#the friend he has in whitebeard and his crew! even if they treat each other as enemies! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

stealth-black-leg · 6 days ago

Text

Forcing myself out of writer's block to write some propaganda fic for my old men...

The first time they meet, Whitebeard wipes the floor with Zeff. Nothing personal — just two pirate crews that happen to bump into each other, inevitably clashing. Par for the course in their line of work.

What is unusual—and highly so—is for the defeated captain to, bruised and beaten as he is, offer to cook a meal for the other. He does it earnestly, even amidst grumbles and insults, and with such passion for his craft that Whitebeard finds himself warmed up due to something other than the delicious treat.

The second time they meet is at a wayward port town, the kind of place that won't mind pirates so long as they behave. Zeff's boat is already docked when the Moby Dick arrives, and the sight of its jolly roger, a cartoony duck with a crossed knife and fork behind it, makes Whitebeard crack a smile.

There's no good excuse as to why he sets out to look for him the moment he sets foot on land, other than he's curious to see him again, months after their first meeting. He didn't imagine Zeff would choose to remain in the New World after his rough start — it pleases him to find he was wrong, although he can't put his finger on why, exactly, it is so.

Zeff is sharing a drink with his first mate when Whitebeard finds him, and two pairs of eyebrows raise when they see him approach. Beren seems to tense, fingers going rigid around his tumbler, but Zeff appears much calmer. Surprised, yes, and maybe curious, but he doesn't seem to feel threatened.

Whitebeard hopes Zeff is happy to see him again, then wonders where this wish is coming from.

He joins them at their table, receiving permission in the shape of a smile under a blond mustache. They catch up over a drink, with the familiarity of old friends even though they're practically strangers, and hours fly by in the midst of laughter and friendly conversation.

Beren excuses himself at some point, saying he needs to restock on cigarettes.

“What you need to do is quit,” Zeff barks at his retreating figure, then grumbles: “Waste of a good cook, fucking up his tastebuds like that. He could be just as good as me if he just put in the effort.”

“High praise,” Whitebeard comments — and then, without much thought, he asks: “Would you cook for me again?”

Zeff gives him a Look.

It's smug, in the way a craftsman is when his job is praised, and it's surprised, perhaps taken aback by the forward request, but there's something else overall; something that Whitebeard might be inclined to call fondness, if only he could tell why such a feeling would be there.

It is something akin to fondness what fills him when, making eye contact and still through his Look, Zeff says, “Of course,” and the spark that seems to flicker somewhere in his chest will leave him puzzled for weeks.

The third time they meet, Roger is there.

He and Whitebeard have recently finished beating the crap out of each other for what feels like a week, and now their crews are mingling—drinking, chatting, trading—as if they hadn't just reshaped the island's landscape by means of trying to kill each other. It's not the first time this occurrence takes place, which makes Whitebeard fear it's the start of a tradition, although admittedly not one he would hate.

Zeff shows up out of nowhere, arriving—thankfully—when it's the party and not the fight at its peak. Roger's men grow alert at the arrival of a third pirate crew (the effect a tad undermined by Rayleigh chasing after a laughing, red-haired toddler that has stolen his glasses) but Whitebeard's greet them happily, and soon the atmosphere returns to its festive ambiance, with the newcomers welcome to the celebration.

“Saw the Moby Dick anchored by the shore,” Zeff says for a greeting when he approches Whitebeard. “Didn't know you had company.”

“Didn't know you had friends,” Roger cackles teasingly, and Whitebeard trips him when he passes by him to go greet Zeff with a handshake.

“Red Leg Zeff,” Whitebeard says through a long-suffering sigh, “meet Gol D. Roger. Good pirate, better moron.”

“I've heard about you,” Zeff says to Roger; and then, turning to Whitebeard: “Surely he's not that bad.”

No. Turns out, he's worse.

Whitebeard doesn't know what gear shifts in Roger after Zeff's joining them, but his rival starts getting on his nerves rather quickly.

It starts when Zeff decides that the rock he's sitting on is uncomfortable and moves to Whitebeard's knee instead. “Make room, Newgate,” he demands, to which Whitebeard only replies: “Don't fall,” reaching to support him with a hand at his back.

“Don't insult me. Ah, you have a little something—” Pulling out a handkerchief, Zeff reaches and wipes the corner of Whitebeard's mouth.

They hear Roger choke on his drink, then cough, and when they look at him they find him glancing between the two of them, a half-surprised, half-delighted grin on his face. “Oh,” he says in a raspy wheeze, “so this is what it is.”

Whitebeard blinks.

“What is what?” Zeff inquiries, sounding as confused as Whitebeard feels.

Roger's grin grows wider, his eyes gleaming in pure joy. “You two—” he starts, then cracks up in a loud fit of laughter, doubling over. “You don't know!” he cackles. “By god, you don't know!”

Growing more confused by the second, Zeff glances at Whitebeard. Whitebeard returns the glance, shrugs helplessly, and returns his gaze to Roger to bark at him: “What the hell are you on?”

Roger doesn't reply, of course he doesn't. He's too busy laughing, so hard that he's on the brink of tears, and they can only watch him, unsure on whether they're being mocked or simply left out of a joke they don't get.

“This is beautiful,” Roger sobs after a full five minutes, out of breath. “Oh, this is the best day of my life.”

And then he finally deigns to address them again. With an annoyingly knowing look plastered on his face, tears of laughter escaping the corners of his eyes, and a smile of pure joy, he meets Whitebeard's stare head on and only says:

“Let me know when you figure it out.”

The fourth time they meet, Whitebeard figures it out.

Strictly speaking, he figures it out right after they part ways for the fourth time. As he watches Zeff's ship sail away, he puzzles over why separating from that man always leaves him feeling nostalgic over they time they've just shared. Why, when he passes by the kitchen for a snack, he smiles fondly at the memory of Zeff commandeering it, kicking Thatch out while calling him an annoying zucchini. Why the presence of Zeff seems to linger around him like the aftertaste of good liquor.

And then, when he makes it to his cabin, he's surprised to find a large jug waiting for him there. There's a note tied to the cork, and his hand trembles uneasily when he reaches for it, recognising even from afar Zeff's neat handwriting.

Newgate,

I've been experimenting with new brews. I think you'll find this one to your liking. I'll be expecting some feedback the next time we meet.

Zeff

Whitebeard reads it over and over. An unexplicable warmth fills his chest as his eyes absorb Zeff's words — curt and straight to the point, but undeniably fond. There's an underlying message to his note and gift: I think of you; please, think of me — and how couldn't he, Whitebeard wonders. How couldn't he think of Zeff, when just doing that makes him feel content, brings a smile to his face, lifts him u—oh shit.

Oh. Oh, crap. Oh, motherfucker.

Oh.

Roger, bless his soul, picks up his Den Den Mushi rather quickly.

“I'm in love with Zeff,” Whitebeard blurts out the moment the snails connect.

There's silence for a beat. Roger blinks, then smiles, then goads: “Congratulations! You figured it out! Has he?”

“Fuck if I know. You think he's in love with me?”

“I would say so, yes. And, if I may—you two make quite the lovely pair.”

“What the fuck, Roger. What the fuck.”

“Love works in mysterious ways, Whitey. Or so I've been told. What are you going to do?”

Whitebeard pauses for a moment. Isn't that a fan-fucking-tastic question? What the hell is he going to do?

“... I guess I'll talk to him the next time we meet?”

“Edward Newgate—all the time I've known you, all the things I've seen you do—and you've never sounded so terrified before,” Roger says through a fond laugh. “Do. Talk to him. It'll be alright.”

“Will it?”

“Why wouldn't it?”

“This is insane, Roger.”

“No, insane is becoming a father by finding a baby in a plundered chest. Two people falling in love? Happens every day. Talk to him. Then call me back and tell me everything.”

“I can't stand you, Gol,” Whitebeard groans.

“But you will call me, yes?”

“Depending on how well your advice works, I'll either call you or sink you.”

“Fair. I'll be waiting expectantly for either.”

The fifth time they meet, Whitebeard talks to Zeff.

Hours later, he calls Roger.

His rival laughs, and only says:

“I call dibs on officiating the wedding.”

One Piece Crack Ship War - Round 3 Side F

Propaganda under the cut.

Nami x Koala: Koala was enslaved by humans and saved by fishmen. now, she spends her life fighting for other people’s freedom. nami was enslaved by fishmen and saved by humans, and spends her life fighting for her own freedom. they’ve never interacted but i think they’d get along great- they’re both the level headed one for an asl brother too! at the very least they can bond over all of the stupid shit they’ve had to shut down.

Braidbeard: OKAY LISTEN TO ME. These two old men? Met in their youth and got together with the sole purpose of adopting every single daddy-issues brat in the Grand Line. Zeff beats the shit out of Whitebeard every time they have a meal because of his piss-poor table manners, but then he also brews WB's favourite sake. They love each other very much but suck at showing it, except when it's time to embarrass their children, at which point they have a whole arsenal of sappy pet names. Also Roger officiated their wedding.

#braidbeard #🥺🤲#featuring my oc Beren just because i can #anyway im afraid the lesbians are going to win because this is tumblr #and it makes me sad because LOOK AT MY OLD MEN #is WB ooc in this?#I honestly don't care

23 notes · View notes

nejibaby · 4 years ago

Text

Burn

Pairing: Portgas D. Ace x Reader

Summary: For Ace you’d do anything; even set yourself on fire if it meant he’d be safe, happy, and most importantly, alive.

The Sun - Part 2

Word Count: 2.4k

A/N: I’ve finished this and it has finished me. That’s all I wanted to say. 🤐 Jk... English isn’t my first language and I haven’t proofread this so I’m sorry if there’s grammatical errors and typographical errors. Also, I’d love to hear what your thoughts are on this 🥺✌🏼

There’s something about Ace that makes you so attracted to him. You couldn’t really pinpoint what it is. You aren’t sure if it’s his boyish smile, cocky smirk, lovely freckles, lean figure, easygoing and carefree attitude, the generous compliments he gives, or all of the above.

The dynamic between the two of you is almost like how a moth is attracted to a flame. But then again, Ace isn’t merely a flame. He’s more likely the sun — bright, warm, and all-consuming.

However, you can only ever get so close to the sun before you actually burn.

It was only in hindsight that you realize you should’ve kept your distance with Ace.

Maybe you shouldn’t have gotten through all the trouble of fighting against the bandits that started a brawl with the Spade Pirates at your hometown. Maybe you shouldn’t have fallen for Ace’s compliments on your skills on using knives as weapons. Maybe you shouldn’t have accommodated his curiosity on how to wield it. Maybe you shouldn’t have held his hand as you tried to show him the proper way of handling the knife. Because quite frankly, that one touch had sparked something in you. And it was that touch that started this whole mess — the mess of falling truly, madly, deeply in love with Portgas D. Ace.

But Ace only sees you as a crewmate of the Spade Pirates and later on as a subordinate when he became the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Unfortunately, you know that’s all you’ll ever be.

You can tell that Ace has no interest in falling in love — at least not yet; not until he achieves his goal. And you hate to admit it, but even after all the years you spend following him, you still have no idea what his true goal is. You aren’t even sure if you’ll ever find it out. Because unlike you, Ace knows how to keep a safe distance from people.

There’s only one time that Ace allowed himself to blur the lines of friendship, and it was when you were both too drunk after celebrating a successful mission together. Somehow in the middle of your conversation, in a drunken haze, he leaned into you and kissed you on the lips. And as expected of you, you kissed him back with equal fervor.

That night, you have learned that fire is quite a fitting power for Ace. If his lips were fire, then your blood was gasoline. His kiss ignited everything in you until you’re fully consumed by him.

The next day came by way too quickly, but… he had no memory of what had transpired, and you wished it was the same with you. It would’ve been easier to live in blissful ignorance, but instead of that, you’re left to treat the burns that Ace unknowingly left in his wake — not physically, of course, he would never hurt you that way, but it doesn’t exactly hurt any less.

No matter how hurt you’ve been that night, you didn’t really stay away from Ace. You’re just so stubborn and unrelenting that you continue to tredge the line that Ace has so clearly drawn.

And it’s because of that attitude that you have taken it upon yourself to find Ace and stop him searching for Teach. Marco couldn’t stop him, maybe even Deuce wouldn’t, but you might be able to, because you aren’t afraid to burn, at least not any more than you already have. And this makes all the difference between you and Ace’s friends, although he has yet to realize that.

You find Ace in Mock Town. He’s walking the street with his back to you.

There’s no doubt that you’re extremely worried about him but with how long you traveled just to get to him, you have started to feel angry because of his reckless actions.

So instead of calling out his name to get his attention, you grab one of the daggers strapped to your legs and throw it at him. With Ace’s logia-type power, it only goes through him. Ace doesn’t even stop walking.

Since his back is facing you, you couldn’t tell what type of look he has on his face, although you’re willing to bet your life that he has an arrogant smirk on his face. You’re tempted to throw another dagger at him and use your haki, but that would be too much; your intent is to get his attention, not to hurt him, no matter how annoying he can be.

The dagger lands a few feet away from Ace and he walks up to grab it. He tenses a bit after he crouches down and picks it up. You know he recognizes the unique handle of the weapon. Before you know it, he turns his body around to find you, sporting that awfully breathtaking smile that makes you go crazy.

For a moment your anger dissipates while your heart stutters across your chest. You wonder, “Why does the sun still bother rising when Ace obviously shines so much brighter?”

But your thoughts are cut off when all of a sudden you’re tackled into a hug by Ace. Your mind automatically goes blank.

You have no problem with skinship and Ace doesn’t mind too, but a hug certainly isn’t how the both of you greet each other.

The hug is short lived as Ace pulls away before you can even wrap your arms around him. He then proceeds to throw his arm over your shoulder. He starts walking with you across the town, the grin on his face never leaving. “Ya know, I just saw my brother a while back in Alabasta!” He happily tells you.

You’re happy for Ace, you really are, but you have to admit that you’re a tad bit disappointed. You’re disappointed that his excitement isn’t because of you; it’s more like leftover enthusiasm he had after seeing his little brother. But you chase those thoughts away immediately, knowing full well it’s unreasonable for you to expect something like that from Ace.

He continues telling you about his brother and his crew with that proud expression reserved for talks about Luffy. With the way he’s animatedly speaking, you couldn’t help the smile form on your lips. It’s at this moment that you realize that you’d do absolutely anything and everything for Ace to be happy and remain happy.

You’re listening intently as he recounts every single thing that happened during their encounter. By the time he’s done, he turns to you and asks, “Oh, by the way, what’cha doing here?”

You shrug. “I came to get you,” you casually say.

He retracts his arm that’s draped on your shoulder. He drops his smile as well. “No.”

“Stop making a fuss, Commander. Pops wants you back on the ship.”

“I said no. I’m going to find Blackbeard and teach him a lesson.”

You grit your teeth at annoyance while Ace stares you down. Noticing the people listening in on your conversation, you stride to Ace, use your haki to grab his wrist, and then lead him to an abandoned alleyway. The touch immediately quickens your pulse rate, but you don’t let it waver you.

You let go of his wrist once you reach the alleyway. When you turn to face him, you can instantly tell that he’s taken aback by your actions. It’s not often you act like this when things don’t go your way after all.

“Commander, come back to the crew,” you say once again.

“No!” He stubbornly says. You can tell he’s getting angry by the flames that started appearing on his shoulders. “Teach broke the iron rule in the ship! Thatch won’t be able to rest peacefully and Pops—”

“I know, Commander!” You raise your voice. “I know this!”

“Great! Now let me be,” he says as he turns his back to leave.

“Goddammit Ace! Why are you doing this again?!” You exclaimed, clenching your fists in the process. Ace stops in his tracks upon hearing you. He’s surprised that you’ve addressed him by his name. “Why are you so dead-set on carrying the burden alone? Can’t you see how reckless you’re being? You’re diving headfirst into something dangerous!”

“Do you think I’m weak?” He asks, still with his back to you.

“No.”

“Then trust me on this.”

You scoff. “Not everything is a matter of strength.”

Ace pivots his body so he’s facing you and then he leans against the wall. He crosses his arms and gives you a look to continue your speech.

