After Teach hung up, he turned to Burgess again. "Move him to the back wall." He commanded.
Burgess approached Ace again and Ace found that he didn't even have the energy to tense in response. Burgess didn't bother to pick him up; instead, he dragged Ace by his unburned wrist to where Teach had wanted him. As his skin was dragged across the cement floor, it left a trail of blood and small flakes of burnt flesh. To Ace it felt like his skin was painfully being removed layer by layer. But, with his exhaustion, Ace didn't make a sound. He was too tired.
"Are you giving up?" Burgess asked mockingly.
Ace didn't reply, not even a sound. He was giving up. What good would it do for him to struggle? Nothing was within his control anymore. Either Marco would come or he wouldn't, but, either way, there was nothing Ace could do to change anything. He'd tried to warn Marco. He'd tried to make him leave him, but he knew that Marco would come. The way Marco had called his name told him that much. Ace's face crinkled in an expression of sorrow. Why couldn't Marco just leave him to die? Now he was on his way here to rescue him, but then what would happen? Ace was lying on the floor with nothing to cover the blisters and burns that covered most of his body due to the curse. Even if Marco came to save him, it still wouldn't matter. Marco would see the curse and hate him. Ace was sure of that. He would die anyway, so how would anything he could do change anything?
Ace ignored Burgess and looked around the room. Many of Teach's cohorts had already left, only Teach and Burgess were left. Teach was setting the timer for twenty seconds. It seemed, to him, to be a fair amount of time to give Marco to make it to Ace once he entered the room. Burgess grabbed a rope from the top of a pile of explosives and in doing so dislodged a blanket that was beside it. The blanket fell to the floor a couple feet away from Ace. Burgess tied the rope around the chain linking each of the cuffs on Ace's handcuffs and, then tied the other end around a pipe that was affixed to the wall. While Burgess was tying the rope around the pipe, Ace reached out, trying to grab the blanket that was on the floor.
"What do you think you're doing?" Burgess asked in intimidation causing Ace to pause.
"Let him have it, Burgess." Teach said barely looking at the two. "It won't matter, we've already won and he knows that."
Ace grabbed the blanket and shrouded himself in it. He had to curl up as much as he could to fit under the ratty material. He knew that it wouldn't hide the curse from Marco. He knew that it would only delay him from seeing it, but it was the only thing he could do.
…
Marco flew as fast as his wings could take him. The thoughts bouncing around in his skull only drove him to fly faster and faster. Only one thing mattered: Ace. Would he make it in time? How badly had Ace been hurt? Was Ace even still alive? Marco shook his feathered head to dispel that last one. Ace had to be alive. He just had to be. It had been an hour and forty five minutes now since he left the Moby, but he'd wasted some of the two hour time limit on arguing with Thatch. As the island of Tigris came into view below him, Marco dove sharply onto the deserted island where he could see a simple concrete building stand. He knew that building had to be where Ace was; he felt it in his gut.
Marco landed before the building and quickly changed into his human form before proceeded to kick down the door. He swiftly found that Teach and his associates were not in the room. What Marco was worried about was that room was filled with explosives. A figure was huddled under a blanket at the other end of the room.
"Ace," Marco shouted before he heard a high pitched beep and then another.
Marco turned to the source of the sound and instantly felt like cursing. There was a small digital timer counting down while linked to the lines connected to the explosives. Twelve, eleven, ten; the clock counted down. Marco sprinted into action changing forms again and flying to the crumpled figure. Marco saw the figure stir and raven locks peeked out from under the blanket. Marco wrapped his flaming body around Ace's so that he could protect him from the blast of the explosives. Three, two, one; the explosives hissed and then exploded filling the room with intense heat.
The force of the explosion was intense Ace could feel it even though he was wrapped up in Marco's phoenix flames. The room shook with the blast, but, surprisingly, the walls didn't fall. They must have been reinforced. The flames and force buffeted Marco's body, but the regeneration of his flames kept him, and Ace, from sustaining any injuries. In fact the heat didn't bother Marco at all. Phoenixes loved bathing in fire. It was the force of the explosion that was bothering Marco and almost threw him into the wall. Marco dug his talons into the concrete to stop such an event from happening. The walls didn't fall, but some cracks were opened in them. The end of the rope that was connecting the pipe and Ace's handcuffs burned until where it met Marco's cool blue flames. After the explosion, the room was filled with smoke and concrete dust. Ace's body convulsed with coughs, but Marco kept shielding him until he was sure no other explosions would go off and the air had cleared. As Marco shifted back into his human form, a small voice worried him.
