I do not own one piece
Chapter 1
It was warm where he was laying, there was warmth in his arms, and his brain was trying to process what had happened. A puff of breath tickled his caller bone, and he cracked open his eyes. He was in a bed much like the one he had in his room on the Moby Dick, only the covers were a lot fluffier. He looked to black hair that was resting on his shoulder and he could see freckles on the other's cheeks. Marco froze, his breathing nearly halted in his chest. The walls around the room, from what he could see were a soft brown wood, not that different from the Moby, but there was a subtitle hue difference that only one that has lived on the massive ship for a long time. But that wasn't what made his breath hitch; Ace was currently in his arms, sleeping. Marco closed his eyes and counted to ten before he slowly started to try to move his arms.
The sound of running feet up the stairs caught Marco's attention. Upstairs, that was different. The door burst open and a body flew towards the bed.
"ACE!" someone yelled and landed in the bed. Ace was startled away and he backed away until his back it the headboard. He looked around and then to the body that jumped into bed. "Ace, Gramps is going all military again," the boy said. Ace blinked at him and looked around the room as if trying to get his bearings. "Oh hi Marco," Luffy said and looked back to Ace. The fire user blinked at Luffy for a long time before the boy sat up and grinned wide at him. "Just warning ya when you come down," he moved off the bed and stood by the door and tilted his head to the side as he looked at Ace, his older brother was looking at him strangely. "Breakfast is almost done."
Luffy left the room and closed the door. Ace looked to Marco and then looked to the bed and his face started to heat up and turn around. Marco sat up and moved out of the bed and looked around. Finding some clothes, thankfully they were much like his normal clothes.
Ace stayed sitting in the bed.
"What… what's going on?" he asked.
"We're not in the compound anymore," Marco said. "We better hurry back to pops before he finds out we're missing yoi."
Ace nodded and moved out of the bed and gathered his shorts and an open shirt. They walked out of the room, Marco lead seeing as he was the first division commander and thus higher rank than Ace. They walked down the stairs and the first thing that greeted them was the smell of food, Marco heard Ace's stomach growl loudly, as they walked into what appeared to me a kitchen and dining room.
Marco stopped when he saw Garp, his pirate instincts kicked into high alert at the danger. Ace saw his stance and looked at Garp as he stood at the stove finishing plating breakfast. Garp turned and looked to the men standing there. "Joining us for breakfast Marco?"
Marco did his best to relax his muscles at seeing the vice admiral. Ace seemed relaxed around the older male; the other male was sitting at the table grinning from ear to ear. "I am glad that Ace came back," the boy said. Ace blinked and rubbed the back of his head. Marco watched the marine as he moved to sit down. Luffy held out a paper to him. Marco was startled but didn't show it as Ace sat beside him at the table and Garp sat plates down for them. Marco opened the paper and looked over several articles. Garp and the boy started to eat like the bottomless pit of Ace, he watched for a moment before he took the cup of coffee and took a sip of it, his eyes darting to Garp every few moments.
"The Navy base is holding an open house enrollment," Garp said and looked at Ace. Ace stopped eating and looked at him and shook his head.
"I don't-"
Garp waved his hand. "Yeah I know you don't wanna join the Navy, I got that you've said it since you were little," the man said. Marco looked over at Ace; they met eyes for a moment before Ace shrugged. "Luffy's going."
"I am not," Luffy said. "I got that thing to do with Zoro-"
Garp punched the back of Luffy's head. "You don't even know when it is," Garp yelled. Luffy looked up with his hands on his head.
"Ow, gramps that hurt," Luffy said.
Ace gave a small chuckle as he looked at Luffy. "Should make you both go, plans or not," Garp grumbled and sat heavily in his seat. "You're invited to Marco."
"No," Marco choked out, "thank you yoi," he added as politeness. Garp eyed him for a moment and then went back to eating. Marco went back to the paper. After their plates were cleaned of food Marco put the paper down and looked to Ace. Garp stood up, and headed for the door.
"You boys be good," he said.
