A/N~ HELLO! Okay, first of all HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THIS FIC! It's been exactly a year since I published the first chapter and damn, what a ride this has been! 2019 has been a hell of a year, good and bad, but I've grown and learned so many things in many ways...including how staying up till 1am is detrimental to your health, don't do it XD
Anyways, thank you all for sticking with me through this clustercuss of a year, through this clustercuss of a fic! It really means the world to me!
This chapter's word count is about 13,000 so...whoops! It's a bit of filler with a dash here and there of plot, as is the next chapter where we finally (hopefully) reach the groves of Sabaody and the turning point begins 0_0. I did enjoy writing this though I had to go back and cut out whole sections to save for next chapter, which I hope you guys will love!
Special mentions!
Wordlet - I'm so proud of Sabo too! My boy is growing up so fast! I'm glad you like Mei, and don't worry I'm not offended; I get how a lot of people are with OC's in fanfictions (gotta admit though, it's a little mean what people think) but with One Piece with a world so big, it's easier to get away with, better still if they're well written! Thanks for the review, hon!
haso12123 - Me too! As for Thatch... :) Thanks for the review!
SuplmHere - Thank you so much! Really appreciate that!
Kohumi - Gotta love those Whitebeards XD Don't you worry about Teach. For now. :)
CheshirePirates - Thank you SO MUCH XD I highly doubt mine is that great but thank you! I work hard. As for your request...I'm not too sure honestly XD I've had bad experiences with people wanting to do something like this so I'm a little wary. Thanks for asking though, really appreciate it :)
Llama - Thanks for the review! I know, my blond bby has come so far it's insane! Don't you worry, Ace and Luffy will indeed have their time to shine very soon!
rynn - If i'm being honest, I kinda forgot about Teach fr a hot minute XD so much going on that I end up forgetting little details in my own story XD Thanks for the review!
Andy - ANDY'S COMING! *drops to the floor like a toy* God I love reading your reviews! You really don't like Teach, do ya? XD Can't blame ya! So glad you enjoyed yourself, hope your teeth are ok!
whirly - EEE! Someone else who loves Mei! Tysm, and thanks for reading/reviewing!
Jennifer -Can I just say that your review gives me life? XD Don't worry, Teach is a crafty bastard, I'm sure he knows better than to go after the kids, but hey, who knows. Oh wait, I do. hehehehehe. Thank you so much for the review!
YourHomeGirlJen - I will spare your little soul for now, home girl XD Thanks sm for the review! Hope this chapter gives your heart a bit of a break!
Sorry if I couldn't get everyone, but I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Happy Anniversary to this fic and have a Happy New Year to all of you! Let's see what 2020 has in store!
I OWN NOTHING. IF I DID, TEACH WOULD'VE LOST TO ACE!
Enjoy :)
Chapter 28
The moment Pops surrenders the boys from his protective grip and Izo shifts Luffy onto his back, arms looping securely under his knees, the Commander is certain the boy is about ready to fall asleep against him. One can hardly blame him, though. Poor thing is limp as a rag-doll, soaked through and chilled to the rubbery bone (or so Izo thinks, are Luffy's bones rubber?), much like the rest of the crew as they reluctantly drag themselves up from the floor or simply succumb to the weariness and lie there, splayed along the floorboards like dying starfish.
All save for Marco, of course, who only has a case of the shivers and general bird-y annoyance as he half-gently kicks those still on the ground until they roll onto their feet, grumbling and complaining all the while. Once that's done, the First Mate in question, aided by his Division and a handful of nurses, patrol the deck to usher those with injuries, minor or otherwise, to the infirmary for a check up.
Izo watches from the corner of his eye, watches his 'eldest' brother fight a sneeze and fold his arms in an effort to hide his shivers, and shakes his head. Looking out for others before himself, as always. Endearing and dumb, and Izo loves him for it. Makes him wonder, though, why on earth the mother hen of the crew (pun very much intended) allowed their newest members to suffer with them through such an outrageous storm, the threat of injury or worse too high to risk. But suffer they did, and damn if Izo's not the slightest bit proud of the little troopers for their efforts, their bravery.
Or perhaps it's just the recklessness taking over; it's contagious on this ship. One might say it runs in the family.
That aside, Izo smiles with what energy he has left in him and cranes his neck to look down at the top of Luffy's head, dripping straw hat hanging securely by the string. "There now, little one," he says softly, smiling wider when Luffy all but nuzzles his face into his shoulder. "Let's get you boys showered off and changed, shall we? Then you'll be free to do as you please, which I dearly hope is 'sleep the day away and not cause any more trouble for poor Izo'."
The boy doesn't laugh, nod or respond in any way, perhaps too worn to do even that, and Izo could coo at the sight of him, at all three of them, as he makes to follow Jozu down below to the boy's cabin, Ace tucked safely against the larger man's chest. Makes him think of tiger cubs after a tussle or an unscheduled bath, think of the first time these cubs had a bath on their first(?) day aboard. Feels so long ago now, and look how far they've come since.
Pops was right. They've been grossly underestimating these kids. These young men.
"Here, Commander, I got 'em for ya. Better you get dry and see to your men, I got this one."
Teach's cheery voice lifts Izo from his reverie. He turns his head to watch as Rakuyo hands Sabo over to the larger man with a weary huff of gratitude, ruffling Sabo's disaster of curls with rough affection before hurrying off to tend to his own Division. Teach adjusts Sabo in his arms carefully, his expression giving away his slight awkwardness, what they'd all once had around the boys before they'd found their rhythm. Izo can't help but smirk softly at the sight.
Marshall. D Teach has been around since the crews' early days, around the time Izo had finally pulled the stick from his own rear and joined. He's an odd fellow, (then again so is the rest of the crew, captain included), but a member of the family through and through. His loyalty is unquestionable, to the crew, their father and their ways, always one of the first to lend a helping hand to a struggling brother or sister no matter the squalls. He and Izo aren't particularly close, but they're on more than friendly terms regardless.
He's been off ship more often these last few months, his most recent trip spanning almost a month. Where he goes and what he does is a mystery to all, but nothing for any to pry into. Looking at him now, though, as he handles a sleepy Sabo and turns to Izo, ready for him to lead the way to their room, it's like he never left at all.
Then Luffy lifts his head from Izo's shoulder, and freezes.
What was once a minor burden of flaccid rubber limbs and a sopping wet body is now rigid as a rod down Izo's back, trembling fingers digging into the drenched fabric of his kimono hard enough to elicit a wince from the Commander. Frowning, he cranes his neck to look at the boy –
He pauses.
Luffy's eyes are wide with horror, jaw clenched shut against what might be a scream as he stares at Sabo...or rather, the man holding Sabo, chatting amiably with Jozu as Teach passes Izo, ignorant of Luffy's gaze, and follows Jozu below deck. Izo remembers himself quickly, following at the rear. Again, he casts a glance over at Luffy.
Wide, baby brown eyes track Teach's turned back like a terrified deer the whole time, shoulders hunched high to his ears, sweat trickling down his brow, and Izo feels his racing heart pounding against his spine, feels the fear rippling off his tiny frame like miasma, powerful and suffocating in the narrow, dimly lit hallway.
It's not a good feeling. It surges something within Izo, the urge to flee or stand and fight an unseen enemy, only that enemy is everywhere and nowhere, leaving Izo confused and frustrated and everything in-between. He wonders, with a slight shiver, if this is how a cornered animal might feel, feeling the eyes f a predator and not knowing where.
If that's what Luffy's feeling right now.
Ace must feel it, too, this sudden surge of fear as it spikes the air. He peeks around Jozu's massive arm to look at Luffy, grey eyes darting between the panic-stricken pre-teen and Sabo, who's slowly but surely dragging himself from his exhausted daze. Izo can't see what Luffy's doing, what the boy's face must look like now, but whatever the older two see is more than enough. Soon, realization dawns in their eyes like the reflection of dancing flames, bright and instant...
Both older teens then slowly shift their gazes to Teach, blissfully ignorant of the entire exchange.
Izo can't fathom what's happening, eyes darting from boy to boy in an effort to ignore the building pressure around him, all emanating from the shivering child on his back. What's gotten into them? Have their nerves yet to settle after the storm? And why Teach? What could they possibly have against him? Far as the crew is concerned, he's done nothing wrong, nothing at all to earn their mistrust, to garner the fear leaking out of Luffy like he's certain he's about to die.