"You weren't supposed to come." Ace whispered.
"I couldn't just let you be killed, Ace." Marco replied softly as he extended his hand to ruffle Ace's hair gently. "Ace, I love you, yoi."
"You shouldn't," Ace argued with tears starting to cloud his eyes. "You shouldn't love me and you should've just left me."
"Ace," Marco warned. He didn't like that way Ace was talking about himself.
"No, Marco," Ace started to sob, "I wasn't worth it. I'm not worth it. Teach is going to tell Akainu about you and then he'll come after you. Saving me wasn't worth that. I would have rather died than this. I don't want you to be hurt because you saved me. I don't want to hurt you."
"Stop saying that you aren't worth it," Marco said raising his voice. "Don't you understand it yet? Losing you would be more painful than Akainu killing me. Ace, do you know that old wives tale about how demons who are familiar to each other without meeting were lovers in their past lives? I used to think that it was a load of bullshit, but then I met you. The first time I laid eyes on you, you looked so familiar, yoi. You've had an effect on me ever since. I don't want you to leave and I don't want you to die. When you're with me, I feel complete. You're my soul mate, Ace. From my point of view, you're absolutely worth it."
Ace felt tears run down his cheeks and he couldn't stop them. His whole body hurt; the curse, the injuries, the draining effect of the sea stone; it was all too much. He started to openly cry as he body was wracked with sobs.
"It's okay, Ace." Marco urged. He then reached forward to uncover Ace, trying to get a look at the boy's injuries.
"Don't," Ace screamed.
"It's okay, yoi," Marco repeated but paused. "I just want to take a look at your injuries to see if you can make the trip back to the Moby without feeding or healing you first."
"Please, please don't Marco, please." Ace begged. "Please don't take it off, please."
"Why don't you want me to see you?" Marco asked calmly.
"Because if you see me you'll hate me," Ace shakily admitted. "I don't want you to hate me."
"There is nothing in this world could make me hate you, yoi." Marco assured.
"You haven't seen it yet." Ace muttered bleakly.
Ace froze in place as Marco's hand that had previously had been entangled in his hair traveled down to caress his cheek and stayed there in a show of support. Marco's other hand held the start of the blanket and prepared to gently lift it off of Ace's body. Ace tensed and squeezed his eyes shut. Marco slowly peeled the fabric back revealing Ace's body inch by inch. Ace flinched as he heard Marco gasp suddenly as the first bit of burnt, black, bleeding, peeling, and blistering skin became visible.
Marco's hand paused a brief second in his surprise. He felt tears starting to collect in his eyes as he frowned in concerned confusion. He hoped that it wasn't as bad as it looked, but he was sure that it was. He continued pulling back the blanket and was frightened as the burnt flesh continued all the way down Ace's body. The only places that were untouched by the burns were Ace's right calf, foot, forearm, and hand. The rest of Ace's skin looked as if it was torturous. Marco could barely believe that Ace had succeeded in hiding this from him and the rest of his family.
"This is," Marco whispered in surprise, "Thatch's curse."
Ace opened his eyes slowly and saw Marco's stunned expression. His face was pale and his eyes were wide. He looked horrified, and confused, but what worried Ace was the small speck of anger that was also present in his gaze. Ace wasn't sure what that anger was directed at, but it made his heart sink to the pit of his stomach.
"Marco, I-" Ace started.
"Why?" Marco asked softly. "Why wouldn't you tell me?"
"I just," Ace broke off.
"Is your brother even in the Earth Nation?" Marco asked as he started to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
"No," Ace admitted in a stutter as his tears leaks freely down his face. "Sabo isn't in the Earth Nation. He's not anywhere. He was a member of the Revolutionary Army but when he was deployed the ship he was on was attacked. There weren't any survivors." Ace paused before using Marco's stunned silence to try to explain. "I thought that you guys would kill me if I told you the truth."
