A/N: hi guys, decided to try and update today so I can be free to enjoy my birthday tomorrow, so have an update as a sort of birthday present?
As always, answers to reviews are down at the bottom and thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to review, follow, or favourite: it means a lot to me.
Disclaimer: I do not own one piece, I never have and I never will :'(
It's was a calm peaceful day for a change on the Moby Dick, something a certain Phoenix had planned to take full advantage of. He had already finished his latest batch of paperwork, read the newspaper, reported to Pops about some trouble that seemed to be appearing on one of their islands, and was now attempting to relax in the crow's nest; hoping that none of his brothers or sisters would bother him too much today.
He should have known better.
Not ten minutes into his napping time did Marco get disturbed by none other than Thatch. Ever since last week's 'incident' (he refused to remember the terror on his youngest brothers face as he cried into Pops' chest) Thatch had been on edge, always making sure that little Luffy was well fed and that Ace and Sabo were eating all the vegetables, and while Marco approved of this fact (Luffy was a bit too skinny for Marco's liking and while Ace and Sabo weren't short he felt like they were due a growth spurt soon because they really did not look seventeen) it meant that stores were running low so they needed to stop off at an island soon; more paperwork for him.
So if he greeted his brother with a groan and an annoyed glare, he felt he was entitled to do that much.
"What is it, yoi?"
"Aww Marco, can't I just stop by to say hi to my bestest buddy?" Thatch grinned innocently, hiding his eyes from Marco but he could still tell something was off. He wasn't the 'mother hen' of the ship for nothing (though Thatch was giving him a run for his money when it came to their three youngest brothers).
"No. What's wrong, yoi?"
Thatch sighed and slumped down next to Marco, worry pinching the corners of his eyes and darkening his eyes.
"...I'm worried about the brats..."
Thatch bit his lip and threw a hesitant look at Marco, almost asking for his permission to continue. When he found no objection he ploughed on.
"It's just that, with the amount that they eat you'd think they'd be four times the weight they actually are, right?"
Marco nodded to show he agreed. He was starting to get an inkling to where this conversation was going.
"So the fact they aren't could mean that they have stupidly fast metabolisms...I'm worried that their growth was stunted because of that. I highly doubt those three lived an ideal childhood given the way they still don't trust as despite being with is for almost two months now. If they didn't get enough nutrients they could develop all sorts of health problems, plus the fact that Luffy looks like he's twelve rather than fourteen" he trailed off with a worried frown.
Marco knew what Thatch was implying. If their metabolisms really were incredibly fast that could cause all sorts of complications for the three brothers: High fatigue if they didn't get enough food, brittler bones that are easier to snap, muscle deterioration among other things. It made him even more concerned about the food storage.
"I'll keep an eye on them, yoi. Have you explained to them about this?"
Thatch shook his head.
"Somehow I doubt Ace will listen, Luffy won't understand what I'm talking about. Really I only have faith that Sabo will listen and then look out for his brothers...they've had to rely on themselves for so long it's like they don't even know a helping hand when they see one..."
"They probably don't...why don't you try and get the doctors to explain to them? Mention some of the consequences, yoi. That should motivate them to listen, for Luffy's sake if not their own"
Thatch nodded as he slowly got up from beside Marco to head back down to the deck. Before he left he raised his head to the sky, looking out over the calm blue sea and the whispy clouds that occasionally drifted across the sky.
"...I'm the head chef of the Whitebeard pirates Marco...I'm not about to let any of my brothers suffer because of food while I'm onboard..."
With that whispered vow Thatch slipped down onto the ladder and heading back down to the deck below.
Even though the redhead was no longer next to him, his words haunted Marco for the next half an hour. What if the damage from their childhood couldn't be fixed? Familiar worry gnawed at his heart. Why couldn't his family stop making him worry for them? Each of them was precious to him and even though Ace, Sabo, and Luffy hadn't yet acknowledged Whitebeard as their father it didn't make them any less family.
Instead of relaxing like he planned, Marco spent the next few hours planning what to do at the next island and mentally taking stock of all the things the crew needed to try and stop himself worry too much. He had just started working himself into a frenzy about their navigators cartography tools when a very welcome distraction appeared in the form of a soft smile from his more feminine brother.
