You grumble sleepily as you rub your eyes to keep you awake.

It was breakfast and everyone was staring worriedly at you like you had an incurable disease. "Didn't you sleep well last night, (Name)?" Robin asks, putting a hand on your head. "You're not sick, are you?"

"Maybe, I think." You mumble. You had been feeling a little chilly earlier and your temperature had been heating up.

"It's probably because she was soaked from the rain yesterday." Chopper whispers loudly enough for everyone to hear. He was looking at his plate of french toast and bacon but his eyes were cast to the side to look at you.

"Yeah, you're right." Robin sighs and stands up. "Mozu, Kiwi, please make some soup for her." She tells the pink and yellow clad maids, they nod and hurried to the kitchen to start preparing the soup. "(Name), you need to go back and rest up." She says this to you.

You nod, although it hurt your head when you moved it around, and you stood up with a stumble. "I'll carry her upstairs." Franky says, also standing up from his seat, and carefully picks you up and walks to your room.

Chopper hops off his chair and follows behind Robin following Franky. You felt bad about burdening them with this on your first day at the manor. What a terrible daughter you are.

Chopper peeks from beside your bed as Franky sets you down and Robin pulls the blankets over you. "I'm sorry," You murmur when she bends down to kiss your forehead. "I didn't mean to be a bother."

Robin shushes you and tells you to rest. "You're no bother, (Name)." She whispers to you.

"When you're feeling better, how about that family vacation, huh?" Franky grins.

A vacation would be a nice way to bond. You nod slowly as your eyes force you to fall asleep again. You felt something wet on your head, probably a towel. Everything went black as you went back to a deep slumber.

The entire room felt hot and it was suddenly hard to breathe. Your throat was gasping for air as the area surrounding you was covered in bright orange flames. It was too bright to see around you.

'Where am I?' You wondered.

There was a bed across the room with a familiar figure hugging her knees beside it, she looked scared. You pondered on how to get to her but soon realized she was cornered. The only way out for her was through the window.

Before you could call out to her, there was a loud crash, and you look to the floor by the window you were eyeing earlier. It was a person crouching down and running towards the girl. He scooped her up in his arms and covered her from the flames.

You watch as they both leap out the window to safety, leaving the room to burn and you in it.

'Wait, wasn't that Smoker?' You wondered, suddenly you realized that you were alone in a burning building.

"SMOKER! COME BACK! I'M STILL IN HERE!" You cried.

The ceiling started to break and fall, you leapt out of the way and huddled into a corner. Smoke was choking you and your eyes started to tear up from it.

Am I going to die?!

"Wake up, princess." A familiar voice whispered.

The wall behind you crumbles away and you fall backwards. You scream for help, reaching out your hand to catch something. Anything. But you were closer to the ground now.

You close your eyes and wait for the impact.

"Princess, wake up."

You stir in your sleep as someone gently touches your cheek. It felt like a hand... But cold. Your eyes slowly open and see a young man's face hovering above yours, his hand on your cheek.

"Welcome back." He smirks, releasing his hand from your face, and rolling over to his side.

The towel fell on your pillow as you swiftly sat up, feeling a sudden dizziness as you did. "What happened...?" You groan. Holding up a hand to massage the side of your temple, you look over to the guy on your bed beside you.

"You were having another nightmare." He replies.

You suddenly remember the young man from earlier today. Eyes widening, you cover your mouth to hold back a scream. He throws a questioning look, "What?"

"You're the creep who was at my bed earlier this morning!" You hissed, pointing an accusing finger at your intruder. "How did you even get inside the mansion?! Security is suppose to be tight!"

"Okay. First of all, my name is Ace. Portgas D. Ace." He looks at you with a smug grin on his face. "Secondly, I didn't do anything to get in. I woke up next to you."

Your jaw dropped at his explanation. No way were you believing that. You got out of bed and run to the bathroom, locking the door once inside. You sigh.

"Yeah, that's not gonna work." A voice said from behind.