"And the truth was that you were looking for me the whole time, yoi." Marco estimated.
Ace bit his lip and nodded before he turned his face away from Marco. He couldn't look the other in the eyes. All he could expect now was for Marco to walk away and leave him there to die alone. He couldn't go anywhere with two broken legs and even if he had someone to feed from the sea stone hand cuffs prevented him from feeding and healing himself. But Marco wasn't walking away; in fact he wasn't going anywhere.
Marco's thoughts were racing. Okay, so Ace had lied to him, but wouldn't anyone who was in his position? Also, they would have turned Ace away if they had known that he was looking for Marco to get healed. They couldn't risk that Akainu would hear about him in a rumor and come to investigate. After all, that stupid old woman that Marco had healed had already caused problems and he had only healed her because she was an old friend of Oyaji's. So, Ace's lie was easy for Marco to forgive, especially since it was obvious that the guilt was torturing Ace almost as much as the curse was. Marco couldn't help but sigh. He continued to run his fingers through Ace's hair. He was still angry but not that Ace had lied. He was angry that Ace hadn't told him after he knew that he was the last blue phoenix. Marco could've healed Ace right then.
"Can you handle your injuries for the two hour flight back?" Marco asked with a frown firmly in place. He wasn't going to let Ace off the hook that easily.
"You're taking me with you?" Ace couldn't help but ask in surprise.
"Well, if I left you here then you would die and that would defeat the purpose of coming here to save you." Marco informed. "So, yes, Ace, you're coming with me."
"Why?" Ace questioned.
"Because I can't heal you and then fly back, yoi." Marco responded.
"Then don't heal me and fly back alone," Ace shouted through the tears. "Just leave me here."
"What are you talking about?" Marco asked in a loud voice as he lost control of his temper slightly. "I'm taking you back home and then I'm healing you. I admit that you had to lie at the beginning and I'm not angry about that. But if you would have told me that you were cursed when I told you who I was then I would've healed you right then. Ace, I-"
"I don't want you to heal me!" Ace yelled looking into Marco's eyes again.
Marco's eyes widened. Why wouldn't Ace want him to heal the curse? Did he want to die? Marco knew how the curse killed people. It wasn't pleasant and Ace's curse was already covering most of his skin. After that the curse would move deeper into Ace's body burning up muscles and then organs. From rumors Marco knew that it was an excruciating way to die. So, how could anyone want to die like that instead of being cured and living?
"Why," Marco asked.
Ace didn't want to answer, but when he did, it was through clenched teeth that he spoke. "I saw what happens to you when you heal people. You healed Thatch and the pain it caused you-" Ace broke off and shook his head as an echo of Marco screaming in pain echoed through his mind. "I can't do that to you. I don't want to hurt you. I'd rather die than put you through that. This curse is much worse than Thatch's wound was. I don't even want to think about how much pain it would bring you to heal me. I can't do that. I don't want that." Ace could barely speak as he felt his throat closing because of his raging emotions. He turned away from Marco again. "How could I live with myself knowing that I had caused you to be in pain? You screamed at the pain from Thatch's wound. I don't want to be a source of pain for you."
"Idiot," Marco grumbled.
Ace turned to Marco in shock from that insult. When he turned, he was greeted with a sight he hadn't expected. Marco kneeled there with an expression that was between a grimace and a smirk. His blue eyes shined as tears dripped from them. There was a deep sorrow in that expression, but also deep affection. Ace was surprised even more when Marco embraced him and held him close. The embrace hurt, both because of his injuries and from the curse, but that didn't matter. Ace could feel Marco shaking as he cried silently while carding his fingers through Ace's hair. Ace's eyes widened and he, admittedly, didn't quite understand what was happening. Why was Marco crying? Ace felt guilty because he knew that he must be the source of Marco's tears but he was too stunned to be effected by that guilt.
"Marco," Ace whispered as he was held by the blond.