“Has it ever crossed your mind that we want to avenge Thatch as well? I know you two were close since you’re both Commanders, but we were close too!”

“I’m Teach’s Commander, that’s why I have to—”

You don’t listen to him speak, opting to continue what you’re saying. “Thatch was like an older brother to me. But I lost him. I don’t want to lose you too,” you whisper almost inaudibly. “Because I love you…”

Ace freezes at your declaration, but he’s quick to recover and says, “You know I love you too.”

You sigh and look at him in the eyes. Tears are forming in your eyes, making Ace look blurry. “But not in the same way, right?”

Ace goes silent. But his eyes could communicate with you in ways you’d never understand. His eyes never lie, and from them you can clearly see the guilt of not being able to reciprocate your feelings.

Oh, how things change so quickly. Back then, you’d be ecstatic whenever his eyes would land on you. Back then, you’d do anything to keep his eyes on you a little longer. But now, you just wish he stopped looking at you with those eyes.

“I’d die for you,” he says after a while, as if it’s the answer you’re searching for.

This would’ve been such a romantic thing to say for others, but it doesn’t hold the same weight if Ace says this. You know he would risk his life for anyone on the crew, not just you.

“But that’s the thing. I don’t want you to die for me, I want you to live, even if it’s not for me or with me,” you exasperatedly tell him.

Ace’s eyes widen, almost as if you’ve reached something deep inside him with what you’ve just said.

“I knew it from the beginning that you don’t love me the same way, so it’s fine. But that doesn’t matter.”

You try changing the topic in order to shift your focus, “Listen, Commander, I’m not telling you to sit still and forget about Teach. You said so yourself, you’re his Commander, but you’re my Commander too, along with the rest of the Second Division. And right now, we need you. Hell, even Pops needs you.

“I know Pops won’t let Teach get away with this either, but he knows this isn’t the right time yet. Let’s gather intel first, before doing anything.”

Ace remains silent, obviously thinking about what you’ve just said.

“Does that sound good, Commander?” You ask quietly.

He nods his head slowly.

You hum. “Alright. Now that that’s settled, let’s head on to your Striker.”

The walk back to the port is unusually silent. Ace has one of his hands in his pocket while the other on his hat. You, on the other hand, are staring straight ahead, recounting the conversation that has just happened.

Truthfully, the conversation didn’t go as you planned. You’re certain that convincing Ace would be so much harder. In fact, you’ve readied yourself to pick a fight with him if he didn’t want to go back to the crew.

You’ve prevented the fight from happening at the expense of your stupid confession. And you aren’t sure if it’s for the better or for the worse.

A part of you knows it’s for the better, because this way Ace would be safe. But the pain coursing all throughout your body and the tears that you’re trying so hard to hold back makes you doubt it a little bit.

By the time you both reach the port, you head on straight to your boat and grab the supplies you have already separated for Ace. You throw the sack at him and he catches it with ease.

“You have Marco’s vivre card, right?” You ask.

He nods.

“Good. Just follow that. With the Striker, I’m sure you’ll reach the crew in a week or two.”

“You aren’t coming with me?”

You shake your head. “No. I actually have another mission to do,” you lie. You raise your right hand to point to the town. “Actually I’m heading there right now,” you say as you slowly walk backwards away from Ace. “So, see you in a month, I guess?”

You turn around to head back to the town, but Ace grabs a hold of your hand. “Wait!”

Ace isn’t using his powers, but why does his touch burn?

You look back at him, but your eyes refuse to meet his, so instead, you stare at the knife safely strapped on his hips. It’s the knife you originally owned but you have given it to him as a sign of your loyalty when he became your captain.

He removes his hold on you.

“What?” You ask.

“I can help you with it and we’ll—”

“No, don’t,” you sharply say.

Ace flinches at your tone.

You internally scold yourself for your hostility. Ace doesn’t deserve this. It isn’t his fault he doesn’t like you the same way. You sigh, “I’m sorry. I’ll just… see you off first before I go do this mission.”

You don’t leave any option for him so he has no choice but to comply. You can only watch in silence as Ace prepares to leave.

The truth is that you don’t have any mission aside from bringing Ace back to the crew. But you know Ace, you know that he’s not going to be able to stop thinking about Blackbeard and his deed. He won’t ever be able to rest properly and peacefully if no one’s going to continue this search. So for once, you’re shouldering this task for him.

It’s a dangerous mission, you’re aware. Espionage isn’t exactly what you’re best at. But for Ace you’d do this. For him, you’d set yourself on fire if it meant keeping him safe. For Ace you’d even die as long as he lived.

Once he has safely boarded on his raft, you both bid each other goodbyes. Even if you’re determined to get back to him, somehow it feels like this goodbye is going to be the last. And yet, you watch him go along with the sun.

319 notes · View notes

fireflykaizoku · 3 years ago

Note

Please most wounderful friend, may I request Marco and a nb reader? Can -I- have a soulmate AU? Maybe Marco finds them when they join the crew Thank you <3

Hii my loveeee! ❤ I hope you like it! I used one of the soulmate prompts you told me 👀

It’s known that everyone has a soulmate, and while everyone you knew wanted to meet them, you didn’t care about it. If you met your soulmate, you probably wouldn’t even notice. At least that’s what you thought for most of your life, since you didn’t spend days seeking for yours as you had better things to do, one of them was achieving your dream to be a pirate. And it was finally time.

You left your autumn island when Edward Newgate, the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates asked you to be part of his crew and, according to the older man, be part of his family. And indeed, he treated the whole crew as a family. They welcomed you with open arms, and had a party on your first night there.

The members and the commanders were fun, and while they were all nice, one of them caught your attention. He was the first division commander, Marco the Phoenix. You’ve heard about him before you joined the crew. He was older than most of the members, older than you too. But he was interesting, and was very smart. Of course, he was a doctor.

The man always tried to make a conversation with you, no matter if it was something silly, like the weather, or about the next mission. During parties, he never let you stay alone feeling left out, and if you ever missed your home, he’d try to distract you. And if neither of you had anything to say, the silence was comfortable.

You have been part of the Whitebeard Pirates for a couple of months now, and the ship docked at a summer island for the first time since you joined the crew. The heat was unbearable, forcing you to wear short sleeves to go get supplies for the crew, such as food and medications. Marco offered to go with you, which made you a little nervous. Obviously not in a bad way, or because you didn’t like him. Actually, it was the opposite, you liked him a lot. You liked him more than you could or should like a crewmate.

You two had an amazing connection, like you’ve known each other since so long. But since you spent most of the time together around the crew, being alone with him always made you feel butterflies. Either he didn’t feel the same, or he hid it very well. But the connection you two had was uncanny.

— I like your shirt yoi. — the blonde complimented while walking next to you. — I never thought you had any clothes other than hoodies. — he giggled.

— I’ve never been to a summer island before, I’m not used to this heat. — you smiled, feeling your cheeks get warm not just because of the weather, but also because Marco have never complimented you before. — My island was always chilly and foggy.

You two spent the next few hours going to a few stores to buy everything the crew needed. Finally, it was time to eat. After walking for so long, you were starving and so was he.

When you first started eating, Marco suddenly started to stare at your wrist in shock; he didn’t even touch his food, he just kept staring.

— … What’s wrong? — you asked, feeling embarrassed. Did you scare him somehow? Was it the way you ate? Did you do something wrong?

— Your wrist yoi.' — he whispered, still looking.

— Oh, that? — you looked at your left hand. There it was, a tattoo.

Everyone had a small tattoo on their wrist, that’s how they could recognize their soulmate. If the tattoos completed each other, congratulations, that’s the right person! If not, just keep looking and have better luck next time. You always covered yours, not because you didn’t like it, but because you were always wearing long sleeves.

— It’s my soulmate tattoo. I always forget I have it because it’s always covered. Why are you surprised, though? Everyone has one, right?

Without saying a word, and without even blinking, he lifted the sleeve of his purple jacket, revealing his tattoo. Placing his hand next to yours, you just realized.

They matched. They completed each other perfectly.

The man you liked so much, who felt like home and a warm hug. Now everything made sense, why you felt so attracted to him and how you two got along as if you knew each other for a very long time.

But was he as happy as you were?

— Well, I guess things might be a little strange between us now, uh? — you asked, nervously giggling.

— Why?

— Because… Were you even looking for a soulmate now?

— I wasn’t. — his answer made your heart ache a little, but you couldn’t blame him. He was a pirate, he probably didn’t want someone to complete him. That was your first thought, until he finished his sentence. — Until you joined the crew. I’m glad it’s you, I couldn’t ask for a better soulmate.

#marco the phoenix #one piece scenario #one piece x reader #one piece #marco x reader

99 notes · View notes

xamaxenta · 3 years ago

Note

Ok I saw your post about Ace going toe to toe with an Admiral and I just need to GO OFF for a sec here…

Ace is goddamn hard as fuck because even tho ice and flame are opposing powers, for them to cancel each other out exactly implies that both users have the exact same skill, stamina, and power levels. Given the fact that Ace is a) younger than Aokiji, b) less experienced in fights than Aokiji, and c) injured and likely fairly weak from prison, this is INSANE. Like. Think about how well ace would’ve done if he was fully rested and hadn’t just been released from an execution platform by his brother whom he has to look out for.

He could probably beat Aokiji. Definitely in a few years he could, because given his relative youth and inexperience compared to an Admiral; this means he improves much faster than a goddamn Admiral! All this to say Ace is one of the strongest characters in One Piece and people need to put some respect in his goddamn name!

(Not you obviously you drink your Respect Ace juice regularly)

Ok I’m done now, rant over.

THANK YOU!!! Pls I would award you the PhD in Aceology but you clearly don’t need it because you’re already a decorated master in this field 🙏🏽

more under cut bc i went off too dont worry i love your rant im just screaming over how you summarised it so well

I’d like to reinforce point c) about him being injured and weakened after his capture and further incapacitation… Up until this point of his being freed from the shackles and fighting Aokiji, Ace went through the following:

- travelled great distances under the influence of driven anger and immense grief, to bring the man who killed his friend to justice

- had an intense fight once caught up with the murderer who happened to have Ace’s element’s natural opposite (light/fire vs Darkness) - but put up a tough fight which was endorsed by Teach himself three times (who also complimented on Ace’s battle sense), once when he tells his new crew they’re no match for Ace, secondly when he invites Ace to join his crew (the fucking nerve) and third when they’re actually fighting and there’s that deranged obsessive look on Teach’s face, there’s a reason he so desperately wanted the Mera Mera in Dressrosa — but ultimately was defeated due to inexperience and zero knowledge of his opponents abilities

- after this we learn Ace was captured and sent as a bargaining chip, give Ace to the marines and Teach becomes a Warlord - but Ace most definitely wasnt treated for his wounds (maybe a little) and was thrown into Impel Downs sixth layer and apparently withstood the boiling water trial all prisoners had to endure without crying out in pain

He took it like a champ, wounded and cuffed by seastone thats thats beast level holy shiiit

And after that he was just thrown into his jail cell and left to rot , chained up in an uncomfortable postion until his due execution date…

Fast forward, Ace has been kneeling on that wooden platform for at least an hour before he’s freed, that probably hurt a lot - im reaching here pushing my own headcanon a little but I doubt he was well, im certain from all the crying and dry prison air he’s probably got the migraine of the century, his lungs and eyes and throat must hurt

(yeah im just infatuated over this ask now lol dont take this too seriously )

The war is a live emotional rollercoaster for him, his family the whitebeard pirates charging headlong into enemy home territory to save him? Is it even worth it, is he worth it?

And then he’s free and his muscles are aching he hurts all over and moves probably mostly on adrenaline and then he comes face to face with Aokiji who we know is powerful, dangerous and kind of a wildcard and youre so right - ice and fire have the potential to overwhelm the other but for them to cancel out like they did?

Ace is suffering from wounds new and old, hes exhaused af versus Aokiji who more or less got fresh into the fight ? Maybe people will argue Aokiji wasn’t going all out, so?????? Ace still went toe to toe with an Admiral

Actually Ace fuckin stalemated an admiral and if he was healthy and rested Youre right I think he would’ve been able to take Aokiji head on and win

And this is what people forget about Ace!!! The reason the marines and wg wanted to get rid of him was not just because of his lineage but also because Ace is powerful, a fast growing threat

If Ace had that same two year timeskip as the strawhats ? He would’ve been unstoppable imo 😳 (now i will imagine Rayleigh mentoring Ace...)

#xam scream #xam asks #WOW respecting Ace juice is flowing freely today!!!#respecting Ace is my kink #this is mostly my emotjons and headcanons #how I interpret and stuff so if its not canon u know its bc im sliding in my biased thoughts but NO ACE IS STRONG AND BEAUTIFUL

11 notes · View notes

kaizokuou-ni-naru · 4 years ago

Text

The Voyage So Far: Paramount War (Part One)

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

the introduction of the celestial dragons really is just so brutally effective. this is the first time we see them, and before they even show up on page they immediately establish themselves as both absolutely powerful and absolutely despicable. everyone is watching them commit atrocities in broad daylight, and nobody dares say a word.

i mentioned it back in the enies lobby post, i think, with spandam, but oda is very, very good at creating villains who it just feels so good and so deeply satisfying to see them get annihilated, and the celestial dragons are maybe the crowning example of it.

i really like how none of the strawhats are really intimidated or impressed at all by the celestial dragons, in sharp contrast to how everyone else responds to them. some of that is ignorance, but you can’t tell me zoro would have acted any differently in this scene had he known charloss was a member of the world’s ruling class. all the power the celestial dragons have comes from fear; of course their greatest weakness is someone who just doesn’t care.

obviously this moment is just excellent, no qualifiers needed, but one thing i really love about it is how all the bad shit that results from this does not detract from the sheer satisfaction of what happens at the auction house at all. like, even though this leads directly to the strawhats getting crushed by the pacifista and kizaru and scattered by kuma, i’ve never once caught myself thinking luffy shouldn’t have done this.

i’m a huge fan of how rayleigh introduces himself. he knocks out the whole action house with conqueror’s haki, but luffy is completely unaffected, and the two of them just watch each other down the aisle for a moment as everyone else collapses around them.

i don’t know that i’ll ever get over the fact that oda created and designed the supernovas as he was writing sabaody. they’re all such distinct and memorable characters, and almost all of them have fit neatly into the post-timeskip story one way or another. they really feel like a part of the world that was always meant to be there.

i think the way roger as a character is handled is very, very cool, because we don’t really meet him as a person- when we first learn of him, on the very first page, he’s a myth, a story, a framing device. which is fitting, because that’s all the characters know him as. the rest of the world doesn’t know what roger was like as a person or why he did what he did, and so neither do our main characters and neither do we.

and then we learn, slowly, by following in roger’s steps and meeting the characters who did know him, like rayleigh and whitebeard and garp. and through their testimony and memories, over the course of the story, roger goes from being a faceless myth to being a proper character.

i think this panel, where luffy says he just wants to be the freest person on the seas, might be my favorite luffy panel. if nothing else, it’s definitely one of the ones i think about the most in terms of his characterization. luffy’s been defining himself by his dream since the very start of the story- he’s the man who’s going to be king of the pirates! but it’s only here that we learn what that goal actually means to him, and what he actually really wants. he just wants to be free.

the tone shift of sabaody really is impeccable. because up until a certain point, everything seems pretty par for the course. the strawhats make some new friends, get into trouble for their sakes, get into a hard fight where they all have to work together but eventually scrape out a win.

but then kizaru shows up, and another pacifista, and kuma himself, and for the first time in the story luffy says this is a fight they can’t win-

and then zoro disappears, and all of the audience’s expectations for how this is going to play out get thrown completely out the window.

it’s not that we haven’t seen luffy upset before this- his fight with usopp in water 7 and merry’s funeral are the two obvious examples that come to mind- but we’ve never, to this point, seen him as crushed as he is at the end of sabaody. it really drives the abrupt tone shift of sabaody home, because we’re used to seeing luffy be generally cheerful, and if not that, at stubbornly determined to power through. but here, he’s just wrecked- and the paramount war saga is just getting started.