"What do you want Izo, yoi?"
Izo smiled and carefully sat down opposite Marco, folding his kimono carefully around him to reduce the wrinkles in the beautiful fabric. As he carefully arranged his seat there was an air of hesitancy around him that clued Marco in to the fact that his headache was most likely not going to improve at any time.
"...Thatch is working himself to exhaustion...Haruta seems to be planning a prank to get him to relax again..."
Marco kept quite as he waited for his brother to get to the point.
"Ace hasn't attempted an assassination in a week. Do you think he's finally giving up?"
Marco let out a groan as he rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. So he wasn't the only one who had noticed. After the whole episode with Luffy, Ace seemed to become more mellow or at least more excepting to their attempts at friendships: he was even joining in with Haruta and Thatch's pranks!
"...I think he's finally starting to believe we genuinely want him in our family, yoi. Whether he's given up or not is a different question entirely"
"Sabo came and talked to me yesterday" Izo revealed with a relaxed smile as he turned to look at the waves far below him. As he looked down he noticed the mentioned blonde chatting to Namur as they looked over what seemed to be a map. Sabo seemed to be really enthusiastic about whatever he was talking about due to the exaggerated gestures he was making. "We had a nice conversation. It was mainly about world views but it was enjoyable. He seemed to absorb everything I said like it was the reason for life. I think he's trying to find something, he's gone and talked to many of the others like that too"
There was a long silence as Marco digested this. Why would Sabo be going around and gathering their views on the world? What would be the point?
"Why was he interested in how you view the world, yoi?" He asked, genuinely curious. He knew that Izo saw the world as a place full of different kinds of beauty and saw the government as the opposers of natural beauty. Everyone was unique in Izo's eyes and the government was trying to make everyone the same which was something Izo couldn't stand. The fact that Sabo would listen to every single word and absorb it all as well was impressive, especially seeing as most people would completely ignore Izo's ramblings of beauty and focus on something else while pretending to listen.
Izo shrugged elegantly, the motion making the petals on his royal purple kimono seem to flutter and twirl in the material.
"How should I know? He seems to actually care about what we say...it's funny actually; when I asked him what he thought of how I view the world he said something that I just can't get out my head"
"What did he say, yoi?"
Izo looked at him with sad warm eyes that made Marco want to punch something to make him feel better.
"...he said that the world was only beautiful when you have someone worth living for...he's seventeen Marco; what could have caused him that much pain at such a young age that only one person makes the world beautiful for him?"
When it was clear that he wouldn't be getting an answer from his brother, Izo stood up, squeezed Marco's shoulder in comfort before slipping away back to the deck, questions still swirling around his head.
'What could have caused such pain?' mused Marco, staring up at the sky. Gold had started to streak the clouds as evening approached, soft pinks and tawny orange colours the expanse above him. Where had the day gone?
He got to his feet and stretched out the knots in his back, leaning on the rails of the crows nest and observing his siblings from above. He smiled slightly as he noticed a specific orange hat climbing up to the nest. Looks like his visits weren't over for the day.
He leant against the railings, waiting for Ace to reach him and when he did he noticed the troubled look that seemed all too common today. All the same he would wait, and he would listen when Ace finally felt up to opening up to him. After about a minute Ace spoke, softly, and hesitantly; almost like he was scared to voice his thoughts out loud.
"...why do you still welcome us? I've tried to kill your captain so many times...why do you still want me around?..."
Marco smiled softly at him causing Ace to look away, bangs shadowing his eyes as he stared at the wooden boards beneath them.
"Let me ask you something, yoi. If your brother tried to kill one of your parents, how would you react?"
Ace frowned, obviously not understanding what this had to do with his question but decided to humour him. Maybe Marco was being cryptic again.
"...I don't know, I don't have any parents...If they tried to kill Makino I'd think they'd gone mad because she's kind to all of us...if they tried to kill Dadan that would be normal I guess; she always complained we were going to kill her one day...the only other person is the shitty gramps and we'd be running far away from him rather than trying to kill him...if Sabo or Luffy ever thought of that I'd say they were suicidal and let them go through with their death wish..."
He trailed off with a shudder, oblivious to Marco's wide eyes. When he had asked Ace that question he hadn't expected him to reveal so much about his childhood. How bad could their grandfather be if they ran the minute they saw him and 'kidnapped' Luffy just to keep him from him? He shook himself out of his musing before addressing Ace again.