"You're so stupid, yoi." Marco spoke in a tone that was half a sob and half a laugh. "That pain is temporary, Ace. Don't you think that I'd be in more pain if I lost you? Physical pain fades, but emotional pain can last forever. Ace, if you died I would suffer much more than I would if I healed you and you lived. The worst pain that anyone can experience is the pain of losing someone you love with your entire being. I love you, Ace. I don't want to live without you. I haven't known you for long but it feels like I've known you forever. I don't want to lose you, yoi." Marco paused to take a breath and buried his face in Ace shoulder. "Yes, I'll be in pain for a short period of time, but I'd be in pain until the day I die if you died when I could've saved you. I might be being selfish, but I want you to live, Ace. I want you to live, even if it causes you to be wracked with guilt, because I don't want to live without you. Please, live, Ace," Marco pleaded. "Please, put up with that guilt and live regardless of it."
It took a second for Ace to process everything that Marco had said, but eventually it made sense. Marco would be in more pain if he died than he would if he healed him. Ace immediately felt like the biggest idiot in the demonic realm. Marco loved him completely, even though he lied, and Marco wanted him to live even if it would hurt to heal him. Ace wrapped his arms around Marco and latched on to the back of Marco's purple jacket. This is what Marco wanted. He wanted Ace to live, no matter what. Ace couldn't hold back the sobs that shook his whole body then. He cried loud and openly into Marco's shoulder and nodded slightly as he did so. His chest throbbed and felt light at the same time and he felt as though he couldn't breathe. He felt like he was coming apart at the seams with joy. He would live. He'd live for Marco, who cared so much for him that he would endure terrible pain to avoid losing him.
"I'm sorry," Ace sobbed and stuttered. "I'm sorry, Marco. I should have told you. I was stupid. I'm sorry."
"Shhh," Marco hushed him gently. "It's okay Ace. It's alright, yoi."
Marco gently rocked back and forth while whispering softly to Ace. He ran his fingers through Ace's hair and comforted him. He didn't know how long they sat there just soaking up each other's comfort and presence. Eventually Marco's tears had dried up as well as Ace's and they breathed shaky breaths as the sadness was replaced by affection, love, and calm. Marco pulled back and looked into Ace's puffy, but still beautiful, dark eyes and smiled slightly.
"Let's go home, yoi."
Ace nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah," he agreed.
…
As they neared the Moby, Ace couldn't' help but worry. Everyone would see the curse now. They'd know that he had lied. Would they hate him for lying to them? Would they forgive him for causing Marco pain? Would they forgive him for making Marco reveal what he was? Ace worried about all of these things, but he was unable to express his worries as the softness of Marco's fiery feathers and the breeze as they flew lulled him to sleep. He couldn't really be blamed for that seeing as it had been a long day. He fell asleep before they landed and in his sleep he didn't even realize that they'd made it home.
Whitebeard, Thatch, and the other commanders watched as Marco circled the ship a couple times before landing. He did so slowly and carefully as he tried not to harm Ace's numerous injuries and the cursed areas of his skin. As he landed he quickly returned to his human form to stop Ace from sliding off of him and landing on his broken legs. Marco carried Ace piggy-back as the boy continued to sleep, unaware of what was happening. It was dark now and Whitebeard and the others couldn't see Marco very well at first.
"Marco," Whitebeard smiled. "It's good to see you well, and that Ace is with you."
"It's good to be home." Marco said as he walked forward.
As he approached Whitebeard's thrown, Marco stepped into the light and the others present became able to make out the curse that was covering most of Ace's skin. Whitebeard's eyes widened and whispers broke out amongst those gathered on the deck. Marco stood with a calm expression as the others voiced their thoughts.
"Oh my god," Izou breathed as one of his hands went to his mouth and his face went pale.
"I knew it," Thatch muttered.
"Ace," Haruta mumbled through collecting tears.
Whitebeard was silent for while until the mutters and whispers died down. "What are you going to do, Marco?"
"The only thing I can do," Marco said before switching subjects. "Teach wasn't there when I arrived. He and his minions got away, yoi. They'd set explosives, so that they could catch me in my true form on camera. Teach is probably going to show the video to Akainu. We don't have very long before he gets to the Fire capital."
