Sabo lay in his bed looking up at the celling.
He could feel Luffy move beside him in his sleep and looked at his sleeping little brother.
He had feared this day ever since the horrible news a few weeks ago.
Today was the day of Ace's burial.
Sabo knew Luffy took it hard, Ace was the biggest brother, he was supposed to protect them from harm, he had always been there for them to help and protect them.
They looked UP to him.
How was he supposed to take care of Luffy all by himself?
Knowing he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, Sabo sighed and rose from the bed to make breakfast.
Maybe that could occupy his mind for a little while if nothing else.
It had been two weeks since the "incident" as he liked to call it, and every minute had been a struggle just to get through the day.
The first days, Luffy had cried a lot, and he had been screaming for Ace to come back.
He still did in his sleep.
It wouldn't be a big funeral, they had of course invited Marco and his family, but other than that it was only supposed to be himself, Luffy, Garp, a few close friends and Dadan and her bandits of course. They did raise them after all.
Sabo felt a tear fall down his cheek as his eyes landed on the American flag in a glass cabinet across the room.
He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to put that moment behind him, the intense pain in his chest as he found out one of the people he held dearest were no more.
He spun around, startled as he heard a noise behind him, only to find Luffy looking at him with a serious look that was so foreign on his face that it was almost scary.
"Sabo? It's time to go" He said.
Sabo looked at the clock and nodded, walking towards the door, he felt Luffy take his hand and gave it a squeeze back.
The burial
We stood in front of the casket, high up on a hill.
It was the hill we always played on as children, and the view over the ocean was breath taking.
The casket was a plain white one, the American flag draped over it.
On top of the casket was flowers, and a picture of Ace. It was his first day of the force and his smile was so wide it looked like his face was splitting in half, his hair flying in the wind while he sat with his police hat in his hand.
It was a good picture of him.
Marco drew his eyes from the picture of his beloved to listen to the music playing.
It was one of Ace's favorites they choose in a way of respect, performed by Luffy and Sabo.
They sounded amazing, Luffy was singing and Sabo was playing a violin. The performance made Marco's heart ache as he remembered Ace playing the piano for him, it was one of the best memories he had with him.
Flashback – Normal pov
Marco laughed as Ace told him a story from his childhood, he Luffy and Sabo had been running around in the woods near their house when Luffy had gotten the idea to prank his brothers, so he had ran into the woods all by himself.
He hadn't been planning on going too far, only out of sight, but he had ended up getting lost.
It had been dark when he had ran into a bear, and his scared screams had finally led his big brothers to him.
Ace had been so pissed and worried that he had screamed at Luffy who pushed him of a cliff into the sea only to realize 2 minutes later that Ace hadn't resurfaced making him frenetic.
Apparently Ace couldn't swim and almost drowned.
Marco probably shouldn't have laughed but the way Ace told the story made it sound funny, and after all, he was still Alive and well in front of him.
As he stopped laughing he realized ace hadn't made a sound, and opened his eyes to find him stare at him intently.
The gaze made Marco blush.
"What?" he asked.
"I want to show you something" Ace answered with a smile and stood up, holding out his hand.
He led me through his house into a room I had never entered before, and I could only stare.
Inside the room was music instrument, expensive ones.
Guitars, violins, cellos, and in the back of the room, and organ, a few kinds of pianos Marco didn't recognize but that he guessed where very very old, and in the back, stood a big beautiful wing.
"We like to collect old instruments, we have instruments from the 1700- centuries" Ace explained with a smile at Marco's shocked expression before beginning to guide him into the room torwards the wing.
Well there, he sat Marco down and sat beside him, looking him in the eyes before beginning to play one of the most beautiful melodies Marco had ever heard.
After a few minutes of playing, Ace looked at him and smiled, never missing a tone.
"I wrote this the day we first met, I knew already then that I wanted you, you make me so happy Marco."
Marco only stared at him, he didn't know what to say, but soon a smile showed on his usually bored face and he closed his eyes, enjoying the music.
"You make me happy to, yoi. Thank you for this Ace".
End of flashback
As the music ended, Sabo and Luffy stepped forward and started to speak.
"Our brother, was an amazing person. He was caring, loved the people close to him and he always protected us no matter what. We would love to say that I wish he never joined the force, because then he would still be with us, but we can't The force made him happy, helping people made him happy. It would be wrong of us, and we wouldn't be able to live with ourselves if we wished our brothers happiness away only to have him by our side. But we will never forget him and we will always love and respect him, we will always want him to come back. We will always miss him.
He was always there. So, thank you Ace, we will always remember you, now rest in peace, beloved big brother.
As they stepped down, Sabo pressed a button on a stereo standing in the shadows, and Marco almost cried as he heard the music. There was no mistake; it was Ace playing his melodies on the wing.
They all listened for a while, and when the last song played, Marco looked around, seeing police men all around them, it confused him, they hadn't been there in the beginning of the ceremony, when did they get here? There was probably around 20-30 of them, all dressed in their formal attire. He knew this since Ace had worn it once.
They walked towards the casket as the song played on, and stood on both sides.
As they took their shotguns, Marco understood and could barely hold his sobs under control as they readied their rifles, pointing them up in the sky above the casket, shooting three times.
Soon after, the burial came to an end, and the casket was put in the hole, which was filled.
Marco stood and looked at the grave, it was a simple grave, a big shite stone with Ace's name, under it was a text.
On the top of the grave was an ex formed by sticks where Ace's old knife hang together with his favorite hat.
Around the grave was a ton of flowers in many colors. Just like Ace's personality.
He felt someone to his left and turned around to see Sabo.
Before he could ask, Sabo shock his head.
"Ace wanted to give you this for quite a time, it isn't right for me to have it". Sabo said, giving him a small package before turning around and walking away.
"Marco, you coming"? Thatch asked behind him.
"Just a sec, yoi" Marco answered, looking at the package, it was small and read with a green bow around it.
Slowly, he untied the bow, and then he took the paper of, careful not to destroy it one single bit.
Inside the package, was a small box, and Marco's heart almost stopped.
With shaking hands he opened the box to find a note.
" I promise than my love for you is eternal, will you promise me the same?"
Marco read through the tears before taking the ring out of the box.
It was a simple silver one, and the mere sight of it made Marco's heart break, but at the same time he loved it so dearly. Ace had gotten him this.
He fell to his knees, crying.
As he finally was able to stand up again, the sun was already setting. He took a deep breath and spoke directly towards Ace's grave.
"I promise, Ace. I will always love you" he whispered before walking away, slowly.
A few feet away, stood a shadow, watching his every move, pressing his teeth together so he wouldn't let out any sounds as he cried.
As soon as Marco was out of sight, he turned around.
He still wasn't sure this was the best decision, but it would be alright.
He gave a shaky smile through the tears, even though his heart was breaking.
"Stay strong and never change, Marco. I love you." he thought as he walked away, leaving his grave behind.