Then Teach is laughing at something Jozu grouses about –
"Zehahaha! Couldn't agree more, Commander!"
And suddenly, as if a switched had been flipped, Luffy's body is shaking, like he's woken from his worst nightmare only to find reality a far crueller thing, heart pounding hard and loud even in Izo's ears, palms drenched with sweat and fingers clenching Izo's robes. His breath hitches like he can't breathe, like he's about to cry or scream but can't and then –
zzzZZZAPPP!
All three pirates shudder, hair standing on end. Izo's knees knock and buckle, making him stagger a little in an effort to keep him from kneeling, breathless and half dazed like he's been slapped in the face.
He knows this feeling, knows what Luffy has just done. It's as unsettling as he remembers it from his early days aboard this ship, around men more powerful than anything he'd ever seen at the time, dripping with this same, incredible aura and power...
"Whoa! The hell was that just now?" Teach says, beady eyes darting around him in confusion. In his arms, Sabo's lids flutter rapidly, the boy as stunned as the rest of them.
Jozu blinks away what might be stars and shakes his head. "No clue. Kind of familiar, though," he grunts, readjusting his hold on an equally bewildered Ace. They linger a moment longer, staring into space and waiting for another bout of...whatever the hell that was. But Luffy is limp against Izo again; fear still coils around him like a serpent, fingers still gripping the Commander's shoulders like a vice, breathing rapid and quiet like the beating wings of a robin, but whatever energy – whatever power he'd held has since been spent.
Jozu eventually shrugs, and they carry onward down the hall, nearing the cabin. Izo forces his feet to move, to shake off the lingering wave of nausea – always the result of uncontrolled Haki – and give Luffy's legs a squeeze he hopes is reassuring. Luffy doesn't respond.
"Probably just the draft from above decks," the Third Commander muses aloud, then looks at Teach. "You shut the door before you came down, right?"
"Oop, guess not," Teach says, his smile only partly apologetic. "My bad." Jozu just huffs a chuckle and dismisses it. Izo glances down at Luffy one last time – his head is ducked again, eyes glued shut, face burrowing between Izo's shoulder blades as if to hide from the world and every foul thing in it.
Izo was confused before. Now he's confused, concerned, awed, and his brain is positively reeling with more and more questions, most of which he might not get answers to, which then breeds frustration that he's quick to stomp out before it can fester further.
When it comes to stubbornness, the Sixteenth Commander rivals even Marco and their father. Eventually, he will get to the bottom of this, if he hasn't already made it half way.
Better to separate them from Teach, first, for now. He seems to be the catalyst to all of this.
"Here we are," Jozu huffs at last, nudging the door of the boy's room wit his foot, and the three men enter.
Teach looks around and whistles, impressed. "Woah! I was told you'd done the place up, Izo, but did'ja have to all out like this?" he asks with a grin.
Izo sniffs, playfully affronted. "Of course I did."
All out or no, Izo and his men had done their best to make this once barren room full of bittersweet memories as inviting as possible, meaning cushion-y surfaces and bright colors that sparked the cheer and warmth in one's soul upon entry. It's always been warm in this room, no doubt thanks to Ace's devil fruit acting as a heater, but better still it's cosy, a fact that has Izo preening with pride every time, thank you very much.
Having three teenage boys and a pet adding their own personal touches to it over the last two months certainly helps makes it look all the homier; Kotatsu is lolling about on their bed lazily, perking up at their arrival with a pleased chuff; scribbled papers and piles of books of every genre are spread out across Sabo's desk and the shelves, Ace's hat hangs on the wooden headboard of their bed, Luffy's clothes and spare shoes are strewn about the floor in a burst of chaos that Izo only sighs at...they've made it their little slice of home away from home, wholly theirs and safe.
The room of their old Second Division Commander has certainly been left in the right hands, Izo thinks. Has been thinking more and more often these days.
But he's no time to dwell, not when Teach sets Sabo down on his own two wobbly feet, and Luffy's suddenly scrambling off Izo's back like a frazzled cat spooked by a cucumber, making them both stumble and the Commander in question letting out a rare squawk. "Gracious, Luffy –!" he scolds, but it dies on his lips when Luffy collides into a rubbery embrace with an unsuspecting Sabo. Said blond's startled cry is muffled when they both fall flat onto the bed, where Luffy holds him with all his might, face buried against Sabo's chest. Kotatsu lets out a surprised hiss at the abrupt interruption to his nap, rolling away from the boys and off the bed completely, only to instead shuffle under it.
(Izo decides not to think about what it must look like under there if that's where the blasted cat sleeps.)
"Say, is the kid alright?" Teach asks, turning to look between the two Commanders, rightly puzzled. He misses the way Ace, once he's set down with Jozu's aid, slinks over to the bed to sit beside his younger brothers, leveling the rotund man with a wary glare, putting a hand in Sabo's curls once the blond manages to sit up with Luffy still hanging off him like a leech.
But Izo doesn't miss a thing, and levels a look of his own with the eldest of the trio, raised brow and all; a query and the slightest of warnings. Ace meets his eye, but doesn't back down, not that Izo expects him to.
For now, though, he graces Teach with a smile and a dismissive flap of a hand. "I'm sure they're still rattled from the storm, Teach. They did nearly get blown overboard, mind you," he says. "They'll be fine once they've showered off and had some food shoved down those bottomless pits of theirs." He then promptly ushers him and an equally befuddled Jozu out of the room and into the vacant hallway. "I'll get them sorted, which means you two louts need to leave. Thank you for help, Teach, you go get some rest. Jozu, I highly suggest you hit the showers before you grace the deck with your presence. You reek of sweat and seawater –" he leans in, sniffs, and makes a face, "– and fish? What, did you get tossed overboard too? Gods above, you reek."
Jozu glowers at him. "Gee, thanks," he grunts.
Teach just laughs, patting Jozu's shoulder. "There there, Commander. We still enjoy your company at least."
"Again, gee, thanks."
Teach laughs again, offering Izo a wry salute before trotting off. "See you at dinner!" he calls over his shoulder with a wave, which the Commanders return as they watch him go.
Once he turns the corner, disappearing from sight, Jozu turns back to Izo, a silent query in his dark eyes. He arches a brow, inclining the boys still hunkered down on their bed with a jut of his chin.
Izo shakes his head once. 'I've got this' he mouths.
Jozu's smile in reply is small but sharp, and Izo can't deny the rush of pride he feels as he touches Jozu's arm with a hand, belying his earlier tone. His brothers' trust in him will never be taken lightly nor for granted, for all that it isn't a rare thing. It never stops feeling nice, though. Jozu nods once, patting Izo's hand lightly – now that's a rarity – before following Teach down the hall, hopefully heading for the shower.
Izo steps back inside the boy's room, shutting the door and locking it. Finally, they're alone.
A breath to steady himself, then Izo spins on one heel, arms folded into the sleeves of his damp robes, and frowns. The boys, having relaxed considerably with Teach finally gone, take one look at Izo and collectively gulp. They're not afraid, thank heavens, but decidedly wary, as most are when faced with a nettled Izo.
Usually, Izo wouldn't hesitate to snap at the target of his ire, most of the time being one of his idiot siblings or a very, very unlucky Marine – that 'snap' more often than not involves a pistol, two if he's in an especially foul mood. However, these aren't his brothers – not officially, anyhow –nor are they Marines (and thank god for that.) He can't and won't coddle them any longer, no matter what his heart screams at him every time he looks at them, every time he thinks of...well, what he'd had before he'd pledged his life and loyalty to Whitebeard, but he's not about accept their silence nor any dismissive excuses, either.
Not when it concerns a member of their crew, a member of his family. Not when Conquerors Haki is involved.
With that said – "What was that just now?" he asks, doing his best to keep the bite out of his tone. The boys don't rear back any further, but they do duck their heads, not quite unlike scolded puppies. Izo's heart aches at the sight, but he pushes onward. "What's gotten into you three? Do you have a problem with Teach? Because if you do, I'd very much like an explanation as to why that is."
The trio share a look between them. Luffy, calm but still rather shaken, wraps his arms around Sabo's waist, fingers clenching the fabric of his coat. Sabo smooths a hand through the younger's hair, biting his lip; it's been a while since the blond has been this quiet, this hesitant. Ace scoots closer to them both, shoulder pressing against Luffy's where he's squished between the older pair. Not one of them meet Izo's gaze now, not even Ace. Like they're...ashamed?