"But you'd never turn on them, yoi? You'd always be there for them, even if they did many terrible things?"
"Of course I would" snapped Ace, straightening up to glare at Marco, grey eyes sharp like steel as the pierced his heart in anger "they're my brothers! Not only my brothers but my little brothers too! What kind of a brother would I be if I left them the minute they did something I didn't like?!"
Flames danced along his fingers as his anger simmered at that suggestion. He'd never leave his brothers, not over something so superficial as a little disagreement. He'd made that mistake once before and they had all learned from it. Like hell he was going to make that mistake again!
His anger was cut off by Marco's soft chuckling and understanding smile.
"It's hard being the eldest, isn't it, yoi? As for why we keep you around...you're our brother now Ace: you, Sabo, and Luffy. We're not about to abandon you, yoi"
Ace stared at him with impossibly wide eyes before lowering them to the floor once more. Marco watched him as he hunched his shoulders, as if to protect himself from being hurt again. And Marco wanted to fry every person who had ever made this precious (fragile even, not that Marco ever thought he'd see the day where he'd think Ace was fragile) teen hurt in his heart. A heart that everyone on the Moby Dick was determined to heal.
"...why do you call him Pops?..." He whispered out into the gathering sunset, twilight shadows hiding his face from view but still Marco smiled at him.
"...because he calls us his sons. To the rest of the world we're monsters. It makes us happy, yoi..." With a gentle smile Marco reached over and ruffled Ace's hair softly before leaving the crows nest, determinedly ignoring the crystalline drops that fell to the floorboards beneath the fire user. It was time he left the crows nest anyway, he probably had more paperwork to do anyway.
For a long time Ace stayed up there, heart warming so much it hurt; hurt to think that there could be a place that even a monster like him was accepted. In a way he was glad that he had the chance to think alone, to hope alone. He didn't ever want Luffy to see him cry after all.
All the same he was glad when the unmistakable yell of Luffy's rocket and the telltale yelp from Sabo heralded the arrival of his brothers. And if Sabo noticed his eyes were slightly red and his cheeks were slightly flushed (he so noticed, it's Sabo!) then he didn't comment or tease, just gave him a small grin after righting his top hat and flopped bonelessly down onto the floor of the crows nest.
"I think Izo was trying to con Haruta into a make over earlier. Should be funny to watch if he succeeds" reported Sabo with a silly grin on his face as Luffy plopped down next to them, staring up at his brothers with his head resting comfortably in his hands.
Ace let them draw him into a conversation all about what had happened during the times they were apart during the day, becoming up-to-date with the latest eating contest (for once it wasn't two of the brothers competing but it was instead John from the third devision versus Tsu from the twelve devision: Tsu won apparently), learning all about Haruta's latest prank on the fourth devision to try and get Thatch away from the kitchen (somehow she had managed to fill everyone's shoes with fish eggs: how she managed that Ace didn't want to know), being filled in on the map Namur showed Sabo earlier (apparently they were going to be restocking soon), and being informed that Thatch wanted them to call in to the infirmary the next day for some reason.
After the talking they let the night wash over them, Luffy leaning his head against Ace's thigh whilst he ran gentle fingers through his baby brother's hair, trying to lull him to sleep. It was only when Luffy was halfway between sleeping and waking did Ace feel the need to consult with Sabo. He knew what he wanted but he also wanted his brothers to be happy too.
"...Sabo?"
"Yeah?"
"...what do you think...of joining the old man's crew?"
"I'm not opposed to it."
When Ace looked away from Luffy to meet Sabo's gaze he noticed the same longing that he was sure was reflected in his own eyes.
"Everyone on this ship...they all love freedom and family...they fight to protect it. I wouldn't mind staying here, sailing with these people forever. I also want you to be happy so I think it'll be best for you to join this crew"
Ace smiled at him, glad that he never really had to speak for Sabo to know what he was feeling. A small giggle alerted him to the fact that Luffy had been listening in.
"I like Pops...I'm still going to sail on my own one day...but I want to stay with Pops and Ace and Sabo and Pineapple and Thatch and everyone until then..."