every time i see hancock i’m reminded what a lesbian i am.

i’m talking a lot about character introductions this post, but a lot of really good characters get introduced in the first half of this saga, from the supernovas to rayleigh to jinbe. on that note, i really like hancock’s introduction, for reasons similar to what i said about roger earlier. she’s introduced as a cartoonishly evil one-dimensional bitch, and she leans hard into that characterization for the first half or so of amazon lily.

and then luffy narrowly keeps her and her sisters’ worst fear from being realized, and her facade starts to slip, and we get to know her as- still kind of a bitch, but also a deeply traumatized person who has very valid reasons for being the way she is, and someone who is overall a lot more complicated than she appears at first glance.

one of my favorite things about luffy is his ability to always, always defy expectations. hancock is dead certain he’ll take her offer of a ship and abandon marguerite and the others, but he doesn’t even hesitate before doing the exact opposite. luffy is always turning people’s worlds upside down.

i have a friend who coined the term “conflict of interest arc” to refer to the arcs where a crewmate is forced to choose between the crew and some obligation or baggage from their past- arlong park for nami, whole cake island for sanji, etc.

marineford is luffy’s conflict of interest arc- he has to make the choice, here, to prioritize saving ace over reuniting with his crew. where it differs from all other such arcs, then, is that nobody else can come to back him up. he’s well and truly on his own.

i love how thoroughly expectations get turned on their head with jinbe. for the longest time, all we know about him is that he’s a shichibukai and arlong’s former captain, so given what arlong was like and what the shichibukai encountered thus far have been like, it’s a fair guess to assume he’s pretty awful.

and then we meet him, and he’s ace’s friend, sitting bloody and beaten in the deepest dungeons of impel down for refusing to fight in an unjust war.

bon-chan is really one of the greatest examples of one piece’s stubborn refusal to treat any character as disposable, and oda’s endless ability to find new and interesting ways to fit them into the story. in pretty much any other manga, it would be all but guaranteed that we wouldn’t see a character like bon-chan again after the conclusion of the alabasta saga. here, luffy straight up would not have made it to marineford without him. this is true for mr. 3 too- who would’ve thought his ability to duplicate keys out of wax, established and promptly forgotten some three hundred chapters ago, would be the thing that let luffy free ace on the scaffold?

magellan is a good antagonist. i’m not saying i like him- i don’t particularly- but he’s a great antagonist for a couple reasons, and one of them is that his powers are terrifying. magellan is essentially what might be called in video game terminology an advancing wall of doom- the only viable strategy for dealing with him is to run.

i had more i wanted to say here but it literally kept turning into a rant about one piece’s take on morality no matter how many times i tried to keep it short, so i’ll settle for just saying that magellan is an antagonist but not a villain and i think that’s interesting.

the absolutely ridiculous, eclectic mix of people that luffy winds up gathering to escape impel down is possibly my favorite part of the whole arc. i just think it’s so fun and so characteristic of him that even when separated from his crew, he winds up attracting the weirdest, most powerful bunch of people around to break out of prison with.

the relationship between luffy and blackbeard is a really interesting one. it’s been plenty clear for some time that blackbeard is almost certainly going to be luffy’s final opponent to become pirate king, and yet they’ve been mostly running on parallel paths through the world, only occasionally coinciding (such as here and in jaya) and generally seeming pretty unconcerned with each other. it’s a really cool way to handle the built to an eventual showdown, and i really like it.

this is one of my favorite spreads just for sheer smile factor. i love it so much. i think we should get to see jinbe’s whale shark buddies more often, it’s a crime we haven’t seen them since this.

#the voyage so far #one piece #long post #arc: sabaody #arc: amazon lily #arc: impel down #not japanese

165 notes · View notes

mrs-hatake · 4 years ago

Text

900 followers prompt list!!

We just hit 900 followers on this blog and I’m honestly so speechless! Thank you everyone for loving and supporting this blog ❤️

In celebration, I decided to make a prompt list for all of you authors and inspiring authors to help you write wether you’re on a writer’s block or aren’t sure what to write exactly. I will track this via aizawakashi prompts.

So, without further ado, here’s the prompt list!

All fandom:

- You return home after a long day at work and your character interest showers you in kisses and pampers you the whole day with your favorite food and cuddles with you watching your favorite movie.

- Day at the beach! You and your character interest head to the beach for the weekend to relax and flee from the hectic city life.

- 7 minutes in heaven!! Bored with nothing to do, you recommend playing 7 minutes in heaven with your (multi) character interest.

- Surprising your husband at work by bringing them their lunch or desserts because you know they’ve been working very hard lately and you just want to cheer them up.

- Masquerade ball au! You are invited to a masquerade ball. Alone and nervous, a handsome and mysterious man offers to dance with you. You are charmed by him and slowly start to crush on him. You were to kiss but suddenly, the clock stuck midnight and he vanishes. Disappointed, you look for him everywhere for months. And when you find him, you discover that he was a [insert favorite mythical creature] and offers you to join him for all of eternity.

- Meeting your parents au! After being together for a long time, it was finally time to introduce your boyfriend to your family. You were anxious that they wouldn’t get along but were surprised when they did! Later that night, your mother pulls you to the side and said that she thinks he would be the perfect husband.

- Haunted house au! Queue the funny montage scenes. Lots of hand holding and hiding behind each other.

Naruto:

- You challenge your crush Naruto to a ramen eating contest. Kiba and Shikamaru bet that Naruto would win while Sai, ino and Sakura bet their money on you. The winner is up to you.

- Kakashi cries after spending an hour teaching his son new words. Worried, you rush to the room only to find your son giggling at his dad while Kakashi is in a state of crying and laughing. Concerned, you asked your husband if he was okay. He replied that his son just kept making mistakes and it was the cutest thing ever and Kakashi didn’t know how to deal with such cuteness.

- Wanting to help Neji with his rebellious phase, you give him an all goth/emo makeover. Piercings, tattoos, ripped jeans, the whole work. You teach him to have fun and let loose. Hiashi is angry, forbids him from seeing you but Neji stands up for himself, fights for you and for his freedom. Hiashi reconsiders.

- While on watch on a mission, Sai couldn’t sleep and was entranced by your beauty so he decided to do a quick sketch of you while you watched over your team as they slept, not knowing that Sai was awake.

- Kakashi introduces you to his dogs and waits for their approval. You take this very seriously as you want to impress them because they were his family.

- Seducing Shikamaru while dancing at the club. You two have been flirting for a while, making empty promises of showing each other a good time. After a long mission where the sexual tension between you was high, you finally decided to do something about it.

- Cooking date with Itachi! You help Itachi cook dinner with him and it’s so soft and very cute. You both have a great time and you become so emotional seeing how happy and relaxed Itachi was being.

- Hidan is a guitarist from this new rock band, Akastuki. You have a huge crush on him and one day, you bump into him as he was running away from his rabid fans so you help him escape and hide into this small local cafe that barely had any customers.

One Piece:

- Law was being grumpy because the straw hats decided to stop at a winter island. His and Luffy’s crew were all having fun building snowmen, igloos and making snow angels. You wanted him to join and have fun for once so you took a handful of snow and hit Law straight in the face. A snowball fight commences.

- Zoro gets separated from the straw hats while at a tropical island and wanders off to a small village deep in the forest. He finds you, the village dancer, and is hypnotized by the sway of your body and the teasing gleam in your eyes. He was enjoying himself when, suddenly, criminals raided your village and as he came to your rescue, he was surprised to know that you were strong and were a skilled [insert weapon talent here] and was very impressed...and turned on.

- A beautiful girl joins the straw hats and, for once, Sanji wasn’t attracted. He doesn’t flirt with her, doesn’t call her any terms of endearments and won’t even glance her way. You two would constantly fight and argue and everyone has had enough of your shirt. The straw hats lock you up in a room until you work things out. You were surprised that Sanji treated you this way because he had never had a serious crush on someone and didn’t know how to process his emotions.

- Ace meets Tama’s older sister while at Wano. He was drawn to your kindness and dedication to restore your village. A short romance affair between you began, and he offered you to join Whitebeard but refused because you had to take care of your sister. You were devastated when Luffy told you what happened to Ace.

- Luffy falls in love with a female chef. He was so in love with your cooking that he said your food was better than Sanji. Queue a cooking battle between you and the blonde chef. Luffy was the judge and you both worked very hard to impress the judge. Of course, Luffy being Luffy declares the both of you as winners. You and Sanji become best friends.

My Hero Academia:

- Aizawa runs into his college ex-girlfriend and was baffled to see her working with the League of Villains, and worse, is Dabi’s girlfriend. He blames himself and doesn’t know if he can fight you or not since he still had feelings for you. Their reason for their break up is up to you.

- Dabi is infatuated with a fiery quirkless civilian who wouldn’t take anyone’s shit. She doesn’t really care about the whole hero vs villain thing and Dabi is just interested in her mindset and philosophy. The two work together and reader offers him a place to stay and heal his wounds after encountering heroes.

- While working with LoV, Hawks is drawn to villain reader who has a quirk similar to poison ivy who is also working as a double spy against the superheroes. The two team up and they’re the strongest, most feared team anyone has ever encountered.

- Reader is Overhaul’s childhood best friend and own personal nurse. She is just as ruthless and evil as Overhaul but something in Eri’s eyes and gentle aura softens her up. She struggles between helping Eri and being loyal to Overhaul.

- Aizawa’s mom has been nagging for him to get married for almost ten years now. she wasn’t getting any younger and wanted grandkids as soon as possible. Understanding his friend’s stress and frustration, Hizashi comes up with a plan of getting Aizawa into a fake relationship with reader who works as a support teacher. Queue awkward encounters, kissing in front of Aizawa’s mom and Aizawa retelling the story of how the two of you started dating.

- Dabi wonders what’s it like to be a civilian and live a normal life. He hides his scars with make up and cleans up his looks to blend in with society and live a normal life. During his experiment, he meets reader with a low rank ice quirk who works at an ice cream parlor. No one knows of his double life and frankly, Dabi doesn’t know if he wants to return back to being a villain, especially when he started developing feelings for the reader.

#aizawakashi prompts #one piece imagine #naruto imagines #bnha imagine #Kakashi x reader #zoro x reader #law x reader #sanji x reader #luffy x reader #naruto x reader #neji x reader #Shikamaru x Reader #sai x reader #aizawa x reader #dabi x reader #hawks x reader

188 notes · View notes

wordsdrippinginink · 5 years ago

Note

Hello, this is my first time doing a prompt and it feels like ordering at a drive-thru. Could you please write something with Marco trying to court Ace like a bird? I really like your work and enjoy anything you write. I hope you have a good day.

Ace tips his head to the side, studying the array of stones left at the door to his room, each one carefully polished and set to compliment both it and the ones next to it. Each one is sparkling and attention catching, some of them nothing more than Fool’s Gold and others sparkling Rubies with veins of something else creeping over the surface.

“Those look like a lot of money this time,” Deuce states, arching a brow at the stones and stepping over them into Ace’s room without a thought. “You got an admirer here?”

“Are stones something that you give to someone to tell them that you like them?” Ace asks curiously, picking up the stones carefully, tracing a thumb over the sharp edge of the ruby before setting it aside for the soft blue stone with golden webbing.

“Normally only when you want to marry them.”

Ace frowns, setting his new stones carefully onto his desk besides the others, “You give stones to someone to get married?”

“Sometimes I forget you grew up as a feral forest child and then you say something like that and it comes rushing back to me,” Deuce states shaking his head. “You make a ring and have a stone, something fancy or expensive, and use it to ask someone to marry you.”

“Why?”

“If I knew why people did things, I would be a historian instead of a pirate and a doctor.”

“They’re nice,” Ace says softly, running his thumb over the blue stone again. “Do you know what this one is?”

“Turquoise. My,” Deuce pauses, looking uncomfortable for a moment. “Ma used to have some, she liked the color. The shiny shit is gold. But I think you know that. Since you’re a pirate.”

“It’s pretty,” Ace says frowning at his friend as he trades it for the blue stone in his pocket. “This one?”

“Aquamarine, give me a challenge here, Ace.”

“Why am I getting them?”

Deuce barks out a laugh, collapsing onto Ace’s bed and pushing his mask up off his face to press the heels of his palms against his eyes, “If I knew that, I would be teasing you more. You’re the weirdo getting stones.”

“They’re nice,” Ace says defensively. “I, they’re a gift.”

He knows that Deuce has caught the inflection on the word when he sighs and rolls onto his side, silent for a long minute. The silence is loud enough that Ace’s ears are starting to ringing.

“You like gifts, don’t you?”

“I haven’t gotten many.”

Deuce sighs, forcing himself upright, “Alright, I’ll ask around. See if I can find out anything about stones and shit for you. Since I can be subtle, unlike you.”

“I’m subtle!”

“No you aren’t,” Deuce says grinning, even when Ace launches three of his Hotarubi across the space between them. “Ace, you know that it could mean anything.”

Ace nods and his chest aches, the Blues are vast and the customs even more so. The stones could be a gift or a curse or a warning. They might mean nothing or mean someone knows who his father is and plan to kill him, even if it sounds crazy. Ace doesn’t know what to think, but he hopes they’re gifts.

“You’re,” Deuce pauses, watching Ace for a moment, something unreadable in his expression. “We would still do anything for you, if you need us. Even if it means turning our backs on the Whitebeard Pirates. You still have us, no matter what.”

Ace watches the door close behind him and lets his shoulders fall, the lump in his throat heavy and painful as he tries to breathe through it.

---

“Here,” Deuce states three days later, looking more uncomfortable than the time he had been propositioned by a marine on Waters Seven. “It took a lot of work to find this out for you, so you best read this whole fucking thing.”

“This is a book on flightless sea birds,” Ace says slowly, recognizing the species on the cover. Gramps had said that they didn’t have enough meat on them to be satisfying and were too fast to be worth it. “Why do you even have this?”

“Because it will answer your stone questions,” Deuce says forcefully, refusing to meet Ace’s eye. “You have no idea what I did to get your answers and I feel like I’ve sold my soul, so you are going to read that cover to cover, with special focus on the stone thing.”

Ace frowns after him, even when the door to his room slams closed, before shrugging it off and opening it. It’s only the work of a few minutes to skim the book for what he wants, leaving him frowning at the mention of courtship and gifts, because he doesn’t know what that means. Courtship sounds like something nobles do or the romance novels that Makino didn’t keep in her house. But there’s no definition for it.

“You know,” Ace tells Kotatsu, frowning as he reads over the information again. “I think I’m more confused than I was before Deuce got me information.”

Kotatsu murrs, stretching over the bed to try and claim the whole thing for himself. Ace reaches over to scratch under his chin, trying to remember if there was a dictionary in the library that Thatch had shown him after he had joined the crew. He can’t remember and he’s not sure the definition won’t include words that he doesn’t know too. Just like the time that he had finally looked up some of the words that Sabo had used.

Ace takes a quick breath, clearing his mind before he can remember more, picking up the book and leaving his door open enough to let Kotatsu come and go as he pleased. Marco’s door is open, thankfully, so Ace doesn’t bother stopping to knock.

“Is something wrong,” Marco asks, looking at Ace over the tops of his glasses. There’s something in his eyes that makes Ace’s stomach feel too warm and cold in equal measures. “You look upset.”

“I found a word that I don’t know. Several words,” Ace admits, because Marco doesn’t treat Ace differently when he doesn’t know things. “Could you help me understand them?”

“I might need context for them.”

Ace nods, holding up his book, “They said that the birds used stones for courtship and mating. What does that mean?”

“For birds it means trying to attract a mate, to get another of their species interested in them.”

“Mating?”

“Sex or having children. Mate is similar to husband or wife.”

Ace frowns thoughtfully, “So they use stones to make other birds be attracted to them.”

“Birds all have rituals to convince, usually, females of their species to mate with them. Some dance or have bright colors, others give gifts.”

“Like stones.”

“This doesn’t really explain anything,” Ace mutters to himself. “Why would birds giving stones to other birds relate to someone giving them to me?”

Marco’s cheeks look red, like he’s gonna blush, “Perhaps they’re using the same method.”

“Oh,” Ace wrinkles his nose. “How do I respond? The penguins build nests with them, but I don’t think I can do that. And if I don’t know who to talk to about it, doesn’t that mean that I can’t answer?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. I have a meeting with Pops, so I have to go, but if you need more help in a little while, I could come around?”

“No thanks. Thank you for the answers, Marco!”

---

“Marco is a bird sometimes,” Ace says two days later, watching Deuce to see what his reaction will be. He decides he’s right when Deuce spills the bottle of ink he was using. “So the stones are from him.”

“How are you this smart yet so stupid at the same time,” Deuce hisses over his ruined report. “This was about Pops’ health, couldn’t you have waited ten minutes?”

“No,” Ace answers, because he couldn’t have. The question has been there for days now, waiting for him to connect something and now he has his answer. “Marco is courting me. Like a penguin.”

Deuce sighs, leaving the report to ruin on his desk to face Ace, “Phoenix is weird. All zoan has habits and carry over from their animistic side but there’s never been much stated about the Phoenix Zoan, it’s mythical,” he pauses, looking for his words. “Izou mentioned it to me when I started probing for you. He had a funny story about Marco tripping over his own feet while dancing.”

“Marco likes me.”

“You like him.”

Ace doesn’t deny it, it wouldn’t work even if he tried. He does like Marco. Marco is nice and makes sure that Ace is comfortable with what happens around him. He isn’t opposed to the courtship, he thinks at least not when it’s Marco. He wouldn’t consider it if Deuce was giving him stones.

“What are you planning on doing?” Deuce asks when Ace says nothing.

“Penguins build nests with their stones,” Ace answers, standing up and rolling his shoulders as he stretches. “I’m not a penguin, but I think I can build something with them.”

“I don’t think you have to respond like a penguin would.”

“Marco started this.”

Ace doesn’t say that it feels wrong to respond to Marco’s attempts with just words, not when there’s a procedure to the courtship that Marco’s started. But he thinks that Deuce understands him anyway, if the look he’s given means anything.

“Should I wish you luck?”

“No, I don’t think I need it.”

Deuce laughs, loud enough to follow Ace out of the room that they had claimed for their work. It echoes in his ears as he opens the door to his room and carefully pulls out his stones, setting them onto the ground. Hopefully this wouldn’t fall apart on him.

---

Marco stares at the circle of stones, only three stacks high and just barely big enough for Ace to lay it, his knees pulled up to his chest as he sleeps. His mouth feels dry and the weight of the newest set of stones in his pocket weigh like lead in his pockets, but the sight of what can only loosely be called a nest makes his heart feel like it will beat out of his chest.

It feels like hours before he moves into Ace’s room, pushing the door to, like it had been before he had knocked, kneeling down and setting the newest stones in a little line before the wall.

“Not gonna add ‘em?” Ace mutters sleepily, smiling when Marco looks up at him.

“That would be presumptuous of me.”

Ace snorts, yawning as he pushes himself upright, “Thought making them into a nest was an answer.”

“For a bird.”

“You started this like a bird,” he pauses, humming softly at something that Marco can’t see. “I like you.”

Marco swallows, “I like you too.”

“You could have just asked, ya know. Would have been easier.”

“I know.”

Ace nods, like he knows what Marco isn’t saying, “People don’t do courtship, what are we doing?”

“Dating, getting to know each other to know to see if we like each other enough to fall in love.”

“Dating,” Ace pulls a face, like the word is strange to him and perhaps it is. “Does this mean I can kiss you? I’ve been thinking about it, I would like to kiss you.”

“If you like.”

He doesn’t expect the way that Ace moves forward, kissing him. It’s too sudden and Marco’s lip is pushed into his teeth hard enough to cut through the skin, but he still laughs when Ace pulls back.

“Thank you for the stones, I really do like them.”

Marco laughs, leaning in for a second kiss carefully, “I’m glad.”

#marcoace #marco the phoenix #portgas d ace #masked deuce #canon au #marco uses bird courting #in this case penguin courting #because i like it #op fanfic #animal traits #friendship #kotatsu #i love the stone thing #i saw it in a movie and i have never forgotten it #wordword #i hope you enjoy!#thank you for the prompt!!!#horrible first time kiss #Anonymous

233 notes · View notes

portgas-d-ace-of-hearts · 4 years ago

Text

Take Me Down (To Paradise) Chapter Two

Chapter Summary: In which Ace gets to punch someone and the group returns to the ship.

Notes: Small trigger warning for a brief mention of sexual assault in conversation, nothing shown either explicitly or otherwise.

Violet eyes wide, Nym’s lips parted. She licked her dry lips and replied with the only words that came to mind. “I guess you won’t mind if I tag along with you, then?”

…

“Tag along with us?”

Ace cringed inwardly. He could have hit himself when the only thing he could do was echo Nym’s words back to her. Then again, he felt numb. Somehow he’d found his second soulmate getting noodles and sake at a pub during a night at port. A soulmate who seemed to be in a bit of a bind, considering the reason that brought her to their table in the first place. Whoever that shady-ass stalker was, her sitting down between him and Marco had been enough to send him scurrying. The sudden surge of protectiveness he felt startled him, at once both familiar and foreign. He’d felt similar instincts with Marco, even when they’d only first gotten to know each other.

“Yes, tag along with you, ya know? Leave town together?” Seeing as they’d just been revealed as soulmates, he grudgingly gave her the rest of his udon, motioning at the nearest family member of the pub owner to bring two more bowls. Judging by how she wolfed down the rest of his cooling portion, she’d need more as much as he did.

“What, just like that? You don’t have a life here? What about your family?” As irrational as it made him feel, the longer he looked at her the more he wanted to touch her, if only to see if she were real. When Marco’s mark had revealed itself on his arm as the man held a dish of food out to him like a peace offering, he’d wanted to do the same—he had done, before long. Once soulmates were revealed to each other they were damn difficult to keep apart.

How could this be happening?

Nym slurped up the last of the thick noodles and wiped her mouth on the back of her wrist. Her strange violet eyes alighted on him, and the inappropriately-timed thought of how many kisses fit between them reared its head. “Yes, ‘just like that’, and no, I don’t. My family doesn’t live here. I was just passing through.” Her nose wrinkled playfully. “I’m what they call a wayfarer.”

Thatch leaned towards her with interest, though careful to keep his shins far out of her range. “Oh, so you’re just a traveler, then? You go where the wind takes you?”

Nym propped her chin on her fist, her elbow resting on the table. “Exactly. Sometimes I travel with folks, and sometimes I travel alone. Since me and Ace here just found out that we’re soulmates and I’m not doing anything else, it stands to reason that I might see where the wind takes us when it blows us in the same direction.”

Ace found that deeply amusing for some reason. A cheeky grin curled his lips. “A thirst for adventure and nothing holding you down to one location? You might as well be a pirate.”

Nym eyed him curiously. “Is that an official invitation?”

“Well, you did say you’re not doing anything else—”

Thatch’s head thunked onto the table, his fist smacking against it emphatically. “Oh good god,” he moaned. “Not again. Not more of this fucking soulmate flirting bullshit.”

Nym flushed a rather fetching cherry red—in Ace’s opinion—and then in the next moment Thatch swore and bent down to rub at his shins. “Fucking hell do you kick hard for such a small woman!”

Marco let loose a raucous bark of a laugh. “It’s what you deserve. Payback for all the times from before when you gave me and Ace shit.”

“Fuck you, man, you two were un-fucking-bearable,” Thatch insisted as he continued rubbing furiously and muttering curses.

Nym looked between Ace and Marco with interest as two bowls of steaming udon were laid in front of her and Ace. “You two are already soulmates?” Ace watched as she connected the dots, then held still as she studied him. “So you have two soulmates, then, Ace.”

Ace found himself gifting her an easy smile, voice soft and almost drawling. “Apparently I can’t help myself. I have to find double the trouble wherever I go.”

Nym laughed, then sobered, clearly intrigued. “Does he have a second one as well?”

“He’s right here,” Marco chimed in then, taking the opportunity to steal a bite from Ace himself, “And the answer is yes.”

She hummed. “Hmm. I wonder…”

“What?” Ace’s brows creased in concern, trying to picture what might be bothering her.

She extended her opposite wrist in front of her on the table, baring a secondary, dormant soul-mark. “Is your other mark active or dormant?”

Wordlessly Marco slowly offered his other wrist as well, revealing another dormant mark. “You’re not thinking—?”

“One way to find out,” she murmured, pressing her wrist into his. Not being on either end of that match, Ace couldn’t feel the burn of activation, but he could observe as Nym’s mark appeared on Marco’s flesh the way it had on his own, mirrored against Marco’s Phoenix flashing into existence on her.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Thatch blurted, watching them with wide eyes. “Double mutual soulmates? A bonded set ?”

Ace’s stomach twisted itself in knots. Outwardly he appeared smug, but inwardly the turmoil might suffocate him. How could he safely love his soulmates without hurting them? How could he be everything they needed without also being his father’s son? He felt, almost, a rising sense of panic, one that abated suddenly, and when he looked up from glaring into his udon he found Marco’s hand in his, and Nym’s on his wrist. As his soulmates they’d instinctually felt his distress and moved to comfort him.

“It looks like now I have two reasons to leave,” Nym shrugged, sounding upbeat.

Marco chuckled, amused both by her demeanor and the expression evidently on Ace’s face. “Face it, Ace,” he teased him, “you’ll just have to get used to twice the love.”

“Twice the annoyance, you mean,” Thatch muttered, dodging the elbow aimed his way by Marco.

Ace flipped off their blonde friend and dug into his new udon, unable to take his eyes off of Nym—or off of Marco, for that matter. Despite having eaten before she arrived, he still finished before her, sending his bowl away with coins to settle their tab. As soon as she finished eating and her bowl left the table as well, he stood, readjusting his hat. “Time to go. Do you have your things?”

His friend and two soulmates got to their feet. Nym picked up a small pack he hadn’t noticed before and nodded resolutely. “Yep.” She’d looked short before when she slid in next to him and changed his life irrevocably, but now standing next to her with Marco he could observe how truly tiny she looked next to them. Despite her wide hips and not being particularly thin, she seemed almost delicate in her features, elf-like in some way. The name Nymphadora certainly suited her, even if she found it distasteful.

“Let’s go then, babe.”

Her reaction to the endearment was lost in the murmur of the crowd around them. Without conscious thought, Ace took her hand in his, twining their fingers together. When he looked over his shoulder as he led them toward the exit, he saw Marco holding her other hand, Thatch trailing behind them like a sulky duckling. He slipped outside with his ears pricked for danger. A good thing, as when they emerged onto the street they found the man from before lurking in the shadows nearby.

He made as if to grab at Nym, the motion aborted halfway through as he realized she had company with her. Before he could change tactics properly, Ace decked him with his free hand, sending him sprawling onto his back and out cold. He lightly stepped over him, tugging the others along with him. He noticed with no small sense of satisfaction that Marco had stepped on the man’s nose when passing over him.

“You’ll like the ship,” he told her conversationally as they walked through the streets hand in hand and abreast to Thatch. “It’s called the Moby Dick. ”

“Is it now? Your captain must have a fondness for old novels,” she remarked. She didn’t seem at all fazed by him laying out her would-be attacker. In fact, she had a definite spring in her step as they made their back to the ship.

“Guess so,” Marco mused. “Pops has read a lot of books in his time.”

“Pops?”

“Yeah, the Old Man,” Ace explained. “Whitebeard.”

“He treats us all as his sons,” Thatch added.

“Ah, I see.” Nym paused. “Does that mean—do you think—are there women onboard?”

The three men slowed, Ace and Marco sharing one of their loaded glances that had more than once earned them gentle ribbing from the crew. Marco sounded as uncertain as Ace felt. “A few. As a general rule he doesn’t typically allow women combatants, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any in the crew.”

Ace’s hand tightened on Nym’s, not willing to let her go for a second. “There’ve been exceptions. When he takes a crew under his command, he’ll usually give the old members a choice of joining him or starting over again. Banshee and Cornelia were some of my old crew that he allowed to stay.”

Thatch continued their reassurances. “And he’s accepted a few exceptionally gifted women into his forces for other roles—trackers, spies, messengers, healers…”

Nym seemed a bit upset. “So why does he have that rule, anyway?”

The docks came into view, an array of ships of varying shapes and sizes moored up and down the row.

“Probably to avoid conflict in the crew,” Thatch guessed. “To avoid fights over relationships. Or, ah, children on board.”

“Or to protect them,” Marco offered. “I wouldn’t fancy being a woman captured by an enemy crew or the marines.”

Nym made a disgusted noise. “Some of the crews allow rape?”

“Some—not all, and not ours,” he hurried to reassure her. “Not any halfway decent crew, for that matter. Pirates don’t have many laws, but we’re strict about the ones we keep.”

“He’ll make an exception for you.” Ace’s voice wavered, his confidence not absolute even to his own ears. The way he said the words, it was clear he wanted to believe them, but that even he couldn’t be sure. “He has to. You’re our soulmate.”

“And I’m useful.”

Ace and Marco shared another glance. “You don’t have to be useful, babe.” Ace squeezed her hand to offer what comfort he could muster.

“But I am,” Nym insisted. “Marco’s right about my family, about our haki I mean. I’m a Swan, so I’ve trained to use it. Plus, I speak a few different languages. I could serve as a ship translator.”

Ace felt a small bloom of pride in his chest. He and Marco may not think she had to be useful, and he knew his first soulmate agreed with him on that, but she bloody well would be . The translation abilities alone would make her an incredible asset, but with training in how to properly wield haki, it made her all the more valuable. If only the Old Man would see it that way.

“And.” Her voice dropped to below a whisper, and Ace had to strain to hear her speak. “And I’ve eaten a Devil Fruit.”

Well then .

The conversation cut short as the Moby Dick came into view. Ace pointed out which ship it was to Nym as they approached. She let out an awed, breathy chuckle. “It’s huge.”

Firmly trying to steer his mind out of the gutter, he agreed. His hold on her hand tightened briefly before he disentangled their fingers so they could board. He turned to Nym and carefully tucked her long hair into the hood of her cloak, which he then drew until it shadowed her face. Less than five minutes later, they found themselves aboard. A few of the night sentries called out friendly greetings to their group as they passed. Ace, Marco, and Thatch returned them as politely as possible without stopping. They kept to the shadows until they reached the room Ace shared with Marco, then Thatch wished them luck and split off to turn in for the evening. They slipped inside with Marco shutting the door firmly behind them and latching it from the inside.

“You can put your things on my desk for now.” Ace pointed toward the far corner as he unstrapped his dagger and laid it on his nightstand. He sleepily removed his hat and necklace, a little drowsy from his interrupted nap.

Out tumbled Nym’s hair as she discarded her cloak, the night-black curls completely unruly. She draped it across the back of his chair and set her pack on top of his desk as suggested, shucked off her boots, then flopped onto their bed lazily, looking between the two of them expectantly. “So what’s the plan? I assume I can’t hide away inside of here forever.”

Marco finally moved from where he’d been hovering by the door to stand in front of Ace’s shelves of belongings and souvenirs. “No, that’s true. All the same, you should stay here until we can speak to Pops about this.”

“Right.” She sighed. “It’s going to be rather awkward if he says no to you two.”

“He won’t.” Ace swallowed thickly. “He can’t.”

“He can ,” Marco disagreed, “but he probably won’t. There’s no real reason to.”

Ace sat on the edge of his bed with a sigh and leaned over to discard his boots as well. “It’s times like these I wish I was still captain of my own ship.”

End notes: I'm fully aware that we aren't clear on what happens with Cornelia and Banshee, so I took liberties there with the wiggle room I had considering he did seem to adopt the entire crew of the Spade Pirates. That, and we have Whitey Bay to show that despite his rule, there were a few exceptions to the female combatants stance. I also took that statement at face value and assumed that many of the women who DID work for him did so under a different capacity. As for his reasons, it seems like folks can only speculate, so I added a few of my own. I've also, ah, put in a lot of ideas about Soulmates.

