a bright azure colour, and she wore a tight black top emphasising her slender figure, combined to long red and green chequered pants. Her slender ankles were accentuated by dark brown and medium-heeled sandals. As far as he could see, she had no weapons with her.

"Interested?" she asked with a malicious smirk.

The boy blushed visibly and immediately took his hands up in a gesture of rejection. "N-no, I was just …"

She laughed, then shook her head. "Really, it's okay. Just say it and we can go somewhere else …"

He blushed even deeper, causing her to giggle at the sight. "I don't understand …" he mumbled.

"Yes you do. Come on." She stood up and reached her hand out for him. He looked at her, as confused as one could be, but finally he took her hand and let himself be dragged out of the crowded place. She smiled as she led him out of the bar and along the street filled with people dancing, laughing and drinking.

"Where do you take me?" his quiet voice asked her from behind, and she turned her head to him, smiling.

"Somewhere a bit less crowded," she answered and saw him blushing again. She chuckled. He didn't seem that shy only minutes ago. Let's see if I can get that out of him.

She took him to a street near the harbour, surrounded by a nice little park to both sides. She knew that park because she had already been here for one week, much time to inspect the place.

"See? Not many people in here," she told him and smiled. He smiled back, but she saw he was more than unsure about what to do next. Chuckling, she took him further on into the park. And then, when she reached the place she had been looking for, she pulled on his hand and managed to press him against a tree while leaning in to him.

Taken by surprise by the sudden closeness, the boy blushed heavily. She smirked as she leaned against his muscular chest, running her hands up and down his arms. She could feel the shiver she caused him. "You've never done this before, right?"

"Done what before?" he asked, obviously very embarrassed.

"Aww, come on. Don't make such a cute face at me," she giggled. And without any warning, she reached up, pulled the annoyingly orange hat back and entangled her fingers in his dark hair while pulling his face close to her. She kissed him and was surprised at how soft his lips were.

He went stiff as he felt the touch of her lips against his. Surely she didn't mean … it?

"I love your hair," she said with a soft chuckle and looked him deep in the eyes. He looked a bit frightened. "Relax, honey. Just enjoy this."

She kissed him again, and more and more, she felt his resistance – or hesitance – vanish. Slowly, he started to react, to kiss her back, and she smiled against his lips as he did so. And when she wanted to pull back, he didn't even let her. He took his hands up to hold her head in place as he let his tongue slide into her mouth, and she had to suppress an amused chuckle. This guy might be inexperienced, but he definitely has talent.

"Did you learn that somewhere?" she asked when they parted for air, smirking up at him.

He frowned and shrugged, "Uhh … to be honest, I didn't."

So that's his first kiss? she thought and didn't know whether to feel proud because she had been the first to kiss those lips and to experience quite a bit pleasure from them, or to be ashamed … because she had stolen his first kiss.

Aww, come on. It's not like you've stolen anything today. At least not this kiss.

She seized him by the collar (well, his non-existing collar, namely his neck) and pulled him closer, reducing that awful eight-inch-distance between them. "I want more of that," she informed him and saw him swallow hard. Somehow his shyness actually turned her on, she didn't know why. Normally she only went for the more experienced guys, but something told her to stay and just try it.

And in the case of his kissing abilities … well, it proved her right, and when she pressed her lips on his the second time, she thought that it could actually become better. And if he was able to learn that fast, it would. Definitely.

She started to enjoy it, to really enjoy it. The feeling of his hands in her hair, twisting single strands and pulling her head even closer to not miss one single contact, to not let even half an inch get between them. He roamed her mouth with such skill she almost didn't believe that he had said the truth about not having been kissed yet. And the least she could do was to answer him in an equal manner – which she did quite willingly and extensively.

As a little moan escaped his throat, she felt she could go further without scaring him off. The fact that he didn't wear a shirt helped her immensely as she could let her hands graze his exposed upper body. She could feel him hesitate a bit when her fingers fiddled around with his belt and finally opened it, but she pulled back and smiled at him, cupping his cheek with her left hand. "Relax. You'll like it," she assured him before she continued, pulling his pants down and pressing him down the tree until he sat on the ground and looked up at her with an unreadable expression, and she felt desire flooding through her as she looked him in these deep black eyes. She straddled him, now undressed herself, and then she taught him one of the most important lessons in life: pleasure.

10 minutes later (hey, he's inexperienced after all)

"Wow. That was … wow."

She chuckled. "I know. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have done this."

He sat up so that he could look at her. She was even more beautiful now, the most beautiful being he had ever seen, now that her face was so sweetly reddened. He could even see that in the cold light of the moon. "How come you know so much about this? You can't even be seventeen!"

She chuckled again. "I'm sixteen."

"So … how come? Are you a …" He didn't dare vocalising the word ghosting around in his mind, but it didn't matter as he immediately saw her former satisfied expression darken and change into something like disapproval.

"No I'm not, and don't you dare calling me a whore!" she hissed. "I just want my pleasure, what's wrong with you guys? Screwing around in the whole world, and just when a girl wants a bit of fun herself she has to be a whore? Really, what's wrong with you?"

He hastened to take his hands up in defence. "No, no, really, I didn't mean to … I mean, I'm sorry."

She sighed, obviously annoyed, and sat up herself, looking for her top.

"Really, I'm sorry. I didn't want to call you that." His calm tone caused her to look into his eyes, and all she could find was real regret and sincerity. He didn't just say that for her to stay or to charm her.

She nodded. "It's okay. Just keep an eye on who you're about to offend. Others wouldn't be so kind." She saw him nodding seriously and couldn't help smiling. He looked really cute now … if you disregarded his very muscular chest and nakedness. That was just hot.

"What's your name?" she asked and wondered in the very second about why she had asked this. She never asked one of her … acquaintances about their names, if they didn't tell her. Why did it matter now?

"It's Ace," he said and smiled.

"Ace," she repeated thoughtfully. Then she cupped his cheek with her hand and pecked him on his lips one last time. She didn't know why she did that, she just had that feeling.

"I'm sure we'll meet again," she said, and it was not just glib. She actually believed it without knowing why.

This is so weird. I think I'd better leave, she thought and shook her head fiercely to get the strange thoughts off her mind. Just as she was about to stand up, he held her back with his voice.

"I dunno. Perhaps. I wanna sail further on, become a pirate and stuff. The Grand Line's just too big for two people to meet again."

She smiled. "You think so?"

"Yup." He grabbed for his pants.

"We'll see, little cowboy." He frowned at the mocking title, but she just laughed.

"What's your name?" he asked, feeling he had the right to know it since she knew his.

She smiled into the shadows while collecting her clothes as he started to put on his pants. Her name … she never gave away her real name.

"Yami." It slipped out of her mouth before she could hold it back, and she felt the urge of biting her tongue off here and now. Just how can one be so damn stupid?

"Yami," he repeated, and the way he spoke it made her shiver slightly. Irritated now, she cast one last glance at the boy – man – standing next to the tree. Then she disappeared into the shadows.

Author's note: "yami" means "darkness" in Japanese.