Izo melts.
Oh lord.
The Commander sighs and moves to sit on the bed with them on Sabo's left. It only occurs to him now that they're all still wet and now so are the bed-sheets, but he lets it go; they can change the sheets later. He angles himself so he's facing all three of them. "I'm not angry with you, if that's what you're worried about. None of us are," he says, and now they look up at him, equal parts surprised and relieved. "I just want to understand what's going on. Has Teach done something to upset you? If he has, I need to know – we need to know, so we can deal with the issue together. So no one gets hurt or upset like that again. Alright?"
Again, the boys look at each other, a silent conversation between them that they alone are privy to; not unlike what Izo has with his own siblings half the time, or at least the ones he's closest to, like Marco or Thatch. It's always fun to see the frustration of outsiders who can't decrypt what's said with glances and touches alone. But now that he's the outsider here, he feels their pain.
It's Ace who turns to Izo first, clearing this throat roughly. "That guy...you said his name was Teach?" he asks. Izo nods. "Well...I dunno if you'd remember this, but...a few weeks back, before Tundra...Luffy saw him on the deck talking and laughing with a bunch of guys. He looked at Luffy and smiled, and Luffy, well..." Ace shrugs. "Luffy freaked out."
Oh. Now Izo remembers.
He wasn't there to see it himself, but he does recall Marco mentioning Teach, that he'd spoken to the man after Luffy had, to be blunt, let out a small but no less powerful burst of Conqueror's Haki across the entire top deck – a zap, if you will. Not enough to render anyone unconscious, but it ruffled a few feathers (pun absolutely intended.)
The very same they'd felt the day Pops had discovered the little ones hiding in his cabin. The very same Izo had felt only moments ago in the hallway, again, in the presence of one Marshall D. Teach.
"Yes, I remember that," Izo says. "But Teach hasn't been around for the last few weeks, and he hasn't spoken to any of you since, has he?" The boys shake their heads. "So what on earth about him scares Luffy so much? Compared to the rest of us he's mostly harmless. I know that's not saying much, but still."
Another traded look. The freckled teen runs a frustrated hand through his wild hair and chews on his bottom lip, fighting to find the right words. Izo doesn't push, waiting patiently.
Then Ace sighs raggedly, looking a touch embarrassed, and it would be endearing if the lines of his frown weren't so severe. Reminds Izo so much of a younger Marco that it's scary. "We're not – we're not crazy, okay?" he says. Silver eyes are as intense as ever, but they beg Izo to believe him. "We're not. We aren't making this up."
"Of course, dear." Izo reaches out, over Sabo and Luffy, to lay his hand on Ace's knee. Ace jolts, but only a little, and his hackles lower completely when he meets the Commander's smile. "Believe me, the Grand Line is a crazy place, and I've sailed on it for over a decade. Nothing you say will make me think any less of any of you, or doubt you. You've no reason to lie to me anyway." Then he pauses, considers that, and amends – "Unless it's about sneaking food and sweets from the kitchen at night. You're not very good at it, mind, but I trust that's the one thing you'll ever lie to me about."
That earns him a sweet if not wholly mischievous giggle from Luffy, a bashful smile from Sabo, and a reluctant grin from Ace that's wonderfully boyish. The oppressive atmosphere lightens considerably, and Izo basks in their glow.
That's more like it.
Relaxed and worries (somewhat) put to rest, Ace lets out another heavy breath. Izo very carefully doesn't light up when the boy hesitantly lays his hand over the one Izo still has on his knee, giving it the lightest squeeze before quickly dropping it like one would a hot pan, because he's an awkward sod when it comes to affection, but that's alright.
"Okay," he says, rolling his shoulders as if gearing up for a fight. "Okay. See...for a while now, not long after we were...y'know, we started...feeling things, or – or hearing them. I guess you could say we developed a sixth sense, or something."
Izo's heart lurches with excitement. "A sixth sense?" he asks.
Ace nods. "Yeah. Like, say someone was coming down the hall but they're really far away – you can't even actually see them yet. We can feel them coming, feel whatever they might be feeling, no matter where they are or how far, and each person has their own...I dunno –"
"Every presence has their own unique Voice?"
All three heads snap to look at Izo, eyes wide as saucers. Izo almost smiles. No time to be smug, though he does so enjoy being right.
"...y-yeah," Ace stammers. "That's...that's pretty much it."
Izo nods. "I see. And these Voices you hear...you can hear and feel any of them at any given time, including animals on occasion?" He removes his hand from Ace's knee to gesture underneath the bed, where Kotatsu pokes his fuzzy head from as if summoned. The large feline readily jumps back onto the bed to curl around the boys from behind and lay his head on Ace's lap. He purrs low and content when Ace absently scratches his fur. Again, the boys nod, speechless.
Luffy, on the other hand, is grinning now, eyes sparkling with wonder. 'That's how I found Kotatsu' he signs excitedly. 'His voice was calling for help in the forest, though he wasn't actually saying anything, which is weird, but I heard him. He calls Ace warm-human a lot, too,' and then he giggles, delighted.
Izo blinks. That's...that's new. He isn't quite sure what to do with that information, but he files it away for later.
Instead, he scoots close enough that his shoulder is pressed against Sabo's, and the boys lean closer in kind, like the pirate is about to enthrall them with a wonderful tale or the most sacred of secrets. They're not too far off the mark, but it's enough to finally get the cross-dresser to grin; now he knows what Pops must feel like with them on the daily. "Well, I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear you aren't crazy in the slightest," he says. "That Voice you hear, those 'feelings', are all senses we on the Grand Line call Haki."
Three sets of eyes blink, hard, jaws falling wide like the gaping maws of whales.
Izo can't help but chuckle. Ah, it's been so long since their last newbie. Never gets old.
"H-Haki?" Sabo stammers, incessantly curious as he's always been. He leans closer, and almost squishes Luffy as a result until the rubber boy decides he's had enough and crawls onto Izo's lap instead. "What's that?"
Easily shifting to accommodate Luffy's added weight and general clinginess, Izo hums thoughtfully. "Well, it's a complicated subject. Really, you're best talking to Marco or Pops about this than me, given their experience," he says, (and sees the exact instant in which Ace determines to do just that), "but to put it simply, Haki is a special sense that every living being in the world possess; humans, animals – I hear even plants have it, too, though god forbid you ever come across one of those. Likely means it's going to eat you."
Luffy taps him twice on the shoulder, and Izo turns to meet the wide baby browns they've all come to adore. 'So it's like a super power?' he asks, striking a typical superman pose and nearly knocking Izo in the face with his fist. His brothers wince at the close call and glare at the pre-teen. Said pre-teen snickers, unrepentant.
Izo merely laughs it off, ruffling Luffy's damp hair. "Not quite, little one. It's hardly a superpower if everyone has it, don't you think?" he asks. Luffy tilts his head, considering, and then shrugs as if to say 'fair enough'. "It's not that different from the typical senses like touch, taste, hearing and so on. However, it is essentially a 'sixth sense', as Ace said, so most people don't know they even have it, or fail to awaken it."
"Awaken it?" Sabo parrots, leaning even closer. Mismatched eyes sparkle like the sun over the sea. "What does that mean? If everyone's born with it, shouldn't it just come as naturally as breathing? How do you awaken it?"
Slightly dazzled – goodness, this boy could very well be the sun incarnate, it's a wonder no one's blind yet – Izo shakes his head, poking Sabo's nose to get him to lean back and actually blink, which he does, rapidly, and fights a sneeze. "It's not quite that simple, dear," he says. "It takes proper training to awaken this sixth sense, like working out a muscle. The longer and harder you train, the easier it gets and the stronger you, or in this case your Haki, becomes. Sometimes it awakens under pressure, like when you get angry enough that you burst out yelling, or –"
"Or when you're scared," Ace mutters.
Izo pauses, blinks, notes the now uncomfortable realization on each young face and immediately wants to kick himself.
For all that he likes to claim otherwise, Izo can be as much as a tactless idiot as the rest of his siblings.