"See ya later Gramps," Luffy said. Ace watched him leave and then Luffy stood up and stretched out his arms above his head and looked to Ace and Marco. "That fight last night was awesome, Marco you were awesome," he said with a smile on his face. Ace and Marco looked up at him. He looked back the grin never leaving his face. "Well I have to go meet Zoro at the dojo, call if you need anything." He waved and left. Ace leaned back in the chair and nodded to the paper.
"What did you learn from that," he asked.
"More confusing things," Marco said and looked around the room. It was a nice place, the kitchen was clean besides the breakfast dishes, it was a nice size as well not as large as their galley's kitchen but this was for a family of three not a family of hundreds. "World news is about the same but with a lot of differences though, places, people, time." Marco folded his arms in thought as he shook his head. "What have you gotten us into Ace?"
Ace frowned, "I don't know, I didn't know it would ah, do this." He waved a hand around. Marco gave him a look that said he didn't approve. They sat in silence for a bit, just thinking before Marco let out a breath.
"So, who did we just eat breakfast with?"
Ace looked up and turned his head to the side. "Luffy and Gramps," Ace said as if it was obvious. "Luffy is my little brother. I told you about him."
"Never seen him before," Marco reminded and stood up. "We should get our bearings and find out what we can about this place and get back to the Moby."
Ace stood up as well and started to explore the house. It had two floors and a basement, three rooms, it was neat and tidy more than likely from them not being there all day. Several strange devices that he couldn't even hope to explain or describe other than flat shiny boxes or thicker black boxes. Marco on the other hand was going through nearly everything taking it all in as Ace looked over the surfaces. Ace was crouched in the closet in the hall way when Marco tapped him on the shoulder and handed him a small book. Ace blinked and took it from Marco without saying a word and looked through it. It was the commanders of Whitebeard pirates, including him and Marco.
Ace opened his mouth but stopped when he came across a picture of him, Luffy and a blond male. He crouched there for a long time just looking at it as memories flooded his mind and of all the things that led up to his life as a pirate and the promise that they made. Marco stood behind him silently watching him as Ace finally flipped the pictures again and then he snapped the book closed. Marco was just taking it all in stride.
"As strange as it is here," Marco said and broke whatever had come over Ace; the younger man looked up at him. "It doesn't seem to be that out of the ordinary."
"So all we have to do is find the white one and get a painting of our world?" Ace said, as pirates of the Grand Line and the New World they have seen and heard many different stories of creatures, devil fruits and islands that were strange, this was more than like no different, some strange devil fruit power.
Whatever the reason was, they weren't going to find any more information from this house. Marco leaned against the wall and crossed his arms as he did often in thought. As much as they won't get any information here Marco also didn't want to just leave without know more than what they already did. Trouble seems to attract Ace as proven with the white one. Ace hadn't moved from his crouched sit still looking into the closet.
Marco turned and walked to a window and looked outside, he had caught sights every so often, but still the sight awed and amazed him. Strange contraptions people were riding in, the houses along the street all seemed to be about the same as the one they were standing in. It was a clear day, still morning. He let out an annoyed sigh as he heard soft snores from a few feet behind him. So much for him thinking. The second division commander was prone to random sleep attacks, in random places; sometimes face first into his food.
He turned towards Ace and heard the door down stairs open.
"Na, Zoro, you could have called to let me know that there wouldn't be practice today," that voice Ace's little brother Luffy.
"I thought I did," a new deeper voice, Marco could easily guess that this was the Zoro Luffy was speaking to. They walked up the stairs and paused in the hallway.
Luffy tilted his head. "Why are you guys still here?" he asked.
"Didn't feel like leaving," Marco was quick with the answer as Ace woke up and looked at them before he yawned.
Luffy crossed his arms and got a thoughtful expression on his face as he studied Ace and Marco, Zoro just stood behind Luffy as the younger male seemed to try and piece some things together. Marco could feel how hard the boy was working and nearly felt sorry for him when Luffy pounded a fist into his open palm. Ace blinked.
"You lost your keys," Luffy said. "Or are you two fighting? You never fight though, well you fight but not with each other. Oh Zoro you and Sanji should have been there, Marco was awesome!"
Zoro nodded his head. "There's another one tonight right?" Zoro asked.
Marco felt like he was being left out on what had happened to him last night, he had thought about asking, but knew that that would sound strange.