“You don’t mean that.” Marco’s soft chastisement sounded slightly muffled, as he’d balanced against the wall and bent in half to get out of his sandals.

Ace sighed. “No, I don’t.” He allowed himself to fall bonelessly back onto his bed, turning his head to look at Nym. “You should take the bed. Marco and I will sleep on the floor.”

Nym rolled onto her side to face him. “Why?”

Ace blinked at her, perplexed. “Because you don’t really know us well.”

“Fair, but I’m pretty sure I can take on both of you if I have to.” She reached out and hesitantly touched his hand. “Besides, I know you won’t hurt me. I can read both of you and you don’t have any…let’s say nefarious plans. Besides, soulmates can’t harm each other. Doing that would hurt us all.”

Ah, yes. The fail-safe of being a bonded set, regardless of number. Injuries inflicted by one soulmate on the other would be mirrored on the offending party unless they were done in self-defense, and outright killing your soulmate would only end in one's own death. It did serve as a deterrent toward physically harming your match, though it also seemed rather inconvenient if your match were an evil prick you wanted to be rid of. Soulmates could also harmlessly share memories, emotions, and sensations with each other. Now that particular soulmate ability had various applications, many of which didn’t bear thinking of with the inappropriateness of the moment.

Ace couldn’t fight off the smirk that threatened to take over. His other soulmate had fire. “I don’t know that you can take both of us on at the same time, but you’re right, we can’t hurt you.”

“But you might still want time to acclimate.” Marco dropped down on Ace’s other side to avoid boxing in Nym and making her feel trapped. “You went from having no soulmate to two in less than an hour and now you’ve agreed to skip town with us. It’s all a bit much for anyone I would think.”

Nym shrugged. “Maybe. If you were up for it we could always just talk and get to know each other a bit more, but I think you two want to rest.”

“No kidding.” Ace yawned then got back up, snagging one of his pillows on the way. “We’ll just take the floor. We’ll straighten out the details after a few hours of rest. We’re not set to leave port for another day or so, so we have plenty of time to get to the Old Man before we cast off again.”

Marco took another of the pillows and set up a makeshift bed next to Ace, pulling him close so that his soulmate’s warm back pressed into his chest. Nym gazed at them as they quickly fell asleep, their quiet breathing filling the room. Despite not knowing each other for long, the inexplicable tug she felt toward them didn’t fade. Soulmates often found themselves drawn to each other even before they touched and their marks activated, though not all met under such strange circumstances. Once their marks activated, an irrevocable link would form between them and there would be nothing and no one that would be able to keep them apart save their own efforts, as they would find a way to stay together. Separating them would be the height of cruelty. Soulmates felt an inborn desire to speak to each other, to touch and be touched by each other, to see and smell each other and be in relatively close proximity. They craved intimacy from each other, whether it be as simple as a kiss or running their fingers through their match’s hair.

As much as her two soulmates were strangers, as bizarre as their situation was and as much as she really did wish to know them more, she also felt a longing to join them where they cuddled on the floor, bury her hands in their soft hair and press her face into each of their necks. She fidgeted, trying to get comfortable and eventually falling into an uneasy sleep.

Surely things would work out with their captain.

Surely .

...

End Notes:

I'm fully aware that we aren't clear on what happens with Cornelia and Banshee, so I took liberties there with the wiggle room I had considering he did seem to adopt the entire crew of the Spade Pirates. That, and we have Whitey Bay to show that despite his rule, there were a few exceptions to the female combatants stance. I also took that statement at face value and assumed that many of the women who DID work for him did so under a different capacity. As for his reasons, it seems like folks can only speculate, so I added a few of my own. I've also, ah, put in a lot of ideas about Soulmates.

#marco phoenix #portgas d ace #one piece fic #ace one piece #one piece anime #one piece manga #soulmate au #soulmate identifying marks #soulmate tattoo au

1 note · View note

doctorgerth · 5 years ago

Text

Prompt Winner #6

Winner: @lethargichoneybabe

Prompt: Kissing Type - One small kiss, pulling away for an instant, then devouring each other

Description: The complications of falling in love with your best friend.

Rating: angsty, fluffy, filthy - this contains a bit of it all!

Warnings: me going overboard with angst as usual, lil bit of filth

Notes: Winner’s OC (Mercury) is main character; story has two brief time skips; the nsfw really isn’t that bad so I chose not to put a warning before it

Then Stay (Ace)

Prompt Story

(Word Count: 2808)

Do you ever think about staying like this forever?

Mercury resided in the arms of her best friend. She was supposed to feel content, happy, but a deep sadness tugged at her heart strings with the way Ace's fingers grazed against her skin in light brushes. Sleep was attempting to claim him, due to the comfort of having his best friend in his arms, but both found it difficult to even close their eyes; something was very wrong this time, both too terrified to call out the elephant in the room.

Whitebeard's crew was visiting for the second time that year. The crew visits her island two times a year for alliance business regarding her family. It also served as a pit stop, a small little island they could refuel and gain supplies at, so the crew typically stayed for a few days while visiting. Rowdy as they were, she always looked forward to every single visit as they brought a joy to her she couldn't experience anywhere else. Not to mention her best friend in the entire world resided along that ship, the infamous Portgas D. Ace.

Merc grew custom to Whitebeard visiting since she was a child, but Ace was a new addition around three years ago. She was used to the men on the crew being years ahead of her, but Ace was the first that was close to her own age. Needless to say, the friendship between the two was inevitable and instant. One of those connections that just feels natural, as if bound by fate. The one where you think, 'where have you been all my life?'.

For three whole years, Mercury has had to send away her best friend and impatiently wait for the next trip. Each visit has about a six month wait period in between, though at times it feels more like six years. It's only grown harder and harder for her to bear the thought of watching him sail away again; the fear of him never returning to her haunted her thoughts day and night.

Then why was Mercury so distant towards the one person she was most desperate to see again? Why was she pushing away the one person she wanted to see most? She counted the days down to the last hour before he arrived, but the moment their eyes connected and the way he greeted her, she couldn't deny the painful longing she felt.

"There's my best friend!"

A disappointed smile graced her lips when she landed in his embrace. Thankfully, he couldn't see the tears in her eyes while she buried her face into his ash-scented hair. That sentence should have made her beyond ecstatic, but it felt like a sharp knife to her chest. Why did such a loving welcome pain her so much?

"What's got you so worked up, Merc?" Ace broke the deafening silence, eager for reassurance. The fear of losing Mercury was beginning to bubble up and he couldn't subside it without consolation from her. Why was she treating him so differently this time? Did she not trust him anymore? Was she angry with him? Was there someone else?

She cursed herself mentally for being so blatantly obvious with her aloof demeanor. Merc had no intentions of making Ace worry, but she had no intentions of falling helplessly in love with him either.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She retorted, stiffening her body within his hold on her.

He sighed at her transparency, subtly tightening his grip, as if he was worried she would escape when she had the chance, "You know, I'm leaving tomorrow..."

A painful shot through the heart, "Yeah, I know." Her response was empty and that only killed Ace more. Mercury was typically an open book, and though it was obvious she was upset about something, just what that was left Ace haunted.

"I don't want to leave on a bad note. If something's bothering you, then I want to know about it." The way he talked at her so sternly made her feel so small, "I'm your best friend after all...right?"

There it was, the pure guilt. She should've known pushing Ace away was only going to increase his insecurities. Why couldn't things be normal? Why couldn't she just enjoy the time with her best friend? Why did she have to be so selfish and ache for something more?

"Of course you are, and I don't want you to leave on a bad note either." In fact, she didn't want him to leave at all; funny how she was pushing him further away despite needing him right there with her.

"Then talk to me." She didn't have to look into his eyes to know how pleading they were, how desperate they were for solace.

"I just..." but now wasn't the time to say it, she wasn't sure that any time would be the right time. So she suppressed her feelings for that night, for the sake of his happiness, "It's nothing. I just don't want you to go. It's always hard to say goodbye to you."

It was the truth, but there was more to it that Ace would never know. He snuggled his head into her hair, inhaling a deep breath of relief. It's not that he was happy about her sadness, but rather he was relieved knowing that she didn't seem upset with him. "It's always hard to leave you."

Then stay.

The words echoed in her brain like a harrowing lament, though she wanted to scream them out loud. They spent the rest of the night comforting each other until falling asleep, silently praying the sun would take it's time to rise. Mercury could learn to be content with this life; she would rather have him as her best friend than nothing else, after all.

* * *

When she awoke, the chill of the morning brushed across her skin at the lack of Ace's warmth. Her eyes adjusted to the blinding sunlight as they fixated onto a small piece of paper placed on her bedside table. The handwriting was sloppy, a distinct sign of Ace's penmanship, and she picked the note up with shaky hands.

Merc,

We had to board a bit earlier than expected today. I had a wonderful time these past three days. I hope you did too. I look forward to next time. See you in six months.

- Ace

Six months. Six more agonizing months away from Ace; her best friend, her whole heart. The idea of waiting that long to see his smiling face again made her sick to her stomach. For a moment, she contemplated laying in her bed for the rest of her day; wallow in her self-pity for not having the courage to confess her feelings to the one person who meant the most to her. But this couldn't be goodbye, this wasn't right. So, she ran towards the docks, begging for it to not be too late.

Her heart flipped seeing the massive ship still at port, it was as if the world was cheering for her; helping her and pushing her forward. She started to think maybe this was meant to be after all. Would the world be on her side for this confessional? From a distance, it seemed as if most everyone had boarded, with a few stragglers making their way up the loading dock. She was worried she wouldn't make it in time, so her feet carried her faster though her thighs were beginning to ache from overexertion.

She didn't know what she was thinking as she ran up the walkway, pushing through the crowd of crew members. She was hardly thinking at all, only about seeing Ace. What would she say to him? Would she be able to say anything at all? Merc attempted to formulate a plan, but everything seemed to leave her the moment she stepped on ship.

"Mercury? What are you-" She ignored Marco's questioning, rushing past him with purpose.

"Where is he? Where's Ace?" Her breathing was erratic and heavy, but she continued on, "Ace!"

Suddenly, the ship grew quiet at her pleading calls, allowing Ace to emerge into sight with a worried look on his face, "Mercury, what's wrong?"

Perhaps it was the adrenaline from rushing so hastily, or the crushing feeling of being under the curious eyes of every single crew member, but all sensible thoughts shut down as she stomped over to the freckled boy. His eyes widened for a moment while she grabbed his face in between her hands. There was no hesitation as she planted a small kiss on his surprised lips. It was rather quick due to her nervousness and she pulled away shakily to gauge his reaction. His eyes were even wider at this point, lips quivering and agape.

"I don't want you to go, Ace. I can't bear the thought of six months without you again."

Stunned, no words escaped his lips while he stared at her. She was still holding him in place, and though his lack of response was disheartening, the act of confessing was lifting a heavy weight off her shoulders, "Take me with you. I want to be with you, always. If you'll have me..."

Tears formed in her eyes, the flux of emotions making her all the more perturbed. She was so relieved to get this off her chest, so happy to have Ace so close, but also desperate for some kind of reaction from him. The drawn out silence was killing her.

Her mouth opened in a question, but then was shut quickly by Ace's lips. He kissed her softly, much as she did, and pulled back the same, gauging her reaction. Their eyes fluttered open to look at each other, and next thing they knew, they collided, practically devouring the other.

The roaring sound of excitement from the crew was deafened by the pair's own beating hearts and the fireworks going off in their heads. Their lips melded into each other's, finding a new home, their true home against one another. This was what was missing the whole time. Ace's arms snaked around her body, pulling her chest into his, while her fingers tangled in his hair. Everything seemed so right with the world in that very moment.

They pulled away for air, though he refused to loosen his grip on her, "I was hoping you'd say that." His best friend was in love with him too.

* * *

Amongst the cheers and celebrations, Ace and Mercury found themselves in his cabin aboard the Moby Dick. Their passions were aflame as they struggled to keep their lips and hands to themselves. Though all feelings were on the table now, they still craved more and more from each other as they roamed each other's bodies in fervor.

Mercury's back collapsed against the mattress, catching her by surprise, though the sudden weight of Ace atop her made her head swim. Their lips met once more in heated bouts of passion while they undressed each other. Merc seemed to gain her senses once realizing both she and her best friend were fully naked with one another for the first time. Ace noticed and couldn't prevent the flush from igniting his cheeks. He had loved her for so long, but having her like this was beyond a dream come true; almost unbelievable.

"Is it really me you want?" He whispered hesitantly against her lips.

He couldn't look her in the eye as he questioned this, terrified that maybe this was all just spur of the moment and she'd regret it in the morning. They were on the verge of crossing the line between best friends and lovers, and he needed to know she was truly okay with that.

Her soft fingers caressed the side of his face while he leaned into her touch, "I want you, Ace. Always."

A cheesy, but joyful smile spread across his lips. Tears were beginning to brim his eyes from the overflow of emotions, "I love you...so much, Merc. I have for so long."

"What!"

"What?"

Suddenly, a pillow collided with Ace's head, "Ouch, what's the deal?"

Though she was slightly pissed, Mercury couldn't contain the giddiness on her features, "I spent the past three days nearly killing myself over if I should confess to you or not! And you mean to tell me you've loved me all this time? Why didn't you say anything!"

Ace sat back onto his heels. Mercury was taken aback by the suddenly serious aura, "I thought there was no way you could love someone like me. I honestly figured you were so distant during this trip because you found out and you didn't want to hurt my feelings."

Those damned insecurities of his; she wanted nothing more than to take away all his pain, remind him everyday how incredible and loved he was. The two had their own failures, faults, and insecurities, but when together, they seemed to forget about all of it. Nothing ever completely went away, but they seemed to numb each other's pains and that was enough to make them feel bound to one another. That's what brought them here to this very point, united at last. If anything, they were created to love and cherish one another.

"Oh, Ace..." Mercury began, lacing her fingers with his. His eyes trailed sadly towards their joined hands, watching while his thumb rubbed against her skin for comfort, "I love you and I have loved you ever since the day I first met you. You're kind, funny, intelligent, full of surprises, and best of all, you make me feel at peace. You give me a purpose in this world and that purpose is to love you forever. When I'm with you, I feel at home. Right here is where I belong, with you. Don't ever doubt my feelings for you. I'll confess to you every day if I have to."

A small smile spread across his face and he brought their hands up to his lips for a soft kiss. His warmth returned to her body as he lowered himself back onto her torso, settling himself between her thighs, "Let me confess to you, then. I want to make love to you."

"Ace..." she whined, averting her eyes in embarrassment. An intense heat radiated throughout her entire being, god, why did he have to be so blunt?

She couldn't think coherently though as Ace buried his face into her neck to litter soft kisses along the delicate skin. She somehow smelled even sweeter like this, and he found himself intoxicated by her every scent, move, and sound. Ace was always warm to the touch, but the warmth that radiated from his skin onto her own was riveting to her. The two were completely captivated to have each other so intimately after all this time, so they didn’t hesitate to express their love for another through every kiss, touch, and passionate notion.

Ace rocked into her body with a gentleness she hadn't expected from such a ruffian as he. But each thrust was sensual and so full of love, she felt completely encapsulated by Ace's presence. He was everywhere around her all at once, and she bathed in the love he was pouring into her. Ace watched her every expression, and drunk in her every mewl and cry of pleasure while he made love to her. He was the one making her feel so good, and he intended to be the only one for the rest of their lives.

Her legs grew weak at the way he was looking down at her so lovingly, the way he praised her so adoringly. He truly loved her, she could feel it. Mercury prayed he could feel the love she had for him in return as she took every bit of him with eagerness; the way she kissed him and verbally expressed her love for him and the things he was doing to her. She dug markings into his skin out of desperation that he would wear with pride. They were markings of intimacy with the love of his life; there was nothing to be ashamed about with her.

The two reached their peaks together, the both of them reaching nirvana with cries of pleasure and loving exclamations. With their bodies still connected, and the after glow ever present on their faces, Ace whispered to her, "I don't deserve you."

A calloused hand trailed along her cheek in adoration, and before she could protest, he placed his forehead against hers, "But that won't stop me from loving you for the rest of my life."