He sighs, reaching out again to lay his hand in Ace's hair, damp and crisp with sea-salt. "Yes. That too," he admits softly, gently stroking the teens' black tresses. For all that the boy seems to find this sort of contact annoying or unwelcome by any but his brothers, he's as docile as the massive feline taking up his lap right now, still and silent under Izo's hand as he frowns. "From what you've said, and what we've seen, it seems your Haki awakened during those years...back there, because of your situation. Stress, anxiety, anger, fear...that'll trigger it."
Ace nods, sullen. Whatever glee they'd once had is rapidly dissipating, and Izo's brain scrambles for something in a desperate effort to save it.
"Still," he says at last, "it's impressive that you somehow trained yourselves to the point where you can sense the presence of others, despite everything."
At that, the boys perk up. Ace's lips twitch with the beginnings of a tentative smile that takes years off his face, more endearing than he has any right to be. "Really?" he asks.
Izo nods, stroking Ace's freckled cheek with the back of a finger before withdrawing his hand completely. "Of course. Others in your position would've given up, let despair consume them, not that anyone can blame them. But you three pushed forward, never lost hope, and awakened your Haki all on your own. That alone is an incredible achievement."
At that, Ace remembers himself before his face can break out into a full blown grin, and he blushes a fierce shade of puce, whipping his head away from Izo and muttering under his breath. Sabo bites his lip again, this time against a bashful smile. Luffy, of course, giggles and leaps for Izo, wrapping rubbery arms around his waist and squeezing tight. Izo chokes a bit and then laughs, surprised, but envelops the little boy in a warm embrace all the same. Luffy's affection, though spontaneous and sometimes jarring, is always welcome and fills the Commander with an old kind of joy he's not felt in quite a while.
(Gods above, he loves these boys. If it wasn't already apparent how wrapped he is around their little fingers, this certainly proves it.)
"So," Sabo says eventually once their adorable blushes have subsided – seriously, Izo must invest in a camera – "is Haki just that, then? Feeling presences and hearing silent 'Voices'?"
Stroking Luffy's hair where the boy has his head tucked beneath his chin, Izo again shakes his head. "Actually, no. There are three types of Haki, two of which are granted to everyone. Pops or Marco can better explain them, but what you boys have is what we call Observation Haki. It gives you a greater sense of the world around you and precognitive abilities, to an extent. And apparently, it spikes considerably whenever you're around Teach, Luffy. Which brings me back to my earlier concern..."
Izo leans back just enough to look down at the boy in question, still on his lap, arms around the man's waist. Luffy blinks up at him owlishly. "Can you explain to me what you felt on the deck when you saw Teach for the first time, Luffy?" Izo asks. "Just to help me understand."
Luffy hesitates, chewing his lip thoughtfully. Eventually, he lets Izo go and raises his hands. 'When he was talking, I felt something really...dark,' he signs, lips twisting into something dangerously close to a sneer. 'I think they were talking about a fight, and when he was grinning it was nasty. I felt that, and...it was scary. Too much, so I ran away.' The little one shivers, shrugging his shoulders roughly as if shrugging off a heavy, physical burden.
Izo hums, nodding absently. Well, one thing is certain, Luffy definitely felt something from Teach that does indeed justify his wariness. Blood-lust and hatred are powerful things, loathsome emotions that only those who've seen every inch of this wicked world can feel. The true test of one's character, one's heart, is whether they allow those demons to fester and take control or fight them with everything they have, like many of Izo's siblings have. It's a hard battle, not so easily won, but they've managed.
Izo, admittedly, doesn't know that much of Teach's past, only that he's an orphan just like most of the crew. Another lost soul that Edward Newgate took in from the kindness of his heart. He's hardly someone one could call 'hateful', but he's been around. He's seen plenty of this world, has lost plenty of siblings and mourned them. Whatever he'd been talking about must've stirred up those demons, bad enough for Luffy to catch wind of them and think the worst. It's possible that Luffy believed it to be directed at him and his brothers, who just happened to be there at that time and place?
(It is odd, though, that Luffy felt Teach's emotions so acutely that he had to distance himself, that he can describe it all so accurately. And what Marco had mentioned once, back when Rakuyo took off their sea-stone cuffs...the way Luffy had just looked at them, as though he were peering into their very souls...
Could it be, as well as having awakened Observation and even the barest hints of Conqueror's Haki, that Luffy is also an empath? It's rare but not unheard of – one of Thatch's younger siblings back home is one, he believes. But for Luffy to have all of that baggage in such a little body, all of that yet untapped power...)
Izo shakes his head. Whatever the case – because of course it has to be this complicated, of course three little boys they just happened to pick up on their way to the New World have to be as weird and complicated as they come – Izo has to clear up any and all misunderstandings before it gets any further out of hand. The last thing anyone wants is another rift between the boys and the crew.
"Alright," he says at last. "Okay. I'll talk to Marco and we'll bring it up with Teach in private later. And while I understand that you might be nervous, Teach truly isn't a bad man at all. I've known him for decades, and while he's every inch a pirate and a warrior, compared to the rest of us, he's truly a softy at heart. If he truly held any foul intentions towards you three, we'd definitely know about it, and we'd deal with it promptly. And harshly, I might add."
At that, the boys blink, stunned.
"But, isn't he your ship brother or whatever?" Ace asks, stumbling awkwardly around the word 'brother'. "Your...your bond..."
"Yes, Teach is one of us, but you're also our guests, our friends...just as much one of us as he is." Izo lets his expression harden, eyes narrow and earnest. "We don't take threats against our own lightly, especially not within the crew itself. From now on, if you have a problem with anyone aboard this ship, even if it's a minor thing, do not hesitate to bring it up with the Commanders or Whitebeard himself. We'll take care of it. So long as you sail with us, we'd never let anything happen to you. Do you understand?"
It's rather painful, Izo admits, to watch such young ones look so genuinely dumbfounded that someone cares about them, about their well-being. It aches, bright and fierce, knowing they've suffered so much that even affection, in its simplest, purest form, is a foreign thing to them outside of the protective bubble they've created for themselves. They're getting better, steadily and surely with every passing day – Thatch still tears up when Luffy comes to hug him, nearly bawled when Sabo did for the first time just the other day – but the hesitance, the lingering doubt, is still there.
(Lord knows Izo's not the only one who can't wait to see those particular demons banished for good.)
So he presses a kiss against Luffy's forehead – his surprised squeak could kill a man for sure – and shifts him back onto the bed, pushing him deliberately into Sabo so both boys teeter sideways against Ace in a mess of giggles. "Right then," he says as he stands, hands on his hips. "With that out of the way for now, let's get you little hooligans washed and changed; I'd say simply drying off would be fine, but you'll smell of sea-salt all day and your hair will be a disaster to deal with, and I for one will not stand for it. We'll have to change the bed-sheets too, now that they're as damp as we are." He claps his hands. "Come now, shower then dress! Up up up!"
The boys scramble off the bed, Kotatsu yowling testily at having to move again as his humans grab their towels, Izo rifling through their drawers to pick out appropriate clothes – no, he will not settle for the first things he pulls out, color coordination is a must, fight him – and he shoves them into the boys arms, unlocks the door, ushers them out of the room and points them to the showers.
"I'm off to shower, too. If you or anyone needs me, I'll be in my room," he calls after their retreating backs. He gets a wave from Ace, a cheery "Sure thing!" from Sabo, and a grin from Luffy so blinding that Izo has to blink stars from his eyes.
He turns on his heel with a swish of damp robes and finally lets himself beam for all he's worth as he he makes his way to his cabin, personal shower awaiting him. Gods above and below, he's fallen hard for these boys, complicated and wonderful as they are. If Ace decides to bring their newest discovery up with Marco – Izo doesn't doubt it – perhaps the Commanders can discuss adding Haki training into their daily routine. It'll be as rough as their regular training, perhaps with more bruises at the end of the day with Armament training. Izo winces at the memories of his own training, parts of his body still aching to this day.
But if the last two months have shown the Whitebeard's anything, this trouble-making trio they've welcomed aboard aren't ones to shy away from any challenge. To them, Haki might be just another stepping stone on their never-ending journey to rise to the top. And here Izo is, watching them grow and spread their wings with his own two eyes.
Oh, what a wonderful time to be alive.
(And what a wonderful time to give Marco plenty more work to do!)