Whitebeard nodded, "We'll need to reach the Earth capital as soon as possible to start preparing for Akainu's forces, but that's not important right now. We can speak about everything tomorrow. For now you need to help Ace before the curse gets any worse. We sealed the hole in your wall and cleaned up the debris. It's not perfect, but we'll have to fix everything else after we reach the capital."
Marco nodded and started walking back to their room. He was mindful not to jostle Ace as he knew that it would cause Ace pain. Marco could already feel that some of Ace's blood from the bullet wound and the burns seeped into his coat. Ace had endured so much torture today, and that fact made Marco worry endlessly about him. The only comfort Marco felt was from the fact that Ace was peacefully asleep and that he now seemed determined to live.
Marco heard footsteps running after him and sighed. He'd hoped to get to his room without having to talk to anyone. All he wanted to do was get Ace healed. He recognized the footsteps, but they belonged to the person that Marco wanted to avoid the most. He felt someone grab his arm and he turned with a sigh to face Thatch.
"Thatch, I'm not interested in talking to you right now." Marco stated blankly.
"I know that you're angry with me, but I was only trying to protect you." Thatch replied. "He lied to you, Marco. How do you know that he's still not lying to you? He could leave after you heal him."
"He's not lying." Marco growled. He knew that Ace was telling the truth. He'd seen how Ace acted. "He lied to us in the beginning because he was trying to find me so that he could be cured. We can't hold that against him because if he hadn't lied we would've turned him away. But, then he could have easily made me heal him when he found out what I was. He didn't though, because he saw how much pain I was in when I healed you and he didn't want to hurt me." Marco took a deep breath to remind himself to speak quietly since Ace was still sleeping. "He told me to leave him to die. I know you don't trust him and I'm not asking you to change your mind. But this is not your decision and you keep acting like it is. This is my choice and I'm choosing to heal him. If he leaves afterward, then that's his decision; right now I just want him to live."
"Marco, I-" Thatch started.
"No," Marco snapped, "just shut up, Thatch." He gestured with his head towards the sleeping boy on his back. "This is your curse. This is what it does to people and not all of them are guilty. Ace wasn't even born when Akainu killed our families and tried to kill us. He's innocent but your curse is killing him. Stop acting like everyone can't be trusted. You're not the only person that's been hurt and you're not the only one still hurting." Marco knew he was saying things he wouldn't normally, just because he was angry, but he couldn't stop himself. "This is the result of your actions. I know that you didn't mean for this to happen, but you act like the people who just want to keep living are terrible people. That's not true, they just want to live. Yet, you think that they're trying to do these terrible things and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of being on edge about every person we come into contact with. I want to live normally. I want to stop hiding. I know that it's selfish, but I can't help that. Brother, I neither need nor want your protection. I'm going to fight so that I can be free to live how I want and I want Ace to be there with me. So, just this once, shut up and stay out of it."
Marco walked away from his brother. He still felt his anger burning a hole in his chest, but he didn't allow himself to look back. He left Thatch behind; standing stunned in the hallway. It felt to Thatch like he'd lost Marco since Ace had joined the crew. Before Ace arrived, he had always been the closest to Marco. Marco was the most aloof of Oyaji's sons and therefore, he was a little bit ostracized from everyone else. He was also the strongest, which ostracized him even more. Therefore, Thatch and Oyaji were the two that Marco really confided in. But now Marco was spending all of his time with Ace. Thatch couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous that his brother was being stolen from him. Thatch held back tears as he turned back the way he came.
…
Ace was woken up by Marco laying him down as gently as he could on the bed. Still, when his legs touched the mattress Ace couldn't help but gasp brokenly. Marco flinched at the gasp. Finally, Ace was resting on the bed and sighed dreamily. Marco leaned down and kissed Ace's eyelids before he placed another kiss to his lips. Ace smiled softly.
"Are you ready, yoi?" Marco asked in a husky whisper.
Ace bit his lip. "Yes, but I'm still worried."
"Don't be." Marco responded. "This is what being a blue phoenix means. We're supposed to heal those who are hurt."
"Then why does it have to hurt you so much?" Ace inquired.
