Some drunken moments and a little strain on a relationship. Some angst, too. Enjoy~
Over the next two weeks, Ace improved with haki at a good pace. He still had headaches, but knew how to get rid of them. Immediately releasing the painful conquering haki, and closing his eyes whenever the future glimpsing happened. He still had no way to control them, and he was thinking that he wouldn't get a response from Katakuri. Since he couldn't have been far from the island the letter was sent from, he had to have gotten it unless there had been a storm or something.
Ace still did not like the observation haki at all, and still had no reason to use it. And he still couldn't turn it off when he wanted, or at least dim it. It was frustrating. Why did it appear all of the sudden, but he couldn't just turn it off just as easily?
He was grumpy sometimes, frustrated with not being where he wanted to be after a few weeks after practicing. It took him less time to be able to control his fruit than it did this. Less time to learn to embroider neatly. The pirates were understanding with his grumpiness, which he didn't take out on them. Of course not. He just glared at his food, or moped in the library, staring at the same page of a book for hours.
It was early in the morning when the newspaper came, and a letter was dropped as well. Ace was out there, the early riser while Marco was showering, and picked up the paper and letter. He looked for any wanted posters in the newspaper, but nothing was new. A few updated ones, but he'd seen those before.
Apparently there were pirates called "rookies", which were new pirates that were stirring up trouble. There were quite a few that headed to the New World. Some of them looked a bit unsettling, but they had very interesting devil fruits. They also all seem to have a stage name, like Phoenix Marco or Diamond Jozu. Ace had wondered what he would be called if a new poster was put out about him and had his name.
Marco had said it should have something to do with fire. He put the wanted posters back in the paper and set it on the deck, before seeing the letter was addressed to his first name. Ace's golden eyes widened and he opened the letter in a hurry. It was a long response, and he saw the name at the bottom and was honestly shocked. He didn't expect Katakuri to respond.
He started at the beginning of the page.
"I can't believe that a Whitebeard sent me a letter asking for help. It's clear that you are definitely a new pirate. I don't know how you have developed the future seeing ability at your age, since it took me decades to do so, but I will say a few things.
First, a warning not to get friendly with pirates you don't know won't kill you. That should honestly be a given. Ask the Whitebeard commanders to teach you how to be a pirate or at least have them show you what your enemies look like. It's obvious you had no idea who I was back at the island.
Second, if you just opened the letter yourself, you should not have done that. What if I put poison in the paper and you dropped dead? But, that would start a war with Whitebeard and I am not a fool. No matter if I'm responding to an enemy's letter. Be cautious even if you are on one of the strongest crews on the seas.
Third, I recognized you from that wanted poster of the blue human. I won't tell anyone, but maybe don't wear the very recognizable orange hat on islands that aren't under your captain's protection.
Lastly, the power will take a while to master. Maybe not as long as it took me, but I gradually learned. It didn't come overnight like I think yours must have. You will see useless things for a while, and need to focus on things you want to see. Try and focus on seeing something a few seconds forward in time. That will be good practice. If you train regular observation haki before this type, it would be easier to reign in how far into the future you see and when you see it.
I cannot believe I am giving advice to an enemy, but you honestly don't act like a pirate so I have no fear you will storm into Totto Land and try to take us out. Not that you could. I won't be replying to any other letters, so this one should be good enough for you to figure it out yourself.
One last thing: don't be so trusting. People who trust strangers are fools out on the New World seas.
-Charlotte Katakuri.
Ace grinned at the letter and then put it back into the envelope and into his shorts' pocket. He took the newspaper inside and to the galley, still smiling. See, Katakuri didn't seem like such a bad guy, even if he basically called Ace a complete moron multiple times. Thatch was cooking and Izo was sitting at the table.
He sat down across from Izo, and handed him the paper. Ace had started to do his duties again once the headaches weren't as bad and he could focus more on one thing. He had finished Mika's hat, finally, and was now only working on his job for repairing and maintaining clothes and other fabrics around the ship.
"Why are you so happy?" Izo asked curiously, since there was nothing in the paper to make Ace happy.
"Katakuri replied," he said pulling the letter out of his pocket. Izo's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe it. "He pretty much called me an idiot multiple times, but he did respond and answer a few questions."
"Seriously?" Izo asked. "I can't believe he responded to a member of a rival yonko crew," he said. Ace nodded, though he was smiling. "Can I see it?" his commander asked. Ace nodded and handed him the letter. Izo's blue eyes skimmed the page quickly, and his eyