A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! I wrote this drabble as both a gift for shockandlock for our New Year fic exchange and as a very very late Day 7: Free for the MarcoAce Week.
This happens in the OPverse. It's short but fluffy, so I Hope you enjoy it, Kris!
After more than a year of living with the Whitebeard pirates and months of bearing their mark on his back, Ace was certain of a few things regarding how the crew worked. One of the most remarkable ones - and one you'd only truly understand if you were a Whitebeard pirate yourself - was that despite the random celebrations here and there, their birthday parties were the wildest and the best ones. They happened in a high frequency due to the size of the crew, but they were all especial in their own way, and nobody was ever forgotten.
Of course, that included Ace.
At midnight, a couple of fireworks were released, and to the sounds of their explosions and of many shouts of "Happy birthday!", the New Year's Eve celebration of the Whitebeard pirates turned into Ace's birthday party.
...
"You know," Ace said, lying down on the sand with an arm behind his back and the other holding beer mug, "this is actually nice."
He breathed deeply a few times, letting the fresh air of the inhabited spring island cool him down, and closed his eyes. The noises of the party were loud even meters away from it, making it impossible to have silence, but Ace couldn't care less - it was comforting to know his family was right there, happy and having a blast.
"And it's all for you, yoi."
Ace opened his eyes to glance at Marco, who was sitting beside him on the sand.
"No, it's not," Ace said, rising an eyebrow and smiling cheekily at him. "Half of it is because of the turning of the year."
Marco rolled his eyes. "If you want to get technical, I'd say a third or a quarter is because of the New Year's Eve, but the rest is for you. Ask Thatch, if you doubt it. They had to cook a lot more this time, yoi."
"You guys really go wild with the birthday parties."
Marco smiled. It was a simple action, and it wasn't like Ace had never seen Marco smile before, but something about it, about the way it looked so fond, made Ace's breath hitch and his heart constrict.
"Of course we do, it's for family," Marco said, and unaware of the effect it had in Ace - or maybe all too aware of it - he picked Ace's hand and kissed his knuckles. "And you're one of us."
"Yeah…"
Ace wasn't able to say anything else before the words got stuck in his throat, and he felt heat grow behind his eyes. He pulled Marco to lie down with him, then snuggled closer until his face was hiding on Marco's chest.
He just breathed for a few minutes, letting Marco's arms around him and the way he was playing with a strand of Ace's hair ground him.
For tonight, Ace wanted to allow himself not to think. Here, he was Ace - a member of the Whitebeard pirates, a person who loved his family and who was loved back. If he tried hard enough, he could pretend that was all there was, and surrounded by Marco's warm acceptance, it wasn't as impossible as it once had seemed.
Ace kissed Marco's collarbone softly, then nuzzled his jaw. He felt Marco shiver, his arms tightening around Ace for a moment, and he smiled.
"Thank you, Marco."
Ace chuckled when Marco kissed the tip of his nose before pulling him closer.
"Happy birthday, Ace," Marco whispered, his breath warm and tingling on his lips. "And happy New Year."
"Happy New Year," Ace whispered back, and he pulled Marco in for a long kiss.