"What fight last night?" Ace asked. Luffy looked to him and grinned.
"You fall asleep again?" Luffy asked and waved it off. "Just a practice for the real fights in a week, Marco was cool with all his leg work, may have gave Sanji for a run." Luffy stood there and folded his arms and got another thoughtful look. "It's really just for show and enjoyment that Marco fights."
"Fights…" Ace tried to wrap it around his head. "Fight who and why?"
Luffy no longer had the childish thoughtful look on his face as he looked at Ace, "the coliseum were people gather teams and they go into to fight to see who is the strongest. Whitebeard has held the title for a long time now. It's a big event too; hundreds of people show up every year to fight."
Ace looked to Marco. "How about we all go there together for a little fun yoi," Marco suggested. Luffy turned his head to the side as he considered this.
"Let me call the rest of my crew," Luffy said and dashed down the stairs. This had been what Marco had been wanting, and thankfully to Ace's random sleeps it didn't seem that odd to the fire users little brother. However the other man, Zoro his name was didn't seem as oblivious, but he shrugged and followed Luffy down the stairs. Marco nodded his head to Ace who stood and followed them.
Luffy was on what looked like a snail-less den-den mushi talking to someone, hanging up and talking to someone new. Marco waited patiently until Luffy was finished and gave a wide grin towards Marco. "Yush! Let's go!"
The coliseum was huge; well the contraption they were in currently was odd, like a small boat on wheels. Ace and Marco both looked at the building; it had to be as large as the Moby. Once the car was stopped they got out and walked towards the entrance. Several people waved to them, Ace didn't know any of them. Marco recognized one. They stopped a few feet away from them.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Marco," the woman with the black hair said. Marco's eyes landed on her again.
"I don't believe we have had the pleasure to actually meet Nico Robin," Marco replied easily, she narrowed her eyes but only slight and then smiled.
"You're reputation precedes you, but I wonder what I have done to earn acknowledgement," she said politely. Ace and the others just watched them as they spoke before introductions were given. Marco shrugged a shoulder smoothly.
"I like to keep informed," he didn't really want to tell her there was an eighty million beli bounty on her head since she was eight, this didn't seem like the place to say such things.
"Marco, this is the first time you get to meet my whole crew," Luffy grinned. "You know Zoro, Sanji and Nami, but this is Usopp, Chopper, Robin, Franky and Brook," Luffy said. Marco took them all in.
Zoro was muscular like Ace, with green hair and dark eyes, white shirt black pants, black boots and green haramaki. Sanji was lean, not built, with blond hair coving one side of his face and his eyebrows curled, he wore a black vest, black pants, black thick dress shoes, and an orange dress shirt with a black tie. Nami was the shortest female, with a off white tank top, and shorts, she also had a tattoo on her shoulder, the design he didn't recognize right away, she also wore slightly heeled sandals, her orange hair was bulled back in to ponytails. Usopp had a long nose, average thin build, and curly black hair and dark skin. Chopper looked to be the youngest of the group, with short brown hair, a cute child-like face and slim build he looked to be more of a book worm than a fighter. Robin, of course had dark hair and blue eyes, a sly smile on her lips as she wore a purple pants and tube top combo with matching heels. Franky was large in the chest and arms, and thinner in the legs, he had light blue hair and sunglasses covering his eyes. He wore an open button shirt and shorts that came to just above the knees. Brook was tall, and thin, with a large head of hair, his fingers long and boney, and he wore an older fashion of ware that had frills, he also carried a cane.
Marco took them all in quickly before bowing his head in greeting to each of them.
Luffy grinned. "And this is my brother's lover Marco," Luffy said. Both Marco and Ace looked at Luffy, Ace was glaring at him and Marco almost looked thoughtful, but in the how many ways can I remove your head thoughtful.
"We're not, we're-" Ace looked at Marco. "We're nakama."
Luffy stopped laughing and his hands loosened from behind his head as he looked at Ace. "Did you have a fight? You never have fights…" he said and frowned.
"It's just a bit of a shock to say it so out right yoi," Marco covered. Luffy turned to him and 'hummed' before shrugging.