0o0o0
As the sun begins its fall from grace in the now cloudless skies, giving way to the soft colors of twilight, the Whitebeard's, having fully recovered from the chaos prior (though the Moby took on some damage, but nothing that can't be fixed or held off until they reach land) begin to migrate to the galley for dinner. Ace, Sabo and Luffy are quick to follow the crowd, the latter's belly growling loud enough to rival the giant tigers of Goa as he skips happily ahead. Sabo quickens his pace, if only to keep track of their wild little brother on the hunt for free food.
Despite the reputation they've built among the crew of their bottomless stomachs, Ace isn't especially hungry. Rather, he wants answers. More answers.
Izo probably doesn't understand quite what he's done for him, for all of them, in a few short words. He's finally explained what Ace had once deemed inexplicable, what Ace had once feared would be his downward spiral into insanity. In reality, it's anything but. In reality, it's a strength, something only so many people in their lives even know they have, and they've managed to crack it. Or, at least one of them, because apparently there's three kinds of...what was it, Haki? Sounds like a game, but whatever.
Ace wants to know more, needs to know more. If just about everyone in the Grand Line has at least one of those senses or abilities or whatever the hell, then Ace will make sure he masters two. He has to, if he wants to get stronger, strong enough that he can protect himself, protect his family. Strong enough that he won't need to be shadowed by Commanders or plucked out of the air by Whitebeard.
Strong enough to surpass Roger.
Izo did say they were better asking Marco or Po – Whitebeard of the matter. So that's what Ace is going to do. He needs more answers, needs to make better sense of this power he never truly knew he had, and he needs to do it now. And if not now, then soon, or not at all. He'd much prefer the former.
He finally catches up to Luffy and Sabo once they reach the galley. It's more crowded than usual, everyone either exhausted but still wanting to be social or starving from the exertion of this afternoon. A few heads turn at the trio's entry, and they're treated to a few hearty greetings, some congratulating them for braving the storm, others playfully calling them out on their foolhardiness. Luffy beams at each one of them, because of course he does, Sabo tips his hat and takes the slaps on the back all in stride, and Ace...tries his best.
It's Thatch, bless him, who eventually comes to save them. "Alright alright, that's enough, give the kids some room to breathe will ya?" he calls over the chatter, clamping a firm hand on Ace's shoulder and guiding him through the masses to a long table near the back of the room – where a good handful of the Commanders, Marco included, are already seated. How bloody convenient.
Whitebeard sits at the head of the table, tankard in hand as usual (Ace can feel the nurses giving the old man the stink-eye). Of course, considering his size, his chair is as big as the one on deck, though it doesn't look quite as comfy.
(Not that Ace has been thinking about sitting on Whitebeard's chair at all. Just to see what it feels like. Nope. No way. Not in the slightest.)
The old man looks up and notices them trailing behind the head chef, and his grin shines bright in the dim light of the galley. "Ah! There you are, my boys!" he calls, raising his tankard in greeting. The five Commanders at the table echo their captain. "We were just wondering where you were. I was hoping you'd join us."
Ace manages to muster a smile and a nod in the old man's direction, one arm still in Thatch's hold. He reaches for Luffy's hand to pull him along, then Luffy reaches for Sabo, creating an odd train behind the chef who looks over his shoulder and grins at the sight, light and goofy. They make it across the room without further delay, and Thatch sits them down in the few seats remaining, Luffy between Ace and Sabo, who sits at Whitebeard's right hand. The blond looks up at the veteran pirate captain and salutes. "Captain," he quips with a cheeky wink. "A pleasure as always."
Whitebeard chuckles. "And you as well, Sabo," he says and winks right back.
Ace watches the exchange and squints. That's the second time this week. What the hell are they up to?
"Here we are," Thatch says and steps back once the trio are sorted, hands on his hips. "You kids sit tight while I grab your dinner – hey, where's Izo?" The chef looks around the room, peeking over bobbing heads, no sign of a familiar cross-dresser. "He not come down with you?"
Ace shakes his head. "Nah, he had to shower. When we saw him last he said to on on without him. Said he had an 'emergency' to take care of with his hair. Whatever the hell that's supposed to mean."
There's a collective "Aaahh," from the Commanders and Whitebeard, all nodding their heads with knowing smiles. Ace blinks, looks at each of them, soundly confused. It's Jiru who appeases him with a flap of his hand. "Nothing to worry about, boyo," he says. "It's just Izo's funny way of saying he needs to wash his hair, do it up and whatnot. He's particular when it comes to grooming."
"How come?" Sabo asks, bracing his elbows on the table because he's a rude little bastard. "I've always wondered why he dresses the way he does but I never thought to ask him. Didn't wanna offend him."
"The only way you can offend Izo, kid," Namur says, pointing at Sabo with a fork, "is if you decide to wear neon colors or mix colors with whites in the wash."
Smirks float across the table. Ace doesn't get it, but he knows a warning when he hears one, and logs it in his noggin for future reference.
Whitebeard chuckles at the exchange, setting down his tankard down on the table; the thing is bloody huge, easily as big as Ace, and it's a wonder how a man as old as he is can drink so much in one sitting and still be sober. "The idiots are right, for the most part," he says, ignoring the few indignant "oi's" he gets from the peanut gallery. "As much as the majority of us might tease him for it, Izo is the best there is at what he does."
"And what he does best isn't very nice!" Thatch and Haruta chime in deep, gravelly voices, and then wheeze at each other. At that, Whitebeard rolls his eyes, but his smile is wholly fond. Ace squints at them, confounded. Was that a reference to something? Whatever it was, it has every head on the table shaking in exasperation.
Even Marco, in a rare bout of immaturity Ace doesn't expect from him, flicks a pea off his fork in Thatch's direction, getting him in the eye. "Enough of that, yoi," he says with a smile that's half fiendish as Thatch squawks. "The kids need their food and your Division needs help. Get back in the kitchen, honey."
Thatch's wide eyes and gaping mouth are accompanied by collective "oooohhh's" by every grinning face on the table, save for Whitebeard who throws his head back with a hoot, and those who'd heard the First Mate from across the room. Sabo freaking whistles, grinning like a loon. Ace doesn't bother to muffle his laughter, and neither does Luffy.
Thatch points at Marco with a phony glare even as he backs away into the kitchen. "You're on thin feckin' ice, brother," he warns, watching Marco the whole time until his head disappears around the corner.
Marco's grin is devilish, not that Thatch can see it. "I'm shaking, yoi," he calls back. "Grab me a beer while you're at it, wife!"
Thatch's hand reappears, flips Marco the bird (ha!) and vanishes again. Marco chuckles along with the rest of them and goes back to his dinner. When Jiru raises his fist, Marco bumps it with his own without looking.
Ace can't quite wipe the smile off his face at the exchange. It's been two months, and yet he's still marveled by how incredibly close these pirates are, their dynamic so similar to what he shares with his own little brothers that it almost hurts – all playful jabs, spars and all, all under Whitebeard's warm, watchful gaze. Sure some members are closer knit than others, but that's just how it is with a crew this big. A family this big.
(He wonders...if it'd be possible at all to...someday, maybe...)
"Still surprised, brat?"
Ace very carefully doesn't jump. He looks up at Namur across from him. The Fishman regards him with a toothy grin and huffs a chuckle. "Best get used to it," he says. "A lot of us have known each other since the very beginning, before the crew was even in the hundreds. I myself didn't join till much later, but you find yourself getting sucked right in no matter how long you've been with us."
"He's right," Fossa adds, swallowing a massive hunk of steak that has Luffy's mouth watering, sighing fondly to himself. "Damn, I remember those days. Almost twenty years and it still feels like yesterday." Then he grins, sharp and sudden. "Oh hell, y'know what – back when I joined, Marco over here was just an apprentice, about your age." He chuckles heartily. "A damn troublemaker he was, lemme tell ya! Full of mischief, just like you three!"
Ace's eyes bug out the same time Luffy and Sabo's do, and the brothers whirl on the First Mate in question, who's glaring at Fossa. "For real?" Ace barks through a grin that's slowly growing. "You? I don't buy it."
"Me neither," Sabo smirks, pointing lazily at the Phoenix. "This is the same guy who tells me not to climb or jump off the rigging –"
"Because you'll bloody break your neck if you fall, yoi!"
"See! See, that's what I mean! He says crap like that, and you're telling us he was a troublemaker? I call bull!"