She pulled him into her for one last reaffirming kiss. They proceeded to clean off their soaked bodies, smiling so contently at each other with each instance of eye contact. Mercury settled into the bed, finding herself genuinely tired for the first time in days, "I don't ever want to leave this bed."

"Then stay." He responded rather quickly with a sly smile on his face as he approached her snug figure. They could stay like this forever.

106 notes · View notes

tunesscribbles · 5 years ago

Text

Portgas D Ace x Reader Nights

a 4 + 1 style fic | gender neutral reader | subheadings from ‘Shake It Out’ - Florence and the Machine

I I like to keep some things to myself

You heaved the unconscious body on the ship before fully climbing onto it yourself. That marked his- what? 87th failed murder attempt on Whitebeard? It was also at least the fifth time you had to fish him out of the ocean since devil fruit users can't swim. You shivered in the chilly night air. Nothing better than a dive into freezing water in the middle of the night! You really hoped you wouldn't catch a cold as you wrung out your hair and clothes a little.

You were seriously doubting this guy's sense of self-preservation. It was clear as day that he would never be successful. Ironically enough, the only one getting injured due to his murder attempts is himself. So why does he keep doing it?

You accepted the towels another crew member handed you with a thanks. Next to you Ace seemed to become conscious again. You wondered what was going on in his head. Definitely nothing too cheerful, judging by the way he curled into himself, knees brought up, arms folded above and head resting on top. Although he made a pitiful sight with seawater dripping from his body and collecting in a puddle under him, he seemed anything but defeated.

This stubborn idiot was going to try again, wasn't he? You wouldn't put it past him to go for it this very night. Instead of asking him why or trying to convince him not to, like many had tried before you, you threw a towel over his shoulders and moved to sit down.

You lifted your gaze upwards to look at the sky. Not a cloud in sight, no moon either, just billions of twinkling dots. The past few days had been cloudy and childish as it may be, you had missed the stars, just a little. No matter where you are in the world, the stars look the same. They were a source of comfort.

You heard Ace shift as he reluctantly began to dry himself with the towel. Oh, right. For a moment you completely forgot about him. Weren't you supposed to try to talk to him?

"Okay, so..." Strong start, already getting weaker. This was a terrible idea all around. You threw a glance at him to find him looking up at the sky like you were before. There was a certain glint in his eyes, like he was trying to remember where they kept the weapons on this ship.

You sighed. "At least try not to fall into the ocean again tonight." You got up to leave him to his own (certainly self-destructive) devices. "Ain't no man above a common cold!"

II I'm damned if I do, I'm damned if I don't

As soon as Ace finally accepted the invitation and became part of the crew, he defended Whitebeard's name with such vigor that you wondered if he was putting in an extra effort to try to compensate for his earlier actions or if he was simply this much of a ride-or-die person. The more time you spent with him, the more you leaned towards the latter.

It surprised you how lively and open the freckled male turned out to be once he lowered his guard. He seemed so different from the troubled teenager Whitebeard had picked up. Ace was actually easy to talk to and the two of you got along well.

The stars shone dimly through a thin layer of clouds as you were about to land on the next island.

"Lets go grab some food, my treat.", he offered. He stood next to you and spun his bright orange hat on his finger. That hat was frankly ridiculous! As if he was pretending to be some sort of cowboy-pirate.

"You never pay for your food.", you remarked and raised your eyebrows at him.

"That's not-" The hat slipped of his finger and in an attempt to catch it Ace almost threw it into the ocean. He composed himself again and adjusted his trademark clothing item on his head. "I'll pay this time, it'll be nice."

He seemed nervous, why was he nervous? You squinted your eyes at him in a scrutinizing look.

"You're planning something, I don't trust you when you're planning something. You had a prank war with Thatch last week and now you want to pay for someone else's food when you never even pay for your own?"

The look in his eyes was a mixture of panic and suffering like a plan gone wrong. You knew it!

He threw his hands up in defeat. "You know what? Forget it! I bet it wouldn't have worked anyway!" and then his words became unintelligible as he grumbled to himself. Something about being damned if Marco was right and how it was not even that big of a deal, whatever 'it' was. You would feel bad for him, if you had not just dodged a prank.

"Aw, don't be like that! I can help you trick someone else, if you want.", you tried to cheer him up. "Take a look at the stars! It's the perfect night to cause some mischief. Just because I didn't fall for it, doesn't mean no one else will." The more you talked, the more you got the feeling of being on the wrong ship and sailing away into the distant land of "I-really-fucked-this-up-but-I-don't-know-what-I-missed".

That feeling was further enhanced by Ace glancing at you sideways and saying: "You are terrible at this." in a way that made you question what exactly 'this' was and at what point during the conversation the two of started to talk about completely different topics.

There was a hint of amusement in his voice though and you decided to latch onto it to stop this talk from hurtling towards becoming a ship wreck.

"Well, we all have to be something, don't we?" There you go, he laughed. Another interaction salvaged. "We can still go and grab some food, if you'd rather do that."

He pulled a face. "Nah, I don't feel like paying for it anymore."

Now it was your turn to throw up your arms.

III I've been a fool and I've been blind

You hissed as the doctor cleaned out your wound before bandaging it. Next to you Ace winced in sympathy.

You were slightly unsure what to do with him these days. Over time you became good friends, however at some point there has been a shift in your dynamic. Whereas conversations used to flow naturally and hanging out with each other was comfortable, nowadays everything seemed to be accompanied by an underlying tension. An odd sense of nervousness would spread between you and like a wrench thrown into the conversational clockwork, it would bring everything to an awkward standstill. Suddenly you were overly aware of every aspect of yourself that could pass as a flaw and the various ways in which you could ruin this friendship you have come to treasure.

Ace was still uncharactaristicaly silent when you left the infirmary. You gently bumped your shoulder with his to gain his attention.

"I can almost hear you inventing new ways to blame yourself, stop that. It wasn't your fault."

"I was supposed to watch your back!", he said through gritted teeth.

"You did! Otherwise I wouldn't be here to tell you not to beat yourself up. Even if you didn't, it was my fault for not paying attention." His mouth was already open to come back with another argument but you cut him off. "No! No arguing. End of discussion."

And apparently also end of conversation because another tense silence followed your words. You heaved a sigh so heavy it could have sunk a whole ship.

Your fingers brushed past his hand and he flinched away like you burned him. Which was ironic, considering he was the one with the fire powers. This right here is what you were talking about. Why did this have to be so difficult? Why was everything amped up to a hundred and then some? The smallest touch could set everything ablaze and words were weighed down with double meanings and it hurt and still. All you could think was how much you wanted to hold his hand and maybe, maybe-

Something clicked into place. Something you had known in the back of you mind for a while but just now realized. Oh, you thought.

The fact that Ace smelled distractingly like bonfire did not help with the overall situation.

IV Here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road

"Do you have to be so disgustingly in love?", asked Thatch with an exasperated sigh.

"I don't know what you're talking about.", you replied at the same time as Ace said: "Absolutely!", from where he sat wrapped around you with his chin propped up on your head.

The crew members nearby laughed and toasted to "young love" and that it may annoy the cook to the end of times.

Later that night Ace and you retreated to a quieter place on deck away from the party. You watched the stars overneath and after a while you said: "They're all long burned out and dead."

Ace spluttered and choked on his drink. You had to pat his back to help him.

"What?"

"The stars. A lot of them are long dead before we can see their light.", you elaborated.

"Oh" Now he looked up as well as if considering them from a new perspective.

"Doesn't stop them from looking beautiful though." You smiled and leaned into him.

"No, it doesn't."

It was quiet for a moment, apart from the party on other parts of the ship, but it was not like the uncomfortable silences in the past. Just a pause, nothing to worry about. There is no longer a rush to get the right words out in time in fear of them dissolving on your tongue otherwise.

You took a sip of your drink while Ace laced your fingers together.

"Disgustingly in love", he repeated the words from before and smiled. You couldn't help but grin yourself.

"Maybe so", you said and playfully swung your joined hands back and forth.

"I love you.", he said and you never really get used to such declarations. Ace turned around so you are facing each other and cupped your cheek in his unoccupied hand. "Disgustingly much!"

If a smile could stop a war, this one had just achieved world peace.

"I love you, too." You dropped a kiss on the tip of his nose and then some more on the freckles on his cheeks, for good measure. "An obnoxious amount!"

Ace leaned in for a proper kiss and for the next few moments the world began and ended right here: You two, with your hands entwined, kissing under the light of dead stars.

A week later Thatch found a devil fruit.

+ I I' m ready to suffer, I'm ready to hope

A year passed. Vengeance proved unsuccessful.

For a long time now you had felt unhinged, off balance without any clear goal in sight. What was there left to do when you have lost so much?

It felt wrong, looking at the night sky and finding it no different to all the times you used to look at it together. The world was cruel like that, it didn't care about your loss.

The world doesn't care, people do. That is one of the most valuable lessons becoming part of Whitebeard's crew had taught you.

Now the uncaring stars slowly faded to make way for the dawning sun.

You laid down a bouquet of flowers on your father's grave. "I have to go my own way again.", you told him. You had already said your goodbyes to the remainders of the crew. This was your last stop before the rest of the world. After spending so much time mourning and fighting, it was time for you to move on, to live for yourself again. You felt tears pricking at the corners of your eyes.

"Thank you for everything, pops!", you almost choked on your words and had to take a moment to gather yourself. It may get easier with time but it will never just be easy.

You turned to the second grave and had to smile at the sight of a certain hat. "Don't worry, I'll be safe.", you reassured him. Your eyes wandered up into the sky. No more stars to admire. "I wonder if they look the same wherever you are now."

Taking a step backwards you looked at both graves for a last time. "I miss you and I won't ever forget you.", with that you bowed shortly and then turned around to go.

A gust of wind ruffled your hair and for a second the air carried a faint smell like- "Bonfire." You took a deep breath and continued walking down the hill. Your steps becoming faster and faster until you were running and you haven't felt this weightless in such a long time, you thought you might just lift off the ground completely and fly.

(You passed a young man in a tophat on your way down.)

#portgas d. ace #one piece #op ace #portgas d ace x reader #one piece reader insert #marco the phoenix #op thatch #one piece whitebeard #whitebeard pirates #fluff #soft #a bit sappy #slight angst #sappy is my brand now apparently #maybe someday i will get over putting stars in my fic #today is not the day #if the ghosts of your loved ones don't come to tell you goodbye what are you even doing #bonfire #the scribbles

65 notes · View notes

my-muses-in-op · 5 years ago

Note

Marco

Give me a character!

@shiapolux

Marco:

How I feel about this character: I freaking love him, okay? My blue birb. I just want to give him love and ease the pain in his heart. He’s strong, kind, fierceful, protective, responsible and still he can tease and be playful. Child/teen Marco is freaking cute and a sassy little brat and I just loved him more. I wish we knew more about him. Like why and when he joined Whitebeard and what the heck happened in the payback war. Please give me more of Marco. Let his heart heal and let him be with his family. He doesn’t deserve all this pain.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:Quite a few, actually. The following below are my top ships for him, though I’m not saying they’re the only ones and that I am not oen to others.

Thatch - My OTP and I would drop anything in a heartbeat for this ship. Best friends falling in love and find peace in each other’s company. Sure they’ll fight - Thatch will not stop his teasing or pranking - but they will always make up and probably watch the sunset together

Ace - Hothead and anxietous boy with the calm and caring birb? Not only does their powers fit together, but Marco is perfect for Ace to learn that love is also for him and Marco will learn that he is also allowed to recieve love.

Shanks - This ship is more of testing each other’s limits and then comfort each other. Post-timeskip Shanks helps Marco thorugh the lost of Ace and Whitebeard. Shanks Have been thorugh the same grief of losing a captain and man he admired as a father, so he knows what Marco goes through.

Izo - A really rarepair indeed. Both are creative, likes peace and order, but also can control each other’s temper. They’re the a mature couple and are mostly together in the evening and nights.

Sabo and Ace - I love those three together. Lots of fluff, angst and sassiness is the recipe in this ship. Marco thinking he’s too old for thema nd Sabo and Ace thinking they don’t deserve him. And all the cuddles. A lot of it.

My non-romantic otp for this character:If I were to list all of them, it’ll be too long, so I’ll list those I love the most.

Haruta - Out of all the commanders, he’s Marco’s precious little brother and while the birb tries to treat all eqaully, he has a soft spot for Haruta. Except when he has pulled a prank on Marco.

Benn Beckman - Two second in command complaining over their stubborn captains. I like how similar they are and they bond over more than just their stubborn captains.

Deuce - The two doctors talking about medical theories and help each other with medical things.

Whitebeard - Father and son. There’s not much more to say. Marco will lie down his life for the man he with pride calls Oyaji and Whitebeard will protect his son.

Other commanders and rest of the crew - Siblings forever and it hurts Marco to not having been able to keep them safe or lead them properly as captain (post-timeskip).

My unpopular opinion about this character:I’m not good with knowing what is unpopular opinion on any characters. The way I RP Marco, is that when he’s truly and deeply in love, he blush a lot when alone with his s/o and while he can be very cocky, he’s rather soft, gentle and slight insecure. If his s/o needs him to be strong and confident, he will be, but on the inside, he’s not sure if he’s doing the right thing.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:LET HIM HELP LUFFY. Also, I wish he would get some closure, so I hope that Marco will be at Luffy’s side, when Luffy is facing Blackbeard. Also give him back his family. He doesn’t deserve to live alone on that island, even if his intention is pure.

#shiapolux #our devil (mun)#didi talks #this took a long time to answer #i want to see my birb again #give me more marco #pls

4 notes · View notes

justm3h · 6 years ago

Photo

Plot - Triskaidekaphobia

Summary: Marco has lived many lives. Lives as a civilian, lives with the Marines, lives as a pirate and the smallest butterfly effect makes each adventure new. But each death has him waking up after eating the first fruit of his life.

Another chance, another life.

One more shot to make things right.

Characters: Marco the Phoenix, Monkey D. Garp, Bell-mere, Donquiote “Corazon” Rosicante, Coby, Gol D. Roger, Silvers Rayleigh, Shanks, Benn Beckman, Makino, Monkey D. Luffy, Edward Newgate, Thatch, Portgas D. Rouge, Portgas D. Ace, Sabo, Monkey D.Dragon, Buggy, Straw Hat Crew, Kureha, Nico Olvia, Marshall D. Teach, Trafalgar D. Water Law

Pairing: Rouge/Roger, slight Makino/Shanks but mostly Gen

1-8

The first life Marco lives is boring and normal. He passes peacefully, a respected but simple village doctor, flames flicker even as he’s eyes fall shut for the last time. Only for that not to be true, as he opens them once again to hands the size of a child and not an old man.

The second life he travels the South Blue. He wants to see what the sea has to offer him and he makes friends and learns so much. He dies this time by drowning, and decides he doesn’t like it very much.

The third time, he starts figuring things out. Each death has him wake up right after eating the worst tasting fruit of his life. He’s grown use to the blue flames that heal and the obsession with cinnamon but the healing is a gift enough.

Marco travels further, learning skills of a sailor. He enjoys navigating the most, for the stars are the only thing that seem to be consistent with every redo.

His third adventure ends, accidentally being eaten in the calm belt. Another mistake he swears to Never Make Again.

The fourth one comes and he realizes he needs to learn how to fight and joins the Marines.

He’s not very good at first, more often than not, he fumbles and fails and it stuck in a lower position for some time. He only hears later of the Summit War and even then it’s just boring news that doesn’t matter on the blues.

One drowning later and Marco becomes a Marine again on count 5. His ‘talent’ is noticed. He’s sent to the Grandline and trains with other fresh recruits. He is in awe as he catches sight of the admirals and of the legendary hero Garp. The Marines try to figure out what fruit he ate but have as much luck as he has in the past. He makes it as far as Captain before dying tragically protecting his men.

6 and 7 are much the same. Joins the Marines and is satisfied with the rank of Captain. He enjoys having the spunky Bell-mere under his tutelage til she is transferred and quit soon after. Marco enjoys seeing Rosicante grow from a brat he babysat to a fine Marine although still a walking disaster.