You spun around and find him standing behind you with a bored expression. You felt your blood went cold.

"H-How did you get in?!" You shriek, unlocking the door and opening it. You walk out backwards, watching him walking with you, and you turn around. "What the—-?!"

There he was in front of you with the same bored expression. You didn't hear him move or see him walk around you. Just who is this man?!

"Calm down and let me explain," He says, cutting off your stammering as you form a cross sign with your fingers.

"Y-You're a demon! A malicious spirit who came to haunt me!" You say while backing away from him. This time he didn't move to follow you, he simply blinked at your fingers.

"Look, princess, I'm no demon." He sighs, sitting down cross legged on the brown carpeted floor and leaning against your bedside. "I'm just a guy who woke up beside you and now I can't leave."

You were against the wall now, eyes staring into his own, and slowly slid down into a sitting position. "Why are you here?" You ask, still suspicious of him.

He shrugs, "Beats me. All I know is that I can't leave the room."

You frown at this and stand up, briskly walking over to him. "Look, I don't care who you are Mr., umm, err—"

"Ace." He added.

"Mr. Ace, I don't care who you are or how you got here. I just want you to LEAVE." You huff, crossing your arms and tapping your foot impatiently. Ace scoffs at you and rolls his eyes.

"Princess—" He began, but you cut him off.

"It's (Name)." You interjected.

"Princess (NAME) then," He rolls his eyes again in annoyance while you scowl at his attitude. "I just told you, I can't leave the room."

"Oh yes, you are." You say as you tried to grab his arm, but your hand slipped through him like he was fog. "What... What the hell are you?!" You stumble on your own two feet and quickly back pedal away from him.

Now that you look at him closely, his skin was sort of transparent against the sunlight. A ghost?! You scream in your head as the young man walked closer to you, his heavy footsteps drawing near as you shut your eyes tight and say a prayer.

"I won't hurt you." He says, voice right in front of you.

You open your eyes slowly and see his face centimeters away from yours, noses almost touching. You could almost see right through his body. It sent a cold shiver down your spine and you rub your arms for warmth.

He notices this and backs away, motioning to the bed for you to get in. "You're sick, right? You should get some rest." He says as he walks over to sit down at the foot of the bed. "I'm not gonna do anything. Geez..." He sighs once he saw your dubious look.

You cautiously walked over to the bed and got in, head laying on the pillow, eyes still wide awake and studying him. He stares back and waits for you to fall asleep.

A bird sat on the windowsill and chirped melodiously but you ignored it. The room suddenly dimmed a bit as a group of cumulus clouds blocked out the sun. You observed Ace's body. Once the sunlight was out, his skin didn't look translucent anymore, it made him look more... alive.

Five minutes passed.

"I see you're still awake." Ace says. He was still sitting at the foot of the bed, staring at you.

You narrow your eyes at him and frown, "And I see you're still here."

He groans and rested his head on his hands. "I told you, princess, I can't leave the room."

You hmph-ed at him and shiver slightly as a gust of wind blew in from the window that was ajar. Ace blinks, seeing you cold and remembering that you were still sick, he strides over to the window and closes it.

You only observed him as he walks back to the bed, pulling the blanket closer to you as he climbs on. "Thanks..." You murmur with a yawn.

Ace picks up the towel from beside your head and dips it into the bowl of cold water. His body was above yours as he did this and you hide your blush under the covers. He squeezes the water out then places the wet towel on your forehead.

"Thanks?" You say, not sure why he was being so nice to you, you were strangers after all.

"No problem, princess." He yawns, rubbing his eye and snuggling beside you. His body felt like nothing but air and you wondered how he managed to pick things up like he was solid. "Go to sleep, princess." He mumbles sleepily, one eye opening to look at you.

"G-Good night..." You murmur as you slowly began to fall back asleep.

His touch was cold and it felt so real. Could he be just my imagination? Yeah... That's probably it. Nothing but a crazy hallucination.