"Doesn't matter, Zoro and Sanji fight all the time and they still-" he was cut off by two punches to the head. "Ow!" he whined. Nami grabbed his cheek and pulled slightly.
"You should know better, their relationship is a touch and go," Nami said pulling a little harder. Luffy's face didn't stretch like Ace thought it would have or it should have for that matter. Ace watched Nami his eyes narrowing as he moved closer to his brother. Luffy looked up at him with a 'huh' expression before Ace hooked his fingers on the inside of Luffy's mouth and pulled them apart.
"Ow Ace!" Luffy called out and pulled back. "What was that for?" he asked rubbing his cheeks.
"They didn't stretch," Ace said and reached for him again. Marco placed a hand on Ace's shoulder and sighed.
"Of course they didn't stretch," Marco said, Ace looked to him and then back to Luffy and then back to Marco. He opened his mouth to speak, "Ace, did you think that he was made of rubber?" Ace snapped his jaw closed and then gave a sheepish grin.
"Sorry Luffy," he said.
"Are you feeling okay Ace?" Luffy asked worried.
"Yeah, just a little fired up about some fun," he countered. Luffy shrugged and they headed inside. It was well lit and spacious.
When they made to the main room, Marco recognized the two standing around looking at clip boards; they turned at the small gathering.
"MARCO!" one yelled.
"Izo," Marco replied.
"Where in the seven hells have you been?" Izo asked and looked to his appearance. "And are those the same clothes you wore yesterday? Honestly ."
"Pops has been wondering where you were," Vista said. Marco looked them over, Izo was still a cross dresser and wore his hair up, and Vista was still a large man.
"Commanders have a meeting tonight before the fights," Izo said and looked back to the clipboard. He looked to the others in the room. "The training rooms are open if you want to use them." Ace walked over to Marco's side, the two looked at him, and he grinned and waved at them. "I told you," Izo said.
Vista frowned but nodded, they waved them off and Luffy led them into one of the training rings. "We'll meet up with you after you talk to mister Newgate," Luffy said over his shoulder. Marco nodded his head and turned to Vista.
"Where can we find pops?" he asked.
Izo smiled and tapped the clipboard with his pen. "He's more than likely in his living quarters," Izo said and took Vista's clipboard too. Izo started to walk away and Marco and Ace followed.
Whitebeard was large, not as large as what they were used to, but still a giant of a man as he sat in his chair with a jug of sake. "You wanted to see us?" Marco asked.
Whitebeard looked at them, "wondering why two of my top fighters weren't here this morning."
"We were at Ace's," Marco replied.
Whitebeard nodded his head and waved off the rest of the explanation, "I pushed the meeting back until later," the large man said. Marco placed his hands into his pockets and looked at the old man. Ace was standing behind and a bit to the side as he looked around the room. It was a large room, with lots of places to sit.
"What is the meeting about?"
"The upcoming fights," Thatch said. Marco turned his attention to the fourth division commander and nodded to him. "They are next week after all. And hey Ace, I hear your little brother has got himself a small crew to join in."
"Yeah," Ace said with a wide grin on his face. Though he hadn't seen his brother in a couple of years, this Luffy was a bit different, though it seemed still the same Luffy. He didn't really know too much about what kind of crew Luffy had, but he didn't think it was so large already. Whitebeard looked at Ace for a long time and then grinned at him.
"You've always been proud of your little brother," the old man said. Ace grinned at him.
"Yep! And he's only got up to go," he placed his hands behind his head and crossed his ankles. "We're gonna watch them train too."
"Marco, keep the brats in line," Whitebeard said. Marco nodded and they left the room. Marco and Ace walked down the hallways towards the training rooms. They walked into the smaller arena and watched. Zoro was facing off against Sanji. Marco crossed his arms and leaned back against the railing. Three swords were odd enough for him to be curious; the blond had his leg bent in the air.
Ace leaned forward arms on the railing.
"It doesn't feel right," Ace whispered. Marco looked at him. "I already want to go home."
"You got us into this mess," Marco reminded and Ace looked at him with a pout. Marco shook his head, "we still have to find a way out."