"When we heal others, we take the injury inside ourselves with the pain that the person experienced and would experience. We then burn off that pain, which multiplies it significantly before it fades. That's the only way we can heal and also not be harmed ourselves. This is why blue phoenixes have to be strong and have a strong will because otherwise we wouldn't be able to help anyone." Marco explained. "It's the pride of the blue phoenixes to remove other people's pain and leave them healed, yoi. We exist to heal others and I haven't been doing a very good job at following that tradition."
"That's not your fault, though; Akainu would capture you if you went around healing everyone."
"Still, my ancestors would probably not be happy with me if they knew I'd been hiding while letting many innocent people die." Marco said. "But that's okay. You're here now and I can heal you. That's all that matters right now, yoi."
"Will it hurt you a lot?" Ace couldn't help but ask.
Marco paused as he thought about lying to spare Ace the guilt, but he knew it would be better to be honest. "It will," Marco affirmed, "But it will be gone after about a day."
Ace nodded. "I'm sorry."
"This isn't your fault, yoi." Marco said. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah, I'm ready." Ace assured.
"Good, but first we have to get those handcuffs off of you. They'll block my powers." Marco said as he turned to his desk and retrieved his lock-pick, that Haruta had gotten him for his last birthday.
Marco returned and started to work on the lock of Ace's right handcuff. Ace was silent as Marco worked on the cuff. Marco wore a focused expression as he worked and that made Ace smile. It was Marco's usual expression, besides his lazy smile. Ace then remembered earlier, when he'd seen Marco wear a completely different expression, one with tears. He didn't want to see that expression ever again. It scared him that someone so strong could cry so openly, and for his sake no less. The cuff that Marco had been working on let out a click and opened releasing Ace's right hand. Ace saw Marco's face flash quickly with a satisfied smirk.
Marco was gentler with Ace's left hand since it was burnt, black, and covered with blisters. He started working with the left cuff. Ace liked it when Marco smirked. It made the blonde look sexy and confident. Ace lifted his hand and ran his fingers through Marco's strange blond locks and earned a gentle smile in return. He knew that smile wouldn't last through the night because of the pain Marco would be in, but he decided that he would try to make Marco smile as much as possible to make up for it. After all, Ace himself couldn't help but smile back at Marco. Marco wanted him to live and that was all Ace could ask for. The left cuff clicked and snapped open. Marco gingerly laid Ace's hand back down on the mattress after he removed the cuffs and threw them on the floor.
Ace instantly felt some of his strength return to him and sighed in relief, before something else flooded back to him as well. Ace gasped as he felt his thirst return with an irresistible force. He let out a sharp whine as his throat started to burn and his eyes started to hurt. His teeth extended as his demonic nature screamed at him to feed. Marco looked at Ace with concern and Ace could see the glowing red hue of his eyes reflected in Marco's. As Ace tried to hold back the thirst, breathing became harder.
"You need to feed." Marco stated instead of asking.
"No," Ace denied. "You need your strength."
"True," Marco agreed, "But if you take some blood from me it will prevent me from having to heal your injuries as well as the curse."
Ace bit his lip before he nodded and said, "Okay, but you have to stop me before I take too much."
Marco sat next to Ace on the bed and extended his wrist until it was in front on Ace. It was less romantic than feeding from the neck, but Marco didn't want to irritate the burns and injuries more than he had to. Ace took hold of Marco's hand with his not-burnt hand before nuzzling against it. It wasn't something that he'd intended to do, but his body seemed to move on its own. Energy hummed just below the surface of Ace's consciousness as he could almost hear how pleased his demonic nature was about feeding from Marco again. If he stopped to think about it, Ace would have realized that it was strange. His demonic nature nearly killed Marco last time, but this time it seemed to be less intent on doing the man lasting harm. But, Ace didn't have time to think before he was kissing, yes kissing, Marco's wrist. It wasn't normal kissing either. Ace's tongue lashed out to lick the skin right above Marco's pulse. He didn't even realize what he was doing, even when he began to nip and suck at the skin as well. He heard Marco chuckle before he felt Marco's teeth messaging his earlobe.
"Don't play with your food, Ace." Marco warned in a husky whisper, "Because it definitely wants to play with you."