"It's true~!" Thatch sings as he reappears from the kitchen, three plates balanced perfectly on both hands and somehow on his head despite his hair. The chef easily ignores Marco's death glares and hissed threats as he sets the gorgeous smelling plates down before the trio, the youngest literally drooling. The chef looks over at Marco and beams, wide as a Cheshire Cat and just as evil. "He and I joined about the same time, and lemme tell you, we were the worst once we came out of our shells," he declares, then sighs dramatically, all wistful like. "Marco and I, we were Partners in Chaos, the dream team of pranks –"
"Until I decided to become an adult while you never matured past fourteen, yoi," Marco grumbles. Laughter abounds once again, the loudest of course from Whitebeard, who seems more than content to watch his crew have at it. Thatch whirls on Marco, who shrugs. "Hey, don't dish it out if you can't take it, Thatch."
Fossa chokes. Jiru wheezes. Namur slams his face on the table. Thatch gawks, horror in his eyes. "Was – was that a cook pun?" he asks, voice quivering.
"Indeed it was. Don't bake out in a cold sweat over it."
"Oh for fu –!"
"What's with all the noise? We makin' fun of Thatch already?"
Ace tenses without really meaning to. Luffy freezes, eyes wide. Sabo chokes on his water.
Swallowing thickly, Ace slowly turns his head, looks over his shoulder. The rotund man from earlier – Teach, his mind oh so helpfully supplies – approaches the table, taking a seat on Ace's right, and Ace can't be any more thankful that Luffy's safely tucked between himself and Sabo.
(Sabo, who lowers his mug and casually tips his hat down over his eyes that grow cold along the edges.)
He, too, is greeted with smiles and cheerful greetings by the Commanders, Thatch setting another plate set down in front of him all while grumbling at how 'everyone's attacking me today, damn'. Luffy doesn't move, doesn't look up from where his eyes are glued to his yet untouched plate of food. Sabo's hand seeks his under the table and gives it a squeeze. Ace's gaze slides over to Teach again. He clenches a fist under the table, letting heat seep into it.
Every voice in his head, his heart and soul, screams at him to let the flames dance, set this man ablaze, grab his brothers and make a run for it. The only thing keeping him in his seat is Whitebeard's presence only three feet away, golden eyes watching him carefully. Ace would be a fool to think he, or Marco for that matter, haven't caught on to whatever aura spills from the young trio – their Haki, Ace realizes now, tinged with fear, intent, and the looming threat of violence against one of their own.
And yet, neither the captain nor the First Mate say anything, pretending to eat their meal and chat among the others like nothing at all is amiss. As if they're certain Ace won't set his fist alight and slam it into Teach's gut, or that Luffy won't bolt, or that Sabo won't try to strangle the pirate at the slightest twitch. As if they trust them enough not to.
(Two months of nothing just might do it, at least for the Whitebeard's. Ace and his brothers have given them no reason to be at all suspicious. But what's two months to five years of fear and death looming over your head like a bomb ready to blow, like a sword ready to swing? A hand rearing to strike?)
It's then that Teach finally looks down and notices them, notices Ace watching him from the corner of his eye. "Oh! Hey there, didn't see you," he says, smiling wide. "You're the new kids, right?"
Luffy, ever so slowly, peeks up at Teach, hands rising to grip the brim of his straw hat; a show of nerves Ace hasn't seen in quite some time. One eye peers from under the goggled brim of Sabo's hat. The ice is barely there, just creeping along the edges, not yet taking over. Ace looks the pirate up and down, a sweep of his other sense – his Haki – telling him they've garnered the attention of at least half the table now. Whitebeard's is by far the heaviest, the most intrigued...
Luffy's 'feelings' of people, what he sees and feels deep in his gut, has yet to steer them wrong. But like Izo said, if this man is truly as bad as Luffy fears he is, the Whitebeard's would never let him near them. They would fight for them, despite their bond (even if the idea that the pirates don't yet think the trio can't fight for themselves might bite at Ace's pride.)
Their past aside, the lingering mistrust aside that leaves Ace's thoughts whirling and screaming and begging for reprieve just once, Ace...doesn't really want to hurt this man when he hasn't actively done anything to hurt them. Better still, the last thing Ace wants is a cautious rift between them and this crew again, not when Luffy's becoming more and more vocal, cheerful and light like he was before the five years of hell. Not when Sabo has finally found himself again, melting the ice to make room for the new burning passion in his heart.
As for Ace...he's grown fond of the Whitebeard's, reluctant though he is to ever admit it. Too fond, too dangerous, too foolish, but the feelings are there and real and damn him to hell he doesn't want it to go away yet.
The best thing they can do is...try, at the very least, to get along with the man. The Whitebeard's have given them little reason to doubt or fear them, why give into those old habits again so soon?
(Two months can't undo the damage five years has done. No amount of time ever will, probably. But these pirates have done so much in that little time, despite how difficult the brothers have made it sometimes. Like it or not, the teens owe them, owe Edward Newgate, the effort on their part to try.)
So Ace takes a breath, looks up at Teach, lets the heat in his fist ebb and fizzle out completely, and offers a semblance of a smile.
"Yeah. Yeah, that's us," he says, slinging a comforting arm around Luffy's shoulders. It does wonders, and Luffy seems to relax as he shuffles closer to Ace's side, still watching Teach carefully. On Luffy's other side, Sabo's shoulders loosen, the ice in his stare recedes, and he lifts his head up once more. "I don't think we've officially met. My name's Ace, this is my youngest brother, Luffy." Luffy offers a slight wave, hesitant though it is. Ace is proud. He point his free hand over Luffy's head. "That's Sabo's, my twin. Not by blood, just in age."
Sabo nods at Teach, tipping his hat with a finger. He tries a smile, but it's a tad too sharp. "Pleasure," he says, his tone a tad too low to be casual, but it's a start, Ace thinks. "You're Teach, right?"
"That I am. Marshall D. Teach of the Second Division. Glad to meet you! Put 'er there!" Teach extends a beefy hand to Ace. Luffy barely doesn't flinch. Ace reaches over with his free hand and shakes Teach's firmly. The man grins, all missing teeth and no malice. "Hell of a grip, kid," he says, retracting his hand and leaning back against the bench. "Good to have you with us. Heard you kids had a rough time of it before we picked you up off that island. How're you settlin' in so far?"
Deciding to ignore the coincidence of their shared middle name – anther 'D', how freaking weird - Ace shrugs. "We're doing good, actually. A few bumps along the way, but it's been a trip, to put it mildly. Right, guys?"
He looks down at the pre-teen tucked under his arm. Luffy's since let go of his hat, almost completely relaxed, though his shoulders are still hunched too high and his fingers twiddle on his lap like he's unsure of what to do with them. His baby browns switch between Ace's encouraging smile and Teach's expectant one. Eventually, he lets out a breath that hitches only slightly, and offers a faint but genuine smile, nodding. Watching Luffy carefully and debating with himself a moment longer, Sabo lets out a breath that's half resigned and shrugs a shoulder, lips tilted in a self-assured smirk.
Ace can't help but feel relieved. Or maybe that's just Marco, still watching them, letting out a breath and allowing a smile. Whitebeard nods, and the twinkle in his golden eye looks proud.
(Ace ignores the flush of warmth in his chest at the sight of it. He didn't do this to earn the man's pride. Not at all. He sure as hell doesn't need it, either.)
"Zehahaha! That's good to hear," Teach hoots, and yeah, Ace has to admit his laughter is the slightest bit unnerving. Then again, he is a pirate. Not all of them are as doting and ridiculous as Thatch can be, or as soft as Izo, or as charming as Marco. "I've been sailin' with these crazy bastards goin' along twenty years now. Trust me, ain't nowhere on these waters better or safer than aboard ol Pop's ship."
"Hear hear!" Kingdew bellows from a table over, him and his chums all raising their tankards, starting a chain reaction until every pirate in the galley is whooping and cheering, glasses raised to praise their captain and father. Said captain laughs and lifts his newly refilled tankard in kind. Ace is slightly awed by it all, though he knows at this point he really shouldn't be. Sabo and Luffy certainly aren't, not with the way Luffy laughs or the way Sabo raises his own drink with a conceding nod.
Either way, it's easy now (perhaps too easy) for Ace to put his worries aside for now as he, Sabo and Luffy finally dig into their food. Teach follows suit, and it turns out he's as big an eater as they are, just not quite as messy.