"You think we actually went into one of those paintings?" Ace asked. Marco shrugged his shoulder as he listened to the battle behind him. Ace wasn't really paying attention to it either as he rested his face on his hands. "Then can't we just go to a painting and then go through it?"
Marco looked at him, "do you know how ridiculous that sounds?"
Ace huffed and watched the fight between the two come to a close. "We only have a month to escape and go back; I am just coming up with ideas here."
"Let's hope that your ideas actually have thought in the future yoi," Marco looked over his shoulder. "Anyway, we better keep our devil fruits under wraps for the time, it doesn't look like anyone else here has them yoi."
"I guessed as much when Luffy didn't stretch like he was supposed to," Ace straightened and threw his arms over his head as watched his little brother's crew.
"ACE!" Luffy yelled at him and waved. Ace grinned and waved back. "Come fight me!"
Laughing, "I'll have to go easy on you!" Ace called and jumped over the railing. Marco turned his head and watched the two brothers.
"I throw a pretty hard punch," Luffy said and balled his hands into fists.
As they squared off against each other. They rushed at each other, and Ace was amazed at how much he remembered on the island in the woods. Though Luffy's punches were a bit harder, they weren't really anything compared to what he was use to on the Grand Line. Marco watched as it seemed almost normal for them to rush at each other, dodge, roll and step out of the way of fists and feet. There was a special type of grace Ace had in his straight forward fighting style. In the end however, Ace had won, Luffy's expression was a mixture of disappointment and happiness, he grinned and laughed with his brother, but he hadn't beaten Ace. Marco's lips twitched slightly as Luffy jumped on Ace's back, wrapping his legs and arms around the older brother.
"Oi Luffy," Ace looked up over his shoulder as his brother laughed. Ace was grinning wide.
"Ace," Luffy hugged his neck, "let's hang out with Sabo later kay?"
Ace tensed, Marco shifted his weight and his attention went to Ace fully as the younger pirate stood frozen.
"Sa..Sabo?" Ace asked.
"Mm, yeah Sabo," Luffy looked confused for a second. "On the way to the dojo he called and said he was going to be back in town later." Ace was still in shock from what Luffy was saying, he was afraid to move, afraid to breathe. Sabo was, alive here. He swallowed. Marco was on alert and he looked up to the older pirate and smiled at him.
"Yeah, of course!" he said excitedly. Marco watched them, and the smile that Ace wore was brighter than what he had ever shown on the Moby. Marco frowned; they had to return home as soon as possible now.
They watched a couple of the others train against each other, Luffy still on Ace's back as the older brother seemed to not mind that he was there.
"Ah brotherly love," Izo said with a smile on his face. He looked to Marco and leaned on the railing as Nami spun her staff around to knock Usopp on the arm. Marco looked at Izo as the man sighed and straightened. "The meeting is tonight at ten."
Marco watched as they started to pack up and leave the training ring, Luffy beside Ace telling him something and the older brother laughed and rubbed Luffy's hair. Ace paused and looked up at Marco and waved his hand. Marco returned the wave.
"Have fun," Izo said.
"That's not what I would call it," Marco said and leapt off the railing, if Izo had anything to say to that he kept his words to himself. Marco followed the group.
"SANJI," Luffy whined. The blond haired male looked at him, as he lit a cigarette.
"I hope your fridge is stocked," Sanji said.
"Yeah, gramps just went shopping, we have lots of meat!" Luffy said. Robin chuckled lightly.
"Honestly Luffy is that all you think about?" Nami scolded.
They went their separate ways at the doors, Sanji following them this time. Marco looked around at the area to try and get a feel of what this world was like.
Having ridden in the car on the way here, they rode in it again on the way back. They walked in to the house and a blond haired teenage Sabo greeted them from the couch. Luffy grinned and waved as he sat down. "Sanji you can use my shower first," Luffy said.
"Training again?" Sabo asked and Luffy nodded. Ace just stood at the arm of the long curved couch as he just looked at Sabo. He swallowed thickly and lifted his hand. "You look like you've seen a ghost Ace," the blond said, he was wearing a t-shirt and dark shorts with goggles on his head.
Ace shook his head, "just, Luffy's gotten strong," he laughed. Marco walked around Ace and looked at the younger pirate, Ace looked at Marco and his grin widen.