Ace gasped as Marco's words sent a shiver of excitement down his body. He knew that engaging in the kind of activities Marco's words sent to his mind would be extremely painful with the curse still plaguing his skin. Still, the words and ideas sent his blood south. Ace's eyes fluttered and then closed as he slowly pierced the flesh of Marco's wrist until he hit the vein of sweet and delicious liquid. Ace moaned as he was greeted by the familiar taste. He could hear Marco sigh next to him. Ace's head became fuzzy as he fed. He barely even registered his broken bones becoming whole again because of the tingling sensation that pulsed throughout his body. This time, there was no urge to gorge himself and kill Marco in the process. Instead, Ace was keenly aware of how much he was taking from Marco and how the feeding was affecting the other. He noticed how Marco's body was starting to relax in response to the chemicals that Ace was injecting him with. He could tell that Marco's breaths were coming slower and deeper as his heart slowed slightly. The bullet wound in Ace's shoulder closed and Ace removed his fangs from Marco's skin before licking the wound closed.
"It was easier to stop this time," Ace admitted.
"Good, yoi," Marco said before placing a kiss on Ace's temple.
Marco then proceeded to take off his jacket, sandals, and belt as he normally did to sleep. He knew that healing Ace would drain him and probably immediately make him want to collapse into sleep. Once he'd done that, he pulled the blankets back on the bed, and situated Ace and himself under them.
"Are we going to sleep?" Ace asked.
"After I heal you, yes," Marco replied. "We'll probably both need sleep afterwards."
Ace nodded in understanding. He vividly remembered having to support Marco after he'd healed Thatch. Marco scooted close to Ace and carefully took him into his arms. He moved slowly as he tried not to cause Ace too much pain all at once. He wrapped his arms around Ace's back and Ace hissed as his arms settled against his burnt skin. Marco distracted him by kissing him passionately as his tongue dove into Ace's mouth making him moan and fade the pain slightly. Gingerly, Marco pulled Ace closer until their chests were touching without breaking the kiss. Marco cautiously slid one of his legs between Ace's but that caused Ace to pull back as he gasped in pain as their groins rubbed against each other. Marco guessed that Ace was also burnt there. Marco carefully moved his leg away from Ace's groin to alleviate some of the pain.
"Sorry." Marco whispered.
Ace shook his head. "I'm okay."
"I need you to wrap your arms around me and lock your hands together behind me." Marco instructed and Ace did what he was told. "Good, now," Marco looked Ace in the eyes sternly as he gave the next instructions. "Don't let go of me no matter what happens. I can't guarantee that I won't scream and try to get away so you have to hold onto me."
"But," Ace questioned, "Wouldn't it be easier to heal parts at a time instead of all at once?"
"I can't do that." Marco rejected. "I can only heal the same injury on the same person once. After this I won't be able to use my flames to heal your curse anymore. Thankfully the curse won't return once the flames heal it completely since some of my power will stay inside you. But, if I can't eliminate it the first try, then I can't try again. You'll die if I stop halfway through, yoi." Marco admitted. "My flames will keep healing you as long as we're touching which is why I'm trying to get as close to you as I can, but if I pull away then the curse will start growing again from where it remains and, eventually, it will kill you."
"That sounds really complicated." Ace said.
"It is." Marco agreed. "Now, let's do this, yoi. Lock your arms around me."
Ace nodded and wrapped his arms around Marco. He grabbed his burnt wrist with his not burnt hand and gripped it tightly, even though it hurt to do so. Ace quickly placed a kiss on Marco's jaw before nuzzling into his neck.
"I love you," Ace confessed.
"I love you too, yoi."
Marco smiled and took a deep breath before closing his eyes and holding Ace as tight as he could. He hoped that if he held Ace tight enough he could remember what he was trying to do even after the pain flooded his senses. Marco dug deep inside himself to where that ancient power of healing was settled. He flinched as that power awakened into blue flames that coated first his body and then Ace's. Marco could feel his body spasm as the pain assaulted his nerves and he let out a choked sound resembling a gasp.