Marco always takes different posts and assignments, never wanting to have the confusion of knowing something he shouldn’t. It doesn’t stop him from befriending a few of the same people over and over again, but those are just some binds he’s not willing to let go.

But 5 to 7 are also where Marco really starts to notice something wrong with the world. He never noticed on the Blues, too isolated from the Grandline and the Red to pay much mind to it.

There was corruption, Marines taking bribes or turning a blind eye to the pleadings of the people who begged for help. The admirals were bias, unable to get pasted their own convictions to just help.

It caused Bell-mere to leave and Rosicante’s death.

It hurt.

8 seems to hurt the most. He was put under the care of Garp. He learned so much about the Vice Admiral, Garp yelled about his brat grandkids and Fists of Love were a daily occurrence. Regardless of his violence, Garp was what the Marines should have been. Heroes. Marco could see it in the boy and his friend that Garp adopted, made all too clear when the pink haired boy jumped in front of a cannon.

He and Bogard would watch from a distance as the two chore boys trained. Fought for the right to be Marines. Bogard taught Helmeppo, the tall blond better with blades, while Marco taught Coby the basics of hand to hand til Garp took over their training.

Marco always made sure to patch the young men up at the end of the day, a doctors work never done, even after they picked a fight with Garp’s grandson.

“Dumb Brats,” he joking at Garp as he checks over Coby and Helmeppo after their fight.

Marco got a good look at Garp’s grandson, Monkey D. Luffy. He was much like his grandfather, even as they both fell asleep in the middle of their own fight.

But Marco hasn’t seen pirates like these since Roger, despite the Marine propaganda, his cabin boy Shanks, or Whitebeard. Considering the rookie pirate had Red-Haired Shanks’ old straw hat…. Who if all the praises Coby said were true, saved him and a whole town, was more hero than a pirate had the right to be.

Monkey D. Luffy who dreamed of being King of the Pirates. Well, Marco could admit to himself he wouldn’t mind seeing the boy become the second King.

Even if the crew couldn’t handle a few cannonballs from Garp at the moment.

Then Marineford. The stories he had heard in passing before, if he lived long enough to hear them, paled in comparison to the actual event.

It was a massacre. Garp fell and so did his grandson. Whitebeard died on his feet seeing his adopted son and blood son of Gol D. Roger perish under the executioner’s blade. And there impaled on a molten fist was Coby, the boy Garp hoped would continue his legacy.

Marco died, a screech echoing over the battlefield as he flew to attack the lava man, with ice and light ripping through his body.

9 and 1st Time Pirate

9 he wakes to wings not hands and realizes just exactly what the fruit did to him.

Marco does not join the Marines this time, preferring to not think about all the blood and death he still had nightmares about.

This time, he flies and travels. The seas no longer limit him and stars will always be his guide. He doesn’t tire but can just fly for what seems like forever.

The blond witnesses Gol D. Roger’s death, spotting the would be faces of many soon to be known names. It’s curious but Red Hair asks if he wants to join his crew.

“Why?”

“You look interesting!”

Needing something new and knowing full well what kind of pirate the young man is from endless rants from Garp, Marco accepts. Not like he has anything better to do.

It’s maybe the worst decision he’s ever made as the seemingly endless parties usually leave it up to him to keep them on course, unable to get drunk without the help of seastone.

He’s grateful when Benn joins, if not just to keep Shanks somewhat in line for a pirate. There are questions about his knowledge of the Marines and he makes no point to hide that he ‘quit’.

“Being a pirate suit you more?”

“Seems so Cap.”

If more pirates were like Red Hair, he ponders, watching the man make a fool of himself for a pretty green haired girl, then there wouldn’t been so many issues in the world.

Marco meets a young Monkey D. Luffy, still as mischievous as before, and laughs at the reaction Shanks has when he learns the kid he’s taken a shine to is related to Garp.

“He’s got his Grandfather’s smile.”

“I’m concerned how you know that, Marc.”

It goes much like canon, Luffy is kidnapped and is taken to the middle of the bay and Marco is actually the one who flys Shanks out there.

Marco has a first hand experience of watching Shanks lose his arm. He apologizes for not being faster but Shanks just smiles.

“He’s worth it.”

Shanks becomes Emperor, Marco and Benn both arguably first mate but Marco gets his first bounty poster.

“The Phoenix?”

“Pretty on the nose with that one.”

They have many clashes, with pirates and other Marines alike. Marco finds he enjoys the meetings with the man called Whitebeard the most. At worst, they have a fight but usually they are all too hungover by the time it gets to that.

The morning after a rare party between Shanks and Whitebeard, the air was full of the smell of breakfast and hint of something else. It made Marco pause his berated tairaid against Shanks’ stupidity and abruptly walks away. He followed the smell, leading him to the Moby Dicks kitchen where a man in a chefs suit was elbow deep in kneading bread. But the smell. He breathed it in barely noticing Shanks and Benn following.

The chef looks up and smiles.

“Hey! You’re on Shanks crew, right? I’m Thatch, head chef and 3rd commander! Nice to meet you… hey hello? You in there?”

Thatch looks confused as he holds up the cinnamon and Marco’s eyes follow. Left, right, up, down. Thatch eventually hands Marco a fresh roll and he literally coos with joy.

Shanks LOOSES it. Marco screeches, launching at Shanks with a kick. They run out of the kitchen and Thatch is just so confused and Benn is amused.

The Red Force is then on always stocked with Cinnamon and Thatch always gifts Marco with new cinnamon treats to try, a personal challenge of his.

Marineford comes again, Shanks having tried to prevent it but failed. It was hard to hear that Thatch had been killed but Marco keeps focused as they fight Kaido to make it in time to do anything.

By the time they arrive, it’s much the same nightmare as before. Garp survives but both his grandchildren have fallen, Whitebeard stands dead once again with much of his children at his feet. Shanks was able to save Coby, the boy just inches from having a face full of magma. The Marines scream victory but Marco can only feel hollow.

He’s been on both sides of that battlefield now and neither feel like a victory.

The Red Hair pirates help with gathering the dead, Marco keeping watch on everything as much as he can. Garp looks at him with such mistrust it hurts more than anything.

He offers his condolences, something he couldn’t offer a corpse previously. Garp is somber but accepts. The true sadness is when he gives Shanks the straw hat telling him that Luffy would have wanted him to have it.

It’s not til after the funerals that Marco sits with Shanks and Benn. He’s got a sea stone ring on as he drinks and drinks.

He tells them the truth. He’s old and seen this before and nothing changes. Death seems to be the only result.

They talk to him about the Marines, about the first time, about everything.

“I see these things and don’t know how to fix them. All the paths seem to lead to that blasted war.”

Benn looks at him, “Have you really tried?”

Marco stares into his drink. Has he? He’s taken different roads but never really did much to change things did he?

The phoenix finds new determined and confidence in the faith that both of them have in him to fix things. They won’t remember him, no one does, but they were proud to call him nakama for all these years.

“If you ever need us, find us again, tell us something that only we would know and a bottle of booze. We’ll drink together again.” Shanks tells him before stabbing Marco through the heart.

10 and the Guardian

10 and Marco awakes on a mission. He grows just old enough to be accepted as a cabin boy and flies. Flies far, far away from his home to the Grand line. Where he find the Roger pirates, a budding crew well on their way to greatness. He learns from the best, gaining first hand experience on why the Pirate King was so formidable.

Haki is a well worth nightmare to learn from two of its greatest users. Even if it meant that he had to babysit a younger and somehow even more reckless Shanks and fellow cabin boy Buggy.

Marco watches with a whole new level of sadness at Roger’s passing. Shanks again asks for him to join his crew but Marco declines stating that he’s going to travel for a bit and figure out where life takes him.

Where it ends up taking him, is more preset than he would have Shanks believe. He follows Garp to a small island in the South blue where he see Rouge give birth to the little boy named Ace.

Garp confronts the man but Marco has kept his powers a secret from the Marines this time, a fall back for if things got dicey. He follows Garp, bird shaped so know no one is the wiser.

He spends years watching over the boy. Raising him in ways that Garp couldn’t. He’s there for when Garp brings Luffy to the town for Makino to care for. He watches over these boys that are so, so important.

And he meets Shanks again when the Red Hair Pirates come to town.

Marco lets Shanks meet Luffy and pulls him aside to take a walk. They walk to the forest where Shanks feels eyes watching. Marco remains calm and jovial even as two young boys attack him with metal pipes.

He easily defeats the two and leaves Shanks stunned for once. He watches as both brats yell at Marco for beating them again as Marco scolds them right back for their poor technique.

The tall blond introduces the two brats as Ace and Sabo, his charges shared under Garp.

“Garp?! That old fart?!”

“Hey! Don’t you call gramps an old fart, dye job!”

“What did you just call me brat?!”

Shanks and Ace bicker with each other as Marco and Sabo watch amused.

Shanks spends most of the walk back grumbling about pain in the ass kids.

“He takes after Roger but I see more of Rouge in him.”

“Ugh he’s just as stubborn as the Cap.. tain.” Shanks pauses… and stares at Marco then back at the forest and the back at Marco. “He- That’s?!”

“You have to swear never to speak of this Shanks… Garp and I have protected him for this long. I would hate to think we failed because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut.”

“Never. For the Captain and Rouge’s son never…. tell me more about him Marco.”

“Let’s go talk over drinks.”

Marco still enjoys getting a shocked face out of Shanks.

For the whole year he’s in the East Blue, he splits his time between Luffy and the two boys on the mountain.

Shanks shares stories of his time as a cabin boy on Roger’s crew, which causes Ace to get mad but then he’s pacified when hearing other tales of his mother.

Ace doesn’t hate his father quite as much this time but still has enough of a stigma to still be angry with him.

But canon has a way of happening and Shanks once again loses an arm for Luffy. Marco watches with sadness knowing his friend will be sailing from the Blue permanently. He bids them a safe journey and for Benn to keep his sanity. Shanks just laugh and they share a hug.

Garp returns, furious that Marco lets his brat grandson be influenced by that damn Red Hair. Marco just shrugs, knowing full well if Garp meant it he would have come back sooner. News of Red Hair being in the East Blue wasn’t hard to find, Marco could clearly remember Garp complaining about it while he was in the Marines. The Phoenix does inform Garp that Shanks knows about Ace and the grandfather sighs.

“He’s got his mother’s freckles as clear as day.”

“Suits him.”

“Aye.”

Luffy befriends the boys who become brothers then canon canon canon. Marco can only do so much good saving Ace and Dudan, and then going to search for Sabo. He finds the boy on a ship in a coma in the hands of…

“Ah, hello Dragon.”

The two talk, Marco explaining who the boy is and his… situation. Marco holds off on moving the boy till he wakes, his injuries far too severe to move him right away.

So Dragon and Marco talk. Marco is kind enough to share stories of Luffy growing up, something the father smiles at. It’s a peace offering.

Sabo awakens with amnesia. He reacts poorly to going home but seems to take pause at the mention of brothers.

“Ace? Luffy?”

“Yes. Those are their names.”

“I have brothers.”

Marco and Sabo go back home, with Dragon leaving Marco with his den den number in case there’s something Garp can’t handle. Ace and Luffy barely let Sabo out of their sight for days but help the boy relearn things and heal.

Years pass and both Ace and Sabo are the age to set sail. Marco stays with Luffy as they watch the boy’s two older brother sail away together. Marco tells them to watch each others backs and keep their wits.

“More than anything stay safe, stay alive.”

“You worry too much Marc, we’ll be fine.“

"I’ll keep him out of trouble Marco.”

“Hey!“

There Marco remains hearing about the two’s adventures with brief updates via the mail. He’s pleased to see both have taken up with Whitebeard. The old man would keep the boys safe.

The day Luffy sets out, Marco goes with him. Luffy pouts but he’s pleased that he’ll have some of his family with him. Marco flies high above enjoying the sun and completely misses the whirlpool until it’s too late. He can only watch as Luffy bobs in the water stuck in a barrel.

Just great.

East Blue basically happens with a plus one Marco. He tries to stay out of the way as much as possible, he’s not Luffy’s crew, these aren’t his fights but seeing all these familiar faces is both nice and painful.

He watches Coby’s beginning and the strength he got from Luffy plus how much Helmeppo changed.

Seeing Buggy, Roger’s other cabin boy, again was interesting.

"Buggy!”

“Oh damn, a flashy idiot from the past.”

“You know this clown?!”

“We were part of the same crew.”

“Did he have the nose then too?”

“ah… ”

“HOW DARE YOU?!”

They travel from one island to the next, picking up a first mate, navigator, and then a sharpshooter. Marco was sad to hear about Usopp’s mother passing, he hadn’t been aware of her death while still traveling with Shanks and as a doctor, it was probably something he could have prevented.

Marco left the Baratie early, flying after Nami with the other boat following his lead.

Marco pats Luffy on the head before he goes, “Stay safe.”

“Yosh~!” He nods at Hawkeye and flys off.

Learning exactly how Bell-mere passed was hard. She died like a hero protecting her girls and he could respect that after now raising so many kids, so many times, himself.

Still he honors Luffy’s claim of dibs but does destroy the Marine ships nearby, earning his bounty to raise once again.

Lougetown was interesting. He has no wish to see the site where Roger died, he’s seen it too many times as is and walks towards a familiar presence on the other side of town. He finds Dragon in a hole in the wall pub and they have drinks.

Small talk is exchanged and the leader of the revolutionary army has some good gossip… and some bad.

“Ace and Sabo have been seen leaving the new world for paradise… its said they are tracking someone named Teach…”

“Damn…”

Their talk is cut short when the wind picks up from a storm rolling in… and a person barges in yelling about an execution in the square.

“Looks like your son found trouble again. Does he get that from you or his mother?”

“No comment.”

Marco rushes ahead, allowing Dragon to slip away into the shadows. He doesn’t do much but does strike some more fear of god into Buggy for messing with his chick.

“I FORGOT HOW PROTECTIVE YOU GET JEEZ.”

They escape with a shared nod between Dragon and Marco.

When they start sharing their dreams on the way up reverse mountain, Marco has a vague one to share “To prevent the future.”

Que the beginning of the Alabasta arc. Past knowledge has always been limited when it comes to Luffy’s journey. It was filled with misinformation and other hole so he was honestly not expecting for there to be a GIANT WHALE. Oh, hi Crocus.

“You know this flower?”

“Reluctantly, yoi.”

“Brat!”

“My name is Crocus, the lighthouse keeper of Twin Capes. I’m 71 years old, a Gemini and type AB blood.”

“ YOU’RE A CAPRICORN YOI.”

They sail away from the capes, experiencing the strange weather of the Grandline for the first time. “It feels like coming home.” The Blues no longer felt quite the home, like the Grandline.

They arrive at Whiskey Peak and Marco is instantly suspicious. He joins the drinking with merry joy. They could try to get him drunk all they wanted but even with a seastone ring, he’s partied with Roger, Shanks and Whitebeard. This was nothing.

He fake passes out with Nami and Zoro, both having caught on to the plot.

Baroque Works reveals themselves and Marco fights the Millions. They are weak even by Grandline standards but their numbers prove to be the most annoying.

As Vivi explains what’s happening to her country and Mr.0 being Crocodile things are starting to become clear on how the Navy originally covered the whole mess up.

Little Garden is basically identical expect Marco is with Sanji as most of this goes down. So he’s not involved with any of it.

When Nami comes down sick, Marco tries to cure her but is unfamiliar with her illness. His memory reminds him of a long since wiped out Disease that it could be but he doesn’t have the ingredients. His flames help keep her fever down but are unable to do much else.

When Marco isn’t looking after Nami, he’s taken over navigation getting them safely to Drum… Mostly, til this hippo gets on deck. Marco has the sick satisfaction of seeing Luffy send the little gremlin flying for eating a chunk of Merry.

Marco would fly Nami all the way to the top but its too snowy and windy for him to make the flight safely with a passenger, especially one as sick as she was. He joins Luffy and Sanji in carrying her up to the top, the cold not really an issue. Luffy tries to fight him on it but Marco hits him on the head with his own Fist of Love.

