Thank you to all the ducklings who reviewed last chapter and a big thank you to all the ducklings who have followed/favorited the story thus far!

Samfree15- Ugh I hope life stops being horrible too, but we shall see. The holidays are always a hectic time of the year anyway so I doubt things will slow down for me until next year unfortunately. LOL Thank you! :)

XxFire-PhoenixxX- Really? xD Well that would be putting Felicity in lots of danger if she were! Better be careful Lissy!

Guest: naalia- Aww, thank you so much duckling! I'm glad you enjoy the stories about Felicity and Temperance. :D I do indeed plan on continuing all of the stories about Sakazuki/Akainu's family, but unfortunately I've been extremely busy with lots of things that have kept me from updating like I've wanted to. And about Haruta's gender: I've checked out the One Piece wiki too, but the last I checked it said that Haruta's gender was still currently unknown. For now, until we see something more definite, I'll just keep writing Haruta's gender as male. ^^ Thank you so much for your lovely review, it makes me so happy to see new followers who enjoy my story!

candygood1- Oh thank you so much, I'm so glad you like it! :D I hope you continue to read along and enjoy!

Guest: pharoah999- Six times reading it? You're too kind. :D I hope as it continues I won't disappoint you duckling!

Warning: Mentions of adult situations happening toward the end of the chapter, but nothing too terribly explicit. You have been warned!

Chapter 36

It was hell, pure and utter hell. There was no other way to describe the setting that Marco currently found himself in.

He felt so helpless as he watched the death and bloodshed that surrounded him. The thought had occurred to him once or twice that things may not turn out in their favor, that the rescue of their brother Ace may be a complete failure, but he hadn't thought that things might turn out to be this horribly awry.

Marco began to look all around, trying to see if he could find his brother. Sure enough, there he was after finally being freed by his younger brother, but where exactly was Straw Hat Luffy? He had just been there with Ace, helping his brother and now... Marco's eyes widened a fraction as he watched Ace fall backwards, Akainu now seemingly to have appeared out of nowhere and towering over the fire user.

"ACE!"

Why was nobody bothering to help Ace? Were they really just going to leave him to fend for himself like that? Marco jumped to his feet, and with a speed he hadn't been aware he possessed, he ran as quickly as he possibly could have since the seastone cuff was still firmly attached to his wrist.

He was getting closer, closer still as he ran toward Ace. Marco began to hope against all hopes that he would be able to make it to Ace and would be able to save his brother. He reached his arm out, Ace in turn reaching out toward Marco as well...

It all happened so fast, before Marco could even reach Ace. Akainu's magma fist bore down, suddenly protruding through Ace's chest and Marco slowly felt the entire world around him stop.

No, this couldn't be happening.

Not his brother.

Not this goofy kid who he had joked around with and had tried so hard to protect.

"A-Ace?" Marco tried reaching out to the freckle-faced youth only to find that he couldn't move an inch. Ace's mouth hung open, trying to form words and instead coughing blood. Marco fell to his knees, unable to help the crushing despair that filled his soul at that moment.

He had failed to do what he was supposed to, and now Ace was gone.

"It's all your fault. You know this, don't you?" Marco whipped his head up to find Akainu staring hard down at him, dark eyes cold and emotionless. "If you had just left her alone, she wouldn't be dead."

Marco blinked before slowly gritting his teeth. "What the hell are you talking about yoi? You just murdered my brother! Not my sister!" But there was a sinking feeling in his gut, something that told him he wasn't ready for the answer he was about to receive.

"M-Marco..."

And it was that soft, sweet voice he instantly recognized that made every fiber of his being scream at him not to look down. But he did anyway, and the moment Marco's head turned back down, his heart completely shattered at what he saw.

Where Ace once was, Felicity now lay as she weakly reached out to him, almost completely covered from head to toe in her own blood. The hand of magma that had once been through Ace's chest, now pierced a hole through Felicity's own before Akainu suddenly ripped it back and freed his arm once again.

Felicity's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she coughed up more of her own blood and fell to her knees.

"NO!" Marco flung himself forward, catching Felicity's body just before she collided with the ground and cradled her limp form against his own. He began to plant gentle kisses against her features, ignoring the fact that he was getting her blood all over him. Tears began to well in the corners of his eyes. "Felicity... Felicity, no, don't leave me..."

"I wouldn't have had to end her life if only you had just let her be." The Marine Admiral simply stated, staring down at the crumpled form of his daughter with an uncaring gaze. "Her blood is on your hands, Marco."

Marco's shoulders began to rack in sobs as he continued to cradle the smaller woman in his arms, slowly rocking back and forth in an attempt to try and rouse her from her unconscious state. "Please, please wake up..."

"You corrupted her. You changed her and made her into pirate scum. This is all your fault."

Marco's grip tightened on the woman in his arms, trying his hardest to ignore the guilt that came with those accusations and focused all of his attention on Felicity. He was doing everything he could to make her wake up once again, but finally he realized that it was no use.

The Phoenix released a gut-wrenching cry as he clutched Felicity's now lifeless body as tightly as he possibly could.

Marco sat straight up in his bed, gasping and panting for breath before his head snapped to the side. It was still pitch black outside, but the moon illuminated through his window, the light shining right on Felicity's face as she lay at his side. He had to make sure, to see for his own eyes if that hellish nightmare he had just witnessed had been true or not.