Perhaps Teach is...okay, for the most part. And surely no one who can inspire such cheer across a room full of hardened buccaneers, one who carries the same loyalty for their captain on his shoulders with pride can't be quite that bad, right?
It'll be fine. Marshal D. Teach is nothing to worry about.
0o0o0
Ace takes it back. He takes it all back, every bit of it. Marshal D. Teach is everything to worry about.
At least, when it comes to not choking on his own laughter, or his food.
Teach has indeed been around since the Whitebeard's beginning, though he joined much later than Marco, Thatch and Jozu and a handful of others, barely a teen himself. Regardless, at the prompting of several Commanders (against the vehement refusal of one pissed off bird), the man spins a story of some of their earliest ventures as a crew, including a much younger, much more mischievous little heathen that was the Moby Dick's future First Mate and their future head chef/Fourth Division Commander.
The aforementioned First mate hides his face in the crook of his arm all the while, hiding his reddening face and quite possibly reluctant laughter. Whitebeard's massive hand patting him on the shoulder does nothing whatsoever to console him; if anything it only serves to further irk him, seeing as the old bastard is laughing right along with the rest.
Ace has no qualms showing his mirth, and neither do Luffy or the rest of the crew. Even Sabo, after the first story (in which Bay and Jozu both ended up strung up by their legs from the main mast after a prank gone awry), has loosened up completely and joins in the chorus, more so now as Teach brings this story to a close.
"– and so, the idiot looks down at the body of this 'dummy', he looks at me and says 'watch this, Teach!', stomps down on its arm – and the bastard screams 'FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!'"
Ace chokes, half wondering why he's trying to eat at all when he's laughing so hard. Thatch is on the ground, pounding his fist on the floorboards, and Namur hangs off Jozu's quaking shoulders like his life depends on it. Luffy's clapping his hands, head thrown back with manic glee, and Sabo hides his howls into his hat, tugging the thing over his face.
Amid it all, Marco shakes his head, cheeks colored pink. "I thought he was a fake, yoi!" he cries, his voice drowned by the cacophony of the entire galley and Whitebeard's hollering that nearly shakes the ship. "We were inside a theater workshop, how was I supposed to that was an extra?!"
"Why would you do that anyway?" Ace hoots, wiping at his eyes though there are no tears to speak of – it's a close thing, but not close enough. "W-Who in their right mind just sees a dummy and decides to stomp on the bloody thing?! I mean, I expect that crap from Luffy –" said rubber boy smacks him on the arm, but goes otherwise ignored - "not from a literal Phoenix."
"Keep in mind that I was fifteen, you brat," Marco snaps back, but there's no heat at all in his tone nor his gaze; he's having as much fun reminiscing the past as Ace and his brothers are to listen to it, learning more and more of this crazy crew in minutes than they have in months. "That's no different from Luffy blowing up to roll around the room like a beach ball or Sabo back-flipping off the freakin' rigging, yoi. I've still not forgiven you for that by the way, Thatch."
All Thatch does in response, still on the floor, is wheeze.
Sabo leans back in his chair, hands raised in mock surrender, and chimes, "I regret nothing. You can pry my back-flips from my cold, cold dead hands."
"You kids," Marco massages his temples with feigned weariness. "I swear, my Haki flares whenever you so much as look at the rigging now, yoi. I'll be grey before I'm forty at this rate."
Sabo blinks at him, sitting up. "Wait. You're only in your thirties?"
Marco squawks – actually squawks – "How old do you think I am, brat?!"
Sabo's reply gets lost among the new chorus of laughter, and the sound of Ace slapping a hand over his eyes at his own stupidly short attention span. Haki. With Teach's arrival and the wild stories following, he'd let himself get swept up in the madness and forgotten all about it.
Namur was right. It really is too easy to get sucked into this crew and their antics.
He's quick to wave those thoughts off – can't dwell, can't get too attached, can't let himself more than he already has – and turns to Marco, still stewing. "Hey, Marco, I have a question –"
Luffy's sudden spluttering stops him short.
Ace immediately turns the same time Sabo does, both teens looking down to find their baby brother shoving their desert for tonight – a plate of cherry pie – away from him, face twisted in disgust even as he swallows the bite he's already taken. That alone surprises Ace, and he shares an equally flabbergasted look with his twin. Luffy is never one to turn down food, even in the days before. He's learned to spare every crumb, no matter how moldy or soggy or cold. However, the last two months have changed that, changed them all in ways Ace never thought possible, which evidently includes saying no to food. Thatch's food to boot.
Good thing the man is still too busy getting his breath back on the floor to notice or get offended.
"What's wrong, Lu?" Sabo asks, rubbing the kid's back. "Something in the pie? You're not full yet, are you?"
Ace snorts, ignoring Sabo's pointed stare. Like that could be possible.
Luffy shakes his head, nose wrinkled. 'That cherry pie was freaking gross,' he signs. Sabo snorts, surprised, and meets Ace's gaze again. Ace shakes his head, shrugging. Nothing he can do about it.
Teach, however, notices the exchange, brow quirking as he leans forward to get a better look at the youngest still making a face. His plate of cherry pie is nearly gone, half a slice held aloft in one beefy hand. "What's up with the kid?" he asks, beady eyes switching from the discarded pie to Luffy. "He allergic or somethin'?"
Ace shakes his head. "Nah, he says he doesn't like it," he says. "Weird though. He'll usually eat just about everything."
That, for whatever reason, seems to rub Teach the wrong way. He blinks once, twice, then he levels Luffy with a look that's hardly impressed. "What? You sayin' you don't like cherry pies?" he probes. He's not angry, not enough to warrant Ace to step between him and his brother (now washing the taste away with juice Haruta helpfully pours into a tankard for him.) More like he's surprised that anyone could dislike such a pie. Ace honestly thinks it's just okay, but Teach seems as passionate about it as Luffy is with meat.
Then again, having said that...this could be a problem.
Sabo seems to think the same. He turns to Teach and raises a hand, placating. "Hey man, it's no big deal," he says, once more resuming his role as the peacekeeper – a role that Ace, surprisingly, has begun to take over in the light of Sabo rediscovering himself. It's tiring, lord is it tiring, but Ace will gladly take it over who Sabo was any day. "We all have different tastes, nothing to get upset about – hm?"
He's interrupted when Luffy, cheeks splattered with remnants of cherry juice, tugs twice on his sleeve and signs something rapidly that Ace can't see from his angle. Sabo looks at Luffy like he's grown an extra head, shaking his own. "Really, Luffy?" he drones, slipping out a cloth from his sleeve to wipe Luffy's cheeks, heedless of the boy's squirming. "I'm not asking Thatch that. That's way too much, even for you. Other people need to eat too, y'know."
"What'd he say?" Teach asks. Ace has half a mind to tell him it's none of his business, but Sabo seems to relent, stuffing the dirty cloth away once Luffy's clean.
"Luffy says he wants me to ask Thatch if he can get fifty more steaks," Sabo says with a tired sigh. Half the table splutters, gawking at the straw hat clad boy in question. Sabo just shrugs. "What can I say? Rubber boy gotta eat, I guess. Not that I'm gonna let him eat fifty freaking steaks." He gives Luffy a pointed look, to which the boy decides to respond to by sticking his tongue out at him. Sabo, being the mature and responsible young man he is, does the same. Ace sighs, wondering when exactly it was that he'd started to really feel like an Older Brother, or better yet, the parent of two dumbass kids.
Teach looks at Sabo, looks at Luffy, looks at the abandoned cherry pie on the table. He shrugs, a bit too casually that Ace instantly gets a bad feeling. "Fine. Then I'll take fifty-one of those delicious cherry pies if that's alright, Thatch," he says. Again, the table splutters. At the head of the table, Whitebeard looks at him, brow cocked curiously. Thatch, laughter abating, lifts his head off the floor and stares at Teach like he's lost his mind.
Luffy, for some ungodly reason, whirls on Teach with a outraged glower, lips twisted into a sour pout. He tugs on Sabo's shirt and signs again, quick and aggressive. The blond, lost and confused as Ace feels, translates. "Uh, Luffy says he wants fifty-two steaks instead, which he's still not getting."
Teach's left eye twitches. "Better make that fifty-three pies, Thatch," he says. Before Thatch can offer a rebuttal – hopefully informing both parties of how stupid this all is – Luffy is signing. Again, Sabo translates.