They both chuckled slightly, doubting Luffy would ever call Marco by his name. Eyes softening as they looked at their brother before meeting once more and nodding their heads in agreement: they'd go see Pops tonight and ask to be properly inducted into the Whitebeard crew.
Ace carefully carried Luffy down the ladder, Sabo beneath them in case Luffy slipped off his back and fell, despite the impact not hurting the rubber teen (they knew it wouldn't hurt but that didn't stop them from worrying about it). Once they were safely back on the large deck they headed off to put Luffy in their cabin, glad they had eaten dinner before Ace went to talk to Marco otherwise Luffy would have refused to go to bed. Once their little brother was tucked into bed and his hair was successfully ruffled the two brothers slipped silently over to Whitebeard's room, knocked on the door and prepared what they were going to say.
They were going to come clean, about all of it: Ace's parentage, Sabo's background, everything.
Even all their mental preparations didn't help when they were facing the giant of a man that they were hoping would still want them as sons after this.
"What's the matter, brats?" He asked, taking a swig of rum as he looked over them with a careful, kind eye.
That look was all it took to make them crumble. Shakily Sabo stepped forward.
"...we...we want to take you up on your offer...if you still want us after this" he bowed his head respectfully, unintentionally hunching his shoulders incase of rejection.
Whitebeard let out a loud chuckle.
"Nothing could make me disown you my sons. Nothing in this world"
This was apparently too much for them as they both blurted out at the same time:
"I'm the son of Gol. D Roger, your enemy! How could you still want me?"
"I was born a Noble, but I hate them all so much. Why would you let someone like me become one of your sons?"
They blinked at each other before bowing their heads, fully prepared for Whitebeard to send them away, even try to kill them now. What they didn't expect was, after a long stretch of silence, for Whitebeard to let out a gentle chuckle and carefully raise their chins with one finger, making sure to look them both in the eyes.
"We are all children of the sea. It does not matter to me who your parents were, who they are, or who you were born to be in the eyes of the government. All that matters to me, my sons, is who you are. You and only you. That is what matters to me."
Ace bit down on his lip harshly to stop himself crying for the second time today before bowing low in gratitude, Sabo copying him while wiping tears out of his eyes. After years of not belonging anyway, they had a place to call home, a father that actually cared about them, and a family that would love and support them no matter what.
It took them a while to calm down and get themselves composed enough for when Whitebea- no, for when Pops called for Izo to come in. They were then lead out of the captains cabin, down through the hallways to wear they would get their tattoos; they were finally about to become official Whitebeard pirates and be blessed with Pops' mark like all their other siblings.
They were finally home.
A/N: there we go, another chapter done! R&R please~MysticWaterWolf: ah okay, Hi! I'm glad you liked the last chapter, hopefully after this one they will start to get funny again (the crew gets introduced to narcolepsy next chapter!)Shiningheart of ThunderClan: sorry? XD sorry I gave you feels.Kurogitsune Yue: I'm glad to hear you enjoyed last chapter even though it wasn't on the funny side. Ace is such a sweetie to his little brother sometimes~ here's your update!MissJenca: thank you very much! XD I'm glad you liked the song so much~maxe03: no they don't, not yet. Not even Ace knows Haki properly. They're heard about it but they haven't started trying to utilise it themselves yet. They've only been on the grand line for about half a year now so it really makes no sense for them to know it at the moment. I will probably add a few of their old crew mates in but I'm mainly focusing on the crew of the Moby Dick at the moment. -insomniatic: thanks! I love the bond the ASL brothers have and I love to explore it and I hope they're staying true to character as well. I've always loved how Shanks would always make time to tell Luffy stories and their bond is so important to Luffy's character. Also, little hint to the future: you're gonna really like the next few chapters (they include more Shanks love!)9momentos: no it's not anything canon related so you wouldn't recognise it~ it's just my own head cannon that sprung to life after reading 'Brothers Before' by the amazing TheInnocentOne123. I definitely recommend you read it if you want to understand who the black haired brothers are meant to be XDGuest: thank you! Now I know why it looked so wrong on the page XD they already know about his devil fruit. It's not exactly an easy thing to hide, and with how they all met they would have seen him stretching to try and help Ace.Poisoned Sidd- I'm glad you found it sweet~