Ripping the covers back from Felicity's form, he watched for several long seconds, waiting for any sign, any movement at all from her and then finally...

Felicity's chest heaved up and down in a slow rhythmic breathing before she shifted the slightest bit in her sleep. That little movement was all he needed to see, and Marco buried his face in the palm of his hand, shuddering in relief.

She wasn't dead. She was alright, and she was still alive.

To have seen that for his own eyes, to see Akainu end his own child's life so callously like he had ended Ace's, even though it had been nothing more than a dream, it had absolutely destroyed Marco.

"Felicity's heart will stop beating and she will die."

His head snapped back and forth in a furious shake at Madam Rhea's words that suddenly came to his memory. No! He refused to let it happen! He couldn't lose Felicity! He was going to protect her and keep her safe at all costs!

No one else had to die, right?

Why was it so hot in his room all of a sudden? Marco uttered a soft curse and tore the covers off himself before quietly slipping out of the bed. Ensuring Felicity was still asleep, he padded across the room, stopping once he was directly in front of his window.

The moon was full and bright that night as Marco stared up at it through the window. Why were his nightmares so determined to make it appear that Fate was going to rip away everything he ever held dear? The only father he had ever known, his brothers, and now it seemed that the only woman he had truly loved would possibly be taken away from him as well.

Well, he wasn't about to give her up without a fight. He'd die himself before he ever let Akainu have his daughter back or allowed any harm to befall Felicity. Felicity was his, and no one would ever take her away from him.

Not even Fate could take her.

Mine. Must protect what's mine.

Marco stiffened upon hearing delicate footsteps move quietly across the room, feeling a pair of arms wind around his waist and soft lips press against his shoulder blade.

"What's wrong, Marco?"

And just like that, all of his anxiety and fears slowly melted away with that tender kiss and concern-filled words. No, Felicity wasn't dead. She was right here, with him, safe and sound.

He managed to give a strangled chuckle, his hand moving to rest atop one of the much-smaller ones wrapped around his abdomen. "What makes you think something's wrong yoi?" Marco glanced over his shoulder and chuckled again at the sight of black curls haphazardly strewn about Felicity's face and doe-like eyes staring up at him.

Tired features instantly screwed into a scowl and Felicity gave a slow shake of her head before yawning. "Don't even think about playing that game with me, you flaming turkey. Why else would you be up staring out your window when you could be back in bed with me?"

She had a valid point. Here he was worrying himself over what was more than likely nothing, when he could very well be back in bed enjoying his time with Felicity.

When Felicity saw that Marco wasn't going to answer her right then, she sighed, slowly retracting her arms. "Whenever you decide to stop brooding for whatever reason, come back to bed. I'd rather not have the sheets be freezing by the time I get back to them," her arms wrapped around herself, giving a little shiver as she turned and began to walk across the cold hard wood back toward the bed. "I really don't know how you can stand it. I've only been out of bed a couple of minutes and I'm positively frigid-"

Her words were cut off as Marco suddenly wrapped his arms around her abdomen, leaning down to murmur into her ear. "Then I suppose I better do whatever it takes to warm you up, shouldn't I?"

Marco's lips coiled to a dark grin as he heard Felicity suck in a breath. "M-Marco, what are you-"

He opted not to respond to that question, instead placing a finger under Felicity's chin to turn her head back to his. Marco kept telling himself that he wasn't scared of the possibility of his dream actually coming true, that his desire to be as close to Felicity as possible was just that; the desire to have her right then and there and have as much contact he possibly could in that moment.

Felicity began to squirm and tried to pry herself free from Marco in an attempt to ask what the sudden change was all about. All thoughts of asking such a thing fled her mind as she felt a hand move under the swell of her breast. It wasn't long before she felt the all-too familiar heat begin to course through her veins That was all it took for her to become pliant in Marco's grasp.

Marco quickly scooped her up into his arms once he felt her relax, laying her on his bed. Lips soon connected, skin met skin and hands began to rove and touch hot flesh as clothes were discarded and thrown around the room in a careless manner.

And for the rest of the night, once their passions had been thoroughly sated, Marco couldn't help but watch over Felicity while she slept, though he'd never let her know he did such a thing. He doubted she'd appreciate knowing that he ever saw her fast asleep with her mouth wide open and black curls flying in every direction possible, but to him, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on; even when she looked at what she deemed to be her worst.

These were the moments he cherished and the times he so loved to share with Felicity, times that he couldn't get enough of it seemed.

If only he had known that everything was going to change in less than twenty-four hours.

So I know I've been missing for quite some time, and I apologize. :( Unfortunately life got crazy around the Christmas holiday. I was in a small car accident right before my cousin's wedding and messed my car up pretty badly. As a result, this left me very stressed for several weeks and put me in a state of depression. Well, I just haven't been able to be in the right frame of mind to write at all, but I don't feel that's still any excuse to leave you all hanging like I have.

I can only apologize and say I'm so very sorry for not letting you all know what has been going on in my life. *hangs my head in shame* But I'm hoping that I'll be able to once again give you weekly updates until this story is finished, which will be... In the next several chapters or so I'm thinking.

Then again, the plot bunnies may take this story in a completely different direction, but for the most part, I know how this story will end and how the sequel will begin so I hope you all will stick with me until the very end!