Sabo tossed something towards Ace. The fire user caught it and looked at the plastic thing for a second. "Don't feel like getting your ass kicked?" Sabo teased.
"Oi!" Ace called back and moved to sit on the couch. Marco sat in the chair; Zoro took a seat on the couch as well. As strange as the flashing colorful lights were on the flat shinny box, Ace caught on quickly as to what he was supposed to do. Marco found his adaptability rather surprising; he was a real fast learner. Even with Luffy crawling on his back trying to get what they had called the controller and Sabo knocking into him.
"My turn Ace!" Luffy yelled for the seventh or eighth time. Sanji was already in the kitchen and the smells filled the air. Zoro had been next to shower and change his clothes. Marco had guessed that this was normal for them if they kept spare clothes here.
"Ugh," Ace made a face as he handed the controller to Luffy who cheered, Ace laughed with Sabo. The fire user stood up and stretched out.
Luffy laughed, as Ace headed up stairs, Marco watched him and then he heard the water again, Ace was smart; he had guessed what was going on as much as he had. Marco stood and left them; he didn't get any looks and guessed that this was also normal. He walked into the bathroom and leaned on the counter.
He could see Ace's grin from the shower glass as the younger pirate turned to look at him. "Ace, we need to find a way home," Marco said and he could have flinched at how harsh it sounded. Ace's grin faded as he ran his hands through his hair, and Marco could have sworn the room got warmer.
Finally after several minutes Ace sighed. "I know," he said. "This isn't our world. Sabo is dead in our world," he breathed and stood in the water for a bit, a hand on the side of his neck as he watched the water fall on him. Marco crossed his ankles as his hands landed on the moist counter top. "I haven't seen Sabo in years."
Marco nodded his head in understanding, "just keep in mind," Marco replied. Ace nodded in the shower. They were silent for a while. Then the water turned off and Ace grabbed a towel and dried off inside the shower. Marco pushed off the counter and followed Ace to his room as the younger pirate looked around the dresser. He pulled out a pair of cotton pants and underwear.
"I guess Sanji and Zoro aren't the only ones that keep spare clothes here," Ace said and tossed clothes towards Marco. "They look about your size and style." Ace grinned as he chuckled at him. Marco looked at him and then looked to the pants that were a brown color and that would come just below his knees, an orange sash and a tan long sleeved shirt. He watched for a second as Ace dressed before he turned and went to take a quick shower.
Ace was already down stairs when he walked down, Ace was sitting on the floor with his back against the couch laughing as Zoro and Luffy held the controllers, Luffy's foot was against the green haired man's face. Marco shook his head.
"Luffy," Sanji said from the kitchen. Luffy looked over his shoulder and grinned. He tossed the controller to Marco as he moved past him up the stairs. Marco sat down on the other side of Ace.
"Are you going to play?" Zoro asked. Marco looked up at him and then to the controller and shook his head and held up the controller. Ace reached for it, his body going over Marco's but Sabo snatched the controller first. Ace slumped down across Marco's lap. The first division commander looked at him as a hand landed on top of Ace's head. Ace looked up at him and then folded his hands on Marco's leg and grinned up at him. It wasn't uncommon for the younger pirate to hug or even randomly fall asleep on one of the other crew members that was just Ace. However he had never lay across Marco's legs.
The bad part, Marco's mind screamed at him, was that this wasn't a bad feeling, Ace was naturally warm due to his devil fruit powers, and Marco as a bird of fire, really enjoyed this pleasant heat.
It didn't take long for Luffy to run back down the stairs jumping the last four, jean shorts and a sleeveless shirt. "Sanji!" Luffy called excitedly.
"Yep, plating now," Sanji said. Sabo and Zoro sat the controllers down, Ace stood as well and walked towards the table. Marco stayed where he was for a bit and looked to the clock on the wall. It was two now, there meeting was at ten. He picked himself up and headed towards the table. The door opened and Garp walked in, and Marco tensed on reflex at seeing the Marine. He forced his muscles to relax as he saw the grin on the older man's face. Marco couldn't help but get a small smile as the small group that was the three brothers and Garp was just as rowdy as the entire Whitebeard crew. He held back a chuckle as; Ace, Luffy and Garp fell asleep. Seems they all have narcolepsy. Garp woke first and both his fists connected with Luffy and Ace's head.