To say that the feel was excruciating would be an understatement. Marco whined through his clenched teeth and squirmed restlessly as he tried to stop the pain. Tears leaked from his eyes and ran slick trails down his face before dropping down and being caught by Ace's hair. His body started to tremble as if felt like his body was being pulled apart layer by layer, cell by cell. A flash of pain erupted from his stomach, like someone had dung their fingers into his flesh and forcefully pulled it apart, and Marco couldn't hold back his screams any longer. Marco couldn't think anymore as he screamed until his voice went horse and then reverted to agony filled whimpers and groans. His face was contorted into a mask of pain as his body convulsed as the feeling of burning to death consumed him. Yet, while he'd normally try to pull away from everything, something in his subconscious made him cling harder to the figure that was against him. In his suffering, he sought the comfort of the body next to him, even though it was the one that was inflicting the intense torture he was experiencing onto him.
When Marco's flames had covered Ace's body, they'd almost wiped his mind blank. He briefly wondered if this was how people felt when he fed from them. It was euphoria that Ace encountered when Marco's flames coated his body. He felt as though the cool flames caressing him were penetrating every pore of his skin and taking the pain from him as it did. This euphoria however didn't completely leave him without thought; it only cleared and opened his mind. Ace felt Marco's body start to shake and tremble. He opened his mouth to whisper comforting words when Marco's scream tore through the silence of the room. Ace latched onto Marco tighter as he tried to calm the blond holding him. He felt a drop of liquid hit his neck and realized that the other was crying. He didn't know what to do. He didn't think that anything he did would get through. He heard Marco's voice give out and the screams stop and give way to other tortured sounds.
Ace almost thought of letting Marco go. He thought of pushing Marco away. It would stop the torture the blond was going through, but then everything that had happened would be for nothing. Marco was already enduring the pain to save him and pushing Marco away would be the same as sentencing himself to death. Still, the thought crossed his mind, but it vanished when Ace felt Marco hold onto him tighter. In fact, Marco's whole body had curled into him as much as it was physically possible to. When Ace realized this, he let his wrist go and brought his hand up to entangle within Marco's hair. He laid kisses on Marco's jaw and neck while he rubbed Marco's back in a supportive gesture. Marco's body stopped shaking but instead went ridged and tense against his.
Marco had felt Ace's lips on his neck. It didn't ease the pain, not even in the slightest, but it brought him back to reality just a little bit. He remembered that it was Ace's body that he was desperately clinging to and forced his body to stop its incessant shaking.
"Ace," He hissed through his teeth.
"I'm here, Marco," Ace whispered in response. "Just a little bit longer, okay," He urged.
Marco nodded stiffly. Ace continued to kiss his neck and brought the hand in his hair down to caress his face. It was those kisses and touches that helped Marco stay in the present even when everything else was destroyed by the suffering he was going through. Marco could feel that it was almost over. Some of the flames were starting to go out as they had completed their job. Slowly the amount of pain started to decrease as the flames died out on Ace's skin, taking the curse with them. Marco's breath started to become easier and his muscles started to relax as the pain was stemmed to aches and exhaustion. He felt the last of the flames go out and sighed in relief as he collapsed into relaxation.
Ace felt the last of the fire leave his skin and almost felt sad, but also happy. He felt Marco go limp against him and pulled back to assess the blond's condition. Marco's eyelids were almost closed with their heaviness but his face had gone back to being aloof rather than expressing severe pain. Ace leaned forward and placed a kiss on Marco's forehead and then another, longer one on his lips. Marco's lips twitched upwards and Ace smiled softly back at him. Ace watched as Marco's eyes drifted closed and laid awake to listen to the man's shaky, but deep, breaths as he slept.
It was a while before Ace could fall asleep, as many thoughts were filling his mind. Most of his thoughts centered on being alive and the man next to him, but some reminded him of those who were not currently with him. Luffy's smiling face entered his mind a few times and caused him to smile as well. Ace ran his fingers through Marco's hair over and over again taking pleasure from being held by the other as he slept. Soon Marco's warmth and presence lulled him to sleep, where he dreamed of all of those who cared for him both near and far.
…
I hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope it make up for the cliffhanger. Anyway, thank you for all the wonderful reviews they really brighten my days. -LPC