Your eyes ease open to an unfamiliar room. Humming softly, you sit up, rubbing your cheek. The sound of glass moving makes you look over at the tea pot as a mouse's head pokes out. Then you remember, you were still in the weird place. "Morning Ace." You hum.

The mouse hops to the bed before he changes back, stretching with a low groan. "Morning." You rub at your eyes and look over as Sabo comes in with a tray of food.

"Morning ___, I hope you like pancakes." He breathes with a warm smile. He hands you the tray and you smile a bit.

"Keep this up and I'll want to take you home with me Sabo." You hum playfully.

"That sounds like fun." He rumbles thoughtfully. You smile and dig into your food. You really would miss them when you go back. Then again if Luffy could go between both places so could they.

"Mm I guess we're heading to Thriller Woods then." Ace gets up, grabbing some clothes and going out.

"Thriller Woods..." You echo, peering at Sabo.

"Yeah, it's a dark place, there's a creature there that steals shadows there. We'll have to be careful." He murmurs.

"Sounds fun." You scoff. He chuckles lightly, taking the now empty tray.

"Then fun it shall be." He says before starting out.

"That... Was sarcasm..." You murmur. With a shake of your head you get ready to go, heading out to the kitchen to put up the tray. Then you head outside to meet the others with a smile. "Alright, into the woods to meet Brook and find the way to the castle!." You nod to them.

With that, Sabo takes the lead, so you move to his side. "We're pretty close to it, so it shouldn't take long." He breathes.

"Do you go there often?" You ask him.

"Yeah. Its the best place to get ingredients for food." He smiles softly at you.

"You have the bluest eyes Sabo... can I keep you?" You breathe. His eyes widen briefly before he tugs on the rim of his hat, smiling lightly.

"___ ... you're too much my dear..."

"I'm sure you can handle it." You nudge him. He really was too cute for his own good. He chuckles lightly looking you in the eye before leaning over.

"Careful my dear. We're all mad here." His gentle warning makes a chill run down your spine. He pulls away and tilts his head. "So we may be unpredictable at times." He adds, staring into your eyes. Damn he sure knew how to get your heart going. At this rate you might just have to keep this one.

A sneeze behind you makes you both look back at Ace, some of his mouse features were starting to show. Sabo blinks and stops as Ace changes back before leaning down and transferring the mouse to his chest pocket again. You smile a bit as he straightens.

"So responsible." You comment. He pauses and looks at you before chuckling lightly.

"You're so keen on complementing me." He murmurs thoughtfully.

"I just havent found a reason to dislike anything about you." You hum.

".... Hey, we're here too." Zoro speaks up frowning.

"Princess! Pay attention to us too." Sanji pouts. You blink at them in surprise.

"Look at that you made them jealous." Sabo teases lightly.

"Sorry guys." You smile sheepishly. "So many cute guys here to pay attention to."

"Im not cute." Zoro grumbles while Sanji swoons. You glance at Sabo again and he winks before leading you into the dark forest.

You look around curiously as everyone moves quietly. It was becoming nearly pitch black very quickly. "... Is it night again so soon?" You ask.

"No. The trees are just very dense." Sabo assures.

"This is one place anyone can get lost in." Sanji speaks up.

"I see why... Anything could be in here..." You mutter.

"Actually. I've heard that the keeper of time resides in this forest as well." Sabo informs you.

"Keeper of time..." You give a doubtful face at that.

"Yeah. I doubt he exists too. Never seen him." Zoro shrugs.

"That's because he's a recluse moron." Sanji huffs.

"What did ya just call me curly brow?" Zoro growls back.

"You heard me mosshead!" Sanji snaps. With that they start to bicker and you casually step closer to Sabo.

"So... This place is kind of scary. Will you hold my hand?" You hum pursing your lips slightly. He chuckles lightly at that and takes your hand at that.

"As you wish princess." He hums.

"Call me princess one more time and I'll bite you." You warn. He smirks and meets your gaze with a mischievous glint.

"Kinda like the idea of your teeth sinking into me." He breathes with a husky voice. You pause, blushing heavily before looking away.

"Alright, you win...." You scoff as he chuckles again.

"Oh dear. I didn't mean for that to come out." He hides his smile under his free hand. You peer at him at that. "You bring another side of me out it would seem..."

"You're going to blame that on me?" You raise an eyebrow at him.

"Yes." He says simply, dropping his hand to give a thoughtful smile. He suddenly stops, looking over his shoulder. "They're gone." He breathes. You look back and frown, searching the darkness.

"What should we do? Did the shadow snatcher get them?" You ask.

"It's more likely that they just wandered off in their bickering... We could stay and wait for them-" He stops, becoming serious as the path behind you both becomes darker somehow. He pulls you into himself waving his arm out and making a blue fire sprout around you both.

"Woah..." You murmur, jumping slightly as darkness seems to splash against the flames.

"Shadow thief. I'd prefer if you moved on and left the princess and myself alone." Sabo states with a low voice. You glance at his face to find him glaring at the darkness coolly. Damn. Too bad you didn't have a guy like this on the other side of the mirror. Maybe you wouldn't havent gotten in so much trouble...

"Kishishishi! You think these flames will stop me?" A voice makes you blink out of your daze. Sabo's frown depends at that.

"___. You need to run... Here. Take Ace." He breathes, taking the mouse from his pocket and giving him to you.

"What? What's going to happen to you?" You frown uneasily.

"I'm going to fight him. But as long as you're here I'll hold back. So please give me some space." He offers a soft smile. You blink and nod uneasily before taking off the barely lit path, moving Ace to the pocket of Sabo's borrowed coat as you ran.

Honestly you were surprised the mouse hadnt woken yet. You peer back as a blue light flickers wildly back where Sabo was, followed by a burst of heat.

"Wow... You go Sabo..." You whisper before looking ahead and stopping at a forked path. You should probably wait here for him, you wouldn't know the way anyway.

"So we meet again." A soft hum makes you look up into the great tree at the fork in the road.

"Caterpillar..." You tilt your head, as she hangs upside down from a nearly finished cocoon.

"You seem to be troubled. Are you still seeking Luffy?" She inquires.

"Well yeah." You shrug.

"Then why are you hesitating? One of these paths will take you straight to him." She smiles.

"Because..." You look back, tje blue light was now gone. Your eyes widen as darkness starts to hide the path lights.

"Oh my. If you don't run you could lose your shadow." She hums.

'Sabo...' You grit your teeth. "Ace! Wake up! The shadow thief took Sabo!" You pull him out of your pocket. His eyes snap open and he leaps from your grasp, changing form as the shadows grow close. You flinch as a reddish fire bursts at the shadows.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to sleep long! Don't worry! I'll handle him! You take that left path!" He shouts you a smile. You hesitate, about to argue but a blast of heat makes you stagger back.

"Dammit...." You grit your teeth, running down the left path. Dammit.. Dammit.. DAMMIT. You squeeze your eyes shut, hands clenching into fists before you stop and open your eyes.

Where was the path now? You look around only finding darkness. Your heart tries to pick up its pace but you calm it.

"Not the first time you've been in a situation like this ___. Open your ears." You tell yourself, relaxing and closing your eyes. After a moment, a sound reaches your ears.

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