"Don't fall asleep during a meal," he scolded. Ace and Luffy held their heads and glared at the man. Marco leaned back in the chair, Sanji sighed but said nothing and Sabo laughed around a mouthful. This seemed to be normal for them, and he had to wonder what Ace's past use to be like.
After their lunch the group moved back to the couch and went to play more games, really, it wasn't any different than on the Moby with the crew drinking, talking and playing games, but to Marco it was odd to see the pirate Fire Fist Ace, sitting down next to Vice Admiral Garp and playing games.
"With your sense of leadership you could make Captain in no time," Garp said.
"Yeah?" Ace asked. "But then I'd have to follow rules."
Garp laughed, "don't you follow that Whitebeard? He has rules."
"Yeah but pops is really cool, not like the Marines."
"Marines huh," Garp looked at Ace, the pirate looked at Garp as the older man shook his head. "Brat." Ace smiled at him and looked back to the screen. He handed the controller to Luffy as Ace stood up. "I want a ticket this time." Grap said as he didn't look at Ace.
"Not gonna do a raid on the place?" Ace asked snarky.
The marine shook his head. "I just want to see my grandson fight, even if I want you to be in the Navy, seeing you happy is more important."
"I'll ask," Ace replied and headed towards the door. Marco stood up and followed him outside.
They walked in silence down the road, on foot it would take them a bit to get to Whitebeard, but it was just past four, they still had hours before the meeting. Marco reminded himself again that this wasn't their world. Ace placed his hands in his pockets and walked at a lazy pace.
Silence wasn't normal for Ace when he was around people, but this silence was comfortable. "This," Ace started speaking breaking that silence, catching Marco's attention, "this world is wonderful," the younger pirate paused, "as wonderful as it is, this isn't our world."
"It's not," Marco answered. "We'll figure out how to get home." Ace nodded his head and they fell into silence again. The Coliseum came into view sometime later and they walked in. They saw and greeted those that they knew from the crew on Whitebeard's ship. They walked around for a bit, exploring the building. It was shockingly like the Moby Dick below deck. Commander rooms, and then general bunk rooms, each commander had their name on the door plate. Marco opened his door and saw that it was very much like his room on the Flag ship of the Whitebeard pirates.
Ace walked in and sat down on the bed as he would on the Moby. Marco saw that paperwork was here for him too. He shifted through it for a moment.
"Any ideas?" Ace asked.
"We need to find the one in white," Marco said confirming what was said before. "Until we do that, there really isn't much we can do."
"So we ask pops, he knows the one in white in our world," Ace stated but Marco was already nodding his head.
"I had thought of doing that already."
Ace watched him as he picked up some of the papers. Ace chuckled at him; Marco looked towards Ace as the younger pirate shook his head. Ace lay on Marco's bed while the man did his paperwork, he wouldn't normally just lay here, but Marco was the only other person from his world and he didn't want to lose that focus as he had felt himself doing before. This world was just too good. Sabo was alive, Luffy was happy, he was happy, his dark eyes turned towards Marco, the blond was nose deep in his work. Luffy had said before, introducing Marco as his lover… but there was that unspoken rule as nakama, as part of the Whitebeard family. He had been drawn to the phoenix. Ace turned over in the bed and pillowed his head on his arm. Marco's brow lifted just a little more as he turned his face towards the fire user. His expression went back to being a neutral calm.
"What?" he asked.
"Thinking," Ace replied, Marco sat the pen down and shifted so his attention was on the younger pirate, Ace waved his hand saying that it really didn't matter. Marco tapped his desk with his finger for a moment. Ace smiled at him, "you do that when you want someone to keep talking, or want to talk to them." Marco stopped his tapping and looked at his hand and then back to Ace.
"Sometimes you amaze me at your observations," Marco said. Ace's eye lids lowered some.
"Yeah?" he asked, and gave a grin. Marco only nodded. "I guess I do."
They sat in silence for a moment before Marco went back to the paperwork at his desk. Ace found himself drifting off to sleep.