"U-Uh, Luffy says fifty-four steaks."
"Fifty-five pies!"
"Luffy says – sixty steaks?!"
"Seventy pies!"
"Eighty?!"
"A hundred!"
The twelve-year-old leaps onto the table, narrowly missing his plate and Sabo's drink, one fist pulled back as if rearing for a punch, the same time Teach rises to his feet to mirror him. He yells the same time Sabo translates the smaller boy's rapid signs – "I'M GONNA BEAT THE LIVING CRAP OUT OF YOU!"
"Do you two have the slightest idea of what you're fighting about?!" Thatch screeches in tandem with several others, Ace and Sabo (done with translating and done with everything) included. What even the hell is any of this right now? So they have different tastes, what's there to throw hands over?
(Ace has to be thankful, at the very least, that Luffy has gone from being afraid of Teach to the point of fleeing the vicinity or being rendered frozen where he stands to freely mouthing off to him. Well, sort of mouthing off, but the fear is gone, at the very least. This crew can be scrappy, though, and plenty of brawls and spars are started over the silliest things. Here's hoping that...whatever this is doesn't lead to blows. Luffy's gotten stronger, but Teach is a veteran pirate; he just might be stronger.)
Leaving Sabo to cool Luffy off, Ace rolls his eyes heavenward and turns back to Marco; the man's resignation is clear on his face, worse so when Whitebeard does what he does best and laughs at the whole exchange as though it's one big joke. Marco spares the giant of a man a mere glance and then massages his temples again.
Ace smirks. "Brothers, eh?"
Marco just sighs, long and hard and from the depths of his weary soul. "You're lucky you only have two, yoi," he mutters. He pushes himself up from the bench, patting his captain on the knee once as he passes and circles the table until he reaches the trio. "You said you needed to ask me something? If you're done eating and –" he looks between a stewing Luffy held back by Sabo and a petulant Teach munching away at Luffy's discarded cherry pie, making a point of looking the boy in the eye as he chews "– 'arguing', among yourselves, follow me. We'll go somewhere quiet and where no one can laugh at you."
He glares at Thatch for that, the man himself looking him in the eye on his way back to the kitchen and shrugging. He regrets nothing. Of course he doesn't.
Marco shakes his head again and gestures for Ace to follow him. Ace gets up, offering Whitebeard a nod which the old man returns with that damn smile of his that means a hundred different things at once – Ace doesn't care, he doesn't care – patting Sabo on the shoulder. All too relieved for the excuse to leave, Sabo quickly stands up, arms locked around Luffy's waist as he hauls the brat up from the table. Luffy doesn't fight him at all as he's carried off like a scolded wolf pup, ankles bumping against Sabo's shins as the blond walks. He just folds his arms, pouting sourly like a child half his age at Teach all the while, cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk.
Teach only gives Luffy the barest hint of a stink-eye before going back to his cherry pie.
"What is with you, Lulu?" Sabo grunts. "You're hardly ever this confrontational, especially not over food."
Luffy only huffs in reply. Sabo rolls his eyes skyward.
The four of them reach the top deck without further incident, blessedly clear of lingering crew mates – most of them, if not all of them, are down in the galley for dinner, giving the brothers and the Commander a much needed reprieve. Sabo sets Luffy back down, only for the kid to latch onto his left arm and cling the instant his feet touch the ground. Sabo lets him with a tolerant smile, because he's soft and makes no effort to hide the fact.
Ace picks up the pace so he's side by side with Marco, struggling and failing to match the taller man's longer gait. "So, wher're we going?" he asks. "Back to our cabin?"
"Not this time," the First Mate says. "I was supposed to mention it when you came to sit with us, but things got...a little out of hand, yoi."
"Speaking of which, I hope you know I'll be logging that time you stomped on that poor bastards hand in my book for future reference!" Sabo chimes, his grin screaming everything but innocence for all that he tries otherwise. No one is fooled, least of all Marco, who only stares at Sabo like he's the devil himself (he's not far off, admittedly) until the blond gives in and laughs. Luffy follows suit, but only because Sabo's laughing, regardless of why.
The Phoenix rolls his eyes – Ace is sure they'll be stuck like that at this rate – but the reluctant tilt of his lips is endlessly, hopelessly, fond. "Anyway," he continues, "I was supposed to let you know that Whiskey wants to see you in the infirmary soon as you finished dinner, Ace." Ace blinks at him, worry immediately churning his gut until the man gives him quarter and pats his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "You're not in trouble nor are you dying, so relax, yoi. She's figured out why you keep passing out at random and wants to prescribe medication."
"...that sounds a hell of a lot like I'm dying."
"You're not," Marco chuckles, swinging his arm around Ace's shoulders to pull the teen close to his side in a sort of half hug. Ace barely holds back a flinch, forcing himself to relax – it's not that he's never been hugged or even held by any of the Whitebeard's, nor does he hate it when they do, despite his efforts to squirm away when he can. It's just...another change to get used to, is all. And squashing down the guilt he feels when he doesn't reciprocate.
They understand, they say, there's no need for him to do anything he's not comfortable doing, anything he doesn't want to do; they've assured them time and time again, and it gets easier to believe it, easier to...trust them to keep their word.
(But he does want to, Ace realizes. It should scare him, should have him think twice and twice again, should have him pull away and never let them touch him again. But it doesn't. The Whitebeard's don't scare him. The yearning to return their easy affection the way he does without question with Luffy and Sabo, doesn't scare him.
Whitebeard doesn't scare him.
The idea of joining, becoming a part of this crazy, disaster of a crew – a family – doesn't scare him, at least not as much as it used to.
It doesn't scare him. But it doesn't mean he can act on it. Not yet...)
"In the meantime," Marco says, jarring Ace from his newest crisis, "what did you wanna ask me? Keep in mind though, if it's anything to do with my days post First Mate, I will not hesitate to boot you over the side of the ship like Pops, yoi."
That brings a snicker out of Ace, and he's relaxing under Marco's arm before he fully realizes it. Really, it's all too easy. "No, nothing like that. Think I've heard enough for one day," he says, ducking his head a little when they reach the doorway to head below decks. "I was gonna ask if...if you knew anything about Haki?"
Marco blinks, hard. Looks down at Ace, sleepy eyes widening slightly. "Where'd you hear about that?" he asks.
"Izo told us. Well, the basics at least. He said you or Whitebeard would be the best to ask about it. And..." He pauses, rolls the words about in his head for a moment, takes a breath. "...and if it's at all possible for you guys to teach us how to use it. Properly."
For a moment, Marco says nothing. Blue eyes, bright and piercing as ever, regard him up and down in a way he hasn't since their first day aboard. Since Ace, ragged and weary and thin enough that a breeze could knock him over, had dared to challenge an Emperor of the Sea, dared to glare at the Phoenix and want him dead. He hadn't backed down then and he doesn't now, minus the bloodlust and distrust. He meets the First Mate's gaze evenly, surely, and hopes.
Eventually – "Heh. Pops was right, yoi," Marco says with a grin that's proud. "You kids won't stop until you've reached the top, will you?"
Ace grins back in an effort to hide his relief and brimming excitement. He almost succeeds. "Like I said at the start. I have someone I need to surpass," he says. He can feel Sabo rolling his eyes behind them, hard enough to prompt Luffy to smother a snicker, and elects to ignore them both.
Marco chuckles again, giving Ace a final squeeze before letting go, stuffing both hands in his pockets. "Alright," he says. "I'll talk to Whitebeard and the Commanders about it, but I personally don't see why not. You three have improved in the last few weeks, and while we won't push too hard – lest we do more bad than good, your bodies are still adjusting – I'll see if we can get you started on the basics of Haki."
Ace could cheer. Could rip out a page from Luffy's book and punch the sky with glee. He settles instead for a whoop, echoed by Sabo, who does actually punch the sky. Luffy bounces on his toes with a wordless cheer.
This is it. Finally, they're bumping up the levels, reaching the next stage of their journey –
"But first," Marco's amused voice cuts the celebration short, and the boys turn back to him. He points a finger at Ace. "You, freckles, have a date with the head nurse, yoi. We need to talk about your narcolepsy before we even think about training your Haki any further."
Ace blinks. Sabo frowns. Luffy tilts his head.
"What the hell is narcolepsy?" Ace asks.
Oh, Ace XD
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