A/N: I am currently obsessed with Marco x Ace and decided to try my hand at such a fanfiction. This will be my first Marco/Ace pairing and I'm actually really excited about it. However, this is not my first time writing so feel free to spout out whatever praises or criticizes you'd like; just make sure they aren't nonsensical.

Summary: One man has gone far beyond what anybody ever gave him credit for and now Marco has a once in a lifetime opportunity. But will he seize the chance or will he question this reality and ultimately himself? "There is no such thing as coincidence. There is only the inevitable."

Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own One Piece or the characters; if I did Ace would not have died. Also, there will be mentions of Marco having a peculiar condition. Said condition is not from my head, that is from Five Days by Reiki-Piratical. If you've read it then okay, it's an awesome story and one of my favorites! If you haven't read it then don't worry it has no correlation to my story, I'm simply incorporating it into mine with some tweaks here and there. So bottom line is; I merely own the main plot.

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Prologue

If someone were to ask how he fell in love he couldn't answer, because truthfully he wasn't quite sure how himself. He could tell them when, where and with whom but how was still a mystery to even him. In all honesty he had never planned to fall in love, never wanted to fall in love. To him there were too many complicated variables that worked against his favor. Besides, all a man really needed was the wide open seas of freedom, adventure and his 'family' to share it all with. There should be no more room for anything else, or so he first thought.

None of them knew what they were getting themselves into, or what would later become of them. All they knew was that their Oyaji made a decision and it was final. Whether he himself knew what his decision would put his sons through was unknown but nobody questioned him. Instead they welcomed their newest member with open arms, even as the distrusting brat tried, unsuccessfully, to take their Oyaji's head. Each time he would fail and each time he would still still try again until after the hundredth time something changed. He had asked why.

"Why do you guys call him "Pop"...?"

Truthfully it had been the question they were all waiting for, because a son who doesn't understand his father can't even hope to be happy. And that's what they were, happy. Happy to be loved and accepted by someone strong and admirable and as one of the oldest members it was no surprise that he was the one to put things in a quicker motion.

"Because he calls us his "sons"."

Whether the boy understood at least that much was an unasked question, because even if he didn't know now he would eventually. To the others, however, it was the simplest of explanations in the world.

"We're hated all around the world, yoi. But we're happy...words like these make us happy."

Though the boy couldn't see him, having had his own face hidden in his lap, the happy son gave a truly genuine and happy smile. A smile that, for some unfathomable reason, he desperately wanted to see on the young man's face.

"Will you take Whitebeard's mark on your back?" were the last words that inevitably put everything in motion.

The young man, or boy as some still called him, took Whitebeard's mark upon his back and quickly rose to the title of Second Division Commander. Nobody argued about it and instead cheered and congratulated him. He was their brother who, once opened and relaxed, has a charisma that seems to draw others toward him. A charm that somehow had ensnared the most wildest of birds.

For a while things were wonderful and joyous, like a paradise out on the open seas. Nothing was out of place or amidst, it was as perfect as their lives would get.

Unfortunately, happiness does not always last forever and slowly but surely everything began to crumble and fall apart. Their paradise on open seas became a hell of nightmares that would no doubt threaten to tear them all apart.

In the end, however, it did more than simply tear them apart. The pain and anguish that was left to the living was almost too much to bear, alone without their father and youngest brother. But more than anyone's pain or sadness was the shattering of a bird's heart that no amount of flames or tears could ever mend. For in those last moments he lost more than a father and a brother, he lost his world. The pain and suffering none of them could foresee left a little brother catatonic, a family crushed and a special bird broken.

Little did they all know that the grand scheme of one man was only just beginning.