“She’s Nakama, Luffy. I’m going, yoi.”

“…Fine.”

Marco is the one to carry Sanji to the top while Luffy still has Nami. He’s exhausted but awake when Chopper finds them by the cliff. He heals naturally, bundled up in a blanket by a fire. He hears Dr. Kureha’s story about Chopper and the island, casually wondering if it would have been the same for him had he known from the beginning he could shift into a flaming bird.

Wapol’s arrival at the castle is unwelcomed in his opinion and short lasting at least. He, as always, stays out of the fight, but assists the Doctor in keeping Sanji out of it as well.

lucky:i like how he’s present but not changing things

Wapol is defeated giving Kureha and Marco a chance to chat. It turns into this and that, the will of D., and…

“Your eyes look old.”

“I bet.”

“How many cycles have you gone through, Phoenix?“

”…what?“

"Rebirths? Is that what you call it? Bah. no matter… not everyone can age as gracefully as me.”

She admits that she read about it once briefly in an old medical tomb. A previous user went insane on their 13th rebirth.

“I’m on my 10th, yoi. I don’t even know why it keeps happening.”

“Well you might want to figure that one out soon.”

“Any hints?”

“The book mention they went crazy and burned to ash, nothing about a cure.”

“Fantastic.”

They leave, both merry and somber. Marco won’t abandon Luffy to go hunt for a solution he may not even find.

So the Strawhat crew is finally almost to Alabasta. Mr.2 doesn’t get Marco’s face cause he was in bird form looking down on the shenanigans.

The dock and Marco feels the two familiar presences with a large smile. They meet back up with Ace first then Sabo who was spying as Ace got into trouble with Smoker.

Luffy introduces his two brothers much to the crews shock. Two Whitebeard pirates and they are Luffy’s brothers?! Marco laughs glad to have his boys back in one place if not just for a bit.

Ace and Sabo inform him they’ve been tracking a traitor named Teach. Marco actually pulls them both aside and tells them to be careful and don’t underestimate him.

“Do you know something Marc?”

“…I don’t like this. If he’s underhanded enough to stab a crewmate, who knows what else he has planned.”

“We’ll be careful.”

They travel across the sand and dunes, Marco switching between flight and walking. The heat is aggravating but manageable.

They seem to be on a wild goose chase when the rebel army moved and the rain base is also a dead end. They race to stop Crocodile, Luffy and he crew taking care of the fights while Marco flies the bomb into the middle of the sky to explode.

They rest and recover, Marco getting scolded for once for his recklessness, and finally set sail on Merry on to discover a new crew mate.

Marco isn’t sure what to think about Nico Robin. But she doesn’t seem to have any ill intentions so he accepts her easily enough.

When the log post points up to a sky island, Marco offers to fly up and set it so they can just continue on but Luffy pouts at him, rejecting his proposal to no one’s surprise.

Marco stays on the ship at Mock town, avoiding the encounter with Blackbeard and his crew.

The Skypedia arc goes as well as expected. Marco briefly explains the basics of Haki as Enel tries to strike them again and again with lightning.

Luffy wins, Marco comments on Enel’s poor luck of finding the one man in all the seas immune to his attacks.

Marco can tell something is wrong with Merry. At night he can hear a hammer tapping away. His worst fears are confirmed at Water 7.

The Phoenix can only watch as the crew learns of Merry broken keel and then of Luffy’s fight with Usopp. He can’t condone Usopp’s behavior but understands why the long nose felt so deeply about it.

Because he going to miss Merry too.

Things are only further complicated when Robin leaves along with the arrival of CP9. In his lives, Marco never encountered the Marines spies but had heard enough about them to realize they were bad news. With the reveal of the blueprints for Pluton, Marco is on high alert.

Marco follows the escaping CP9 with the captured Franky and Usopp, flying high above to not be seen.

The crew is all reunited as they approach Enies Lobby. It’s through his travels, Marco has learned a great deal of the corruption of the Marines, but hearing of the truth for the buster call on Robin’s home is sickening.

One by one, the Straw Hats beat CP9, Marco taking care of many of the minions running around the place.

As the buster call arrives, Marco destroys many of the Marine ships until Luffy defeats Lucci. The crew escapes on Merry, Marco watching from the sky’s over head. Even he can’t help but cry when they give her a funeral by fire.

Marco is elated seeing Garp, Coby and Helmeppo again. It’s on friendly terms for the first time since he had been a Marine and he missed their shenanigans. Luffy’s father is no surprise to him and Garp calls him out, Marco admitting he’s met him before.

“Damn annoying brat.”

They set sail on the new Thousand Sunny, Marco knocking away some of Garps cannonballs. Somethings never change.

Thriller Bark is interesting, Marco had heard of Moriah’s island ship but had never seen it and now was wishing he never had the chance. His shadow was never personal stolen from him, Haki keeping it safe from Moriah’s grubby hands.

Brook is about the closest thing Marco has ever seen to his own rebirth powers but quickly discovers that’s not quite right as he could only do it once and he never looped.

Still Marco can’t help but sympathize that the skeleton spent so long by himself.

For all their attempts, the one to finally take down Oars is Marco. He had waited and watched and seen them give it their all but the truth is clear. They can’t quite manage.

But he can.

Still the first time in a while he’s been able to let loose, becoming far too lax this loop to have any time to fight. But Oars falls and Marco feels refreshed.

He worries as Luffy takes so much damage from Moriah and the with the arrival of Kuma he has to step in. Marco is the one to take all of Luffy’s damage instead of Zoro. He knocked both Sanji and Zoro out to do it. Kuma looks at the fallen young men and then at Marco who just smiles.

“You’ve helped raise Dragon’s son into a fine man with a good crew.”

“He did that all by himself, yoi.”

Marco awakens to the worried looks of the Straw Hat crew, all wondering what happened.

He smiles and says it was nothing as both Sanji and Zoro look at him blankly, the area covered in his blood. They can be mad at him all they want, he’d make the same choice every time.

They sail to Sabody and Marco ditches the crew at Shakky’s bar, talking with her over drinks for a bit. He’s informed that Ace and Sabo were not as careful as he had hoped, they were captured and sent to Impel Down.

“Damn those brats. I warned them.”

“It gets worse Marco-kun. Ace has been scheduled for execution.”

“Of course he has.”

Marco is still at Shakky’s when the Straw Hats and Ray return.

“Welcome back Ray-san.”

“Ah Marco! Been a while!”

It’s revealed that Marco was also on Roger’s crew along with Ray much to the shock of everyone, including Luffy.

“How was I supposed to know?!”

“I’ve told you enough stories that you should have figured it out, yoi.”

The crew has to make a run for it as they are outclassed and outnumbered by gathering Marine forces. Between Kuma, Pacificas, and the Admiral Kizaru, they stood no chance.

Marco tries to protect the crew from Kuma but fails as he too is blasted away, unable to break out of the paw bubble.

Marco is sent to the Red Force to the shock of its crew. He’s fucking furious, fighting Kaido and flying as fast as he can directly to Marineford but arrives too late.

Now not only were Ace and Luffy dead, but Sabo as well. Marco collapses in grief, dying as magma melts him.

So ends loop 10, probably the harshest yet on his poor heart.

11 and Canon at last

Marco is at a loss for what to do at the start of 11. It feels like he’s missing something and can’t quite figure out what.

He travels to the not yet destroyed island of Ohara, still known for its vast knowledge and thousands of books.

Try as he might, he couldn’t seem to find a single one on helping him. Marco had located the medical book Kureha mentioned but it listed more of what happened should he fail than succeed. Doomed to ash, it seemed was his fate.

While there, he befriends a woman named Olivia, now knowing that this woman was Robin’s mother.

They talk only a handful of times before he departs, but he warns her that Ohara was already suspected to be researching the void century and to be careful.

He flies to Roger, the man still young and not yet a pirate. Roger humors Marco as he asks questions, generally amusing as the boy, still a boy, takes a small comfort in huddling into the man’s side.

“I don’t know how to save them, yoi. Every time I try, they die worse than the last.”

“Maybe it’s not about saving them, but giving them the best chance at survival?”

“What Ray said! I know I’d give up everything to save my crew!”

Rayleigh offers that if what he’s tried so far didn’t work, maybe he could try something else. Marco thinks and there’s one crew directly involved he hasn’t tried yet. He thanks the two and promises they’ll meet again someday and flys to find a young Whitebeard.

Marco joins Whitebeard’s crew, watches as it grows from a handful of men to multiple divisions. It’s hard to call him Pops, having been enemies and only sometimes allies, but Newgate is just as stubborn as Roger in many cases and looks so proud the first time the name slips from his mouth.

He never fights against Roger and his crew, usually brushing past the bewildered pirates with a bottle split between him and Ray, even if he has to deal with the ‘you’re too young for drinking’ comments.

Marco is promoted to first mate and is stunned as that spot has always been Diamond Jozu’s position. But the crew voted and they trust him and he’s their big brother. It makes Marco feel warm.

Marco is the one to recruit Thatch, young and bright not yet with his iconic hairstyle. But his cooking is just what they need on a growing crew and Thatch thrives.

Life continues, and things come to pass just like before. Roger dies and Marco sees first hand the decline of Whitebeard. The realization time is killing his old Captain’s rival is hard, not even his flames can heal old age.

He probably enjoys the fights with Shanks crew the most because he knows what they want, a good drink and maybe a fight. As Pops and Shanks yell and clash he walks up to Benn as offers him a drink and a safe place to watch from. He’ll take every chance he gets to enjoy the company of his friends before its slips away.

It’s been years but it also passed in a blink of an eye as reports of Jinbe fighting an upcoming rookie reaches the deck of the Moby Dick. Marco lets out a breath. Ace.

Marco never saw how Pops took one look at this brat and wanted him on his crew.

Never saw how Thatch’s eyes lit up as Ace snapped back sarcastically and knew he found something fun.

Never saw how the crew slowly adopted this angry child as their own and he gradually accepted them too.

Never saw how Luffy’s first bounty poster made his whole world and how it was all torn down when one of his own division kills Thatch.

Now Marco sees how the once happy family fell, all because of one devil fruit. They only later identify it as the Dark Dark fruit, and reading the far too short description of its powers, leaves Marco wondering what other secrets it had.

So we have canon, Ace goes after Teach despite Marco’s warnings and pleas. He does and Marco can only mentally prepare himself for the worst. Shanks distracts Kaido as they head to war. It’s planned a bit differently than he’s seen it in the past, but that’s what past knowledge gets you.

He goes to war like canon and the war ends like canon. Ace and Pops are dead but Luffy escaped with the help of the up and coming supernova, Trafalgar Law.

It feels like a fever dream as Marco stands in front of the two graves of Ace and Pops, shoulder to shoulder with Shanks once again.

“I could use a drink.”

“Get me a seastone ring and I’ll give you a story too.”

Marco and Shanks drink in quiet in the Captain’s room on the Red Force. It looks nearly identical to the times when he’s been on the crew, even has his wanted poster on the wall.

“Why am I on your walls, Shanks? Trying to get me to join more than just your crew?”

“You know, I put it up when I was smashed and never felt like taking it down. Seemed to belong there.”

“You don’t say.”

They drink and drink til bottles litter the floor. Marco is the only one still going, drinking and talking about everything. Shanks slowed when the bird mentioned his multiple pasts and stopped when Marco said they had once been nakama. It was sobering and he started comforting the man when the tears got to be too much.

“I got so close Shanks. I only have one try left, yoi.”

“Sounds like you got close this time Marc… just… whatever you do next time, do what you want. Make the changes that matter to you.”

Marco waits til Shanks is asleep before taking a nearby knife and plunging it into his heart.

Triskaidekaphobia

12 and one sane life left, Marco awakens on a mission. If this is going to be his last chance… then he’s going to make sure all the people he cares about survive.

He joins Edward Newgate as the very first member of his new crew, easily calling the older man ‘Pops’ and man decides he likes the sound of that.

There’s nothing he can do for Roger, his illness incurable even to his healing blue flames (it was something he tried very early on), but before the man’s death, they drink and Marco tells him all sorts of stories about a boy named Ace and his brothers. Roger laughs till he cries.

“You know something Phoenix, if I ever had a son, he would be named Ace.”

“It’s a good name.”

“It really is.”

He’s sure Roger realizes the truth in the end, telling the Phoenix to look after him and his mother for him.

It took some planing and a lot of luck but after Roger’s execution Marco was able to lead Garp to Rouge faster than previously. It took secret letters and a few other bribes but the Marine was able to smuggle the woman off Baterilla, taking her and the baby she carried to the East Blue where she would be safe.

Marco handled the business on Ohara personally, but when Olivia failed to listen to his warnings, he knocked her out. Shoving her at Saul and Robin, the group escaped the Buster Call but were still tracked by the government for years to come.

Years later, he arrives in the North Blue just in time to save his old ward from several gunshot wounds, helping him and the crying boy to the next town over.

He sends money and a letter to Bell-mere telling her she’s worth more to her girls alive than dead.

Marco clears Tom’s name before Spandam can kill him, Cutty Flam is still presumed dead after attempting to stop the sea train.

The Phoenix sends medicine to Usopp’s mother and prevents the death of Chopper’s mentor Hiluluk.

Marco easily befriends Ace, welcoming him into the new crew. He saves Thatch from death, but for all his careful planning Teach still escapes.

With the war still on, Marco plots and toils.

Upon Shanks’ visit he has both crews agree to be close at hand incase something goes wrong, which it will and does.

Completely cuts the whole confrontation between the two captains having seen it too many times.

“None of us have time for your squabbling, not our crews or Ace, yoi.”

Hearing of the execution, Marco sends out orders to all their allies and just one more.

He calls a number he had memorized long ago. It didn’t pick up the first ring or even the second but on the third…

“Hello Dragon.”

It’s all set as Marco stands on the Moby in the middle of Marineford. He’s done all he could in planning for this.

He watches as Luffy predictable falls from the sky, challenging anyone who dare stands in his way. He watches as the Marines pull out all their tricks to stop Whitebeard. He watches and waits and there.

Ace’s true weakness that he was always too kind, Marco thought as the fire man would not let the taunt go. He stops and that’s all the chance Akainu needed. The admiral attacks but Akainu’s fist impaled not Ace but him. There was a just hiss as flames tried to heal, gasps of Ace and Luffy watched in horror.

“Run, damn brats.”

Marco falls but it’s the first time he’s satisfied. He laughs and fixes a stare at Blackbeard.

“It will never be your age.”

The Phoenix lives and dies in cycles. It brings the dawn, the coming of a new time.

Marco hopes that with his death, it will be their age, Luffy’s or Ace’s or Sabo’s. That’s what he wishes to see. Them to live, them to be free.

Broken Hourglass

Marco awakens to what he assumes with be 13, where he will slowly go mad and lose all sense of reality till he turns to ash.

Instead he’s surrounded by crying faces.

“What?”

“You big feathered idiot!” Cried Thatch rubbing at his face, attempting to hide flowing tears. “What were you thinking?!”

“Wh-“

“I think we all know he wasn’t thinking anything good.” Answered Shanks appearing with a grin just in eyesight.

Marco took the moment to get good look at all the faces surrounding him. There were his boys, Luffy, Ace, and an all grown up Sabo just as much hugging each other as they were to clutching on to his sash.

There was a tall blond man in a pink hat crying next to a much smaller boy with pink hair, a man with a spotted hat giving them awkward comforting pats on the back.

Pops was over to the side with Garp and Rayleigh, the old guard watching over them.

Marco sat up, noticing no hole in his chest and that they were no longer on Marineford. “What happened, yoi?”

“You kinda exploded. Sent Akainu flying back and the battle almost continued if it wasn’t for pinky here. We thought you were dead till the ashes came together and there you were Marc, bird form and all.”

Marco gulped looking at Shanks. “M-Marc?”

“Yeah. We all remember. Some of it? Most of it? Ehhh how did you ever keep it all straight???”

Marco laughs and laughs. Because no one died and that mattered more than anything.

Epilogue

Bell-mare remembers and sees the note and is absolutely gonna punch him when she gets the chance.

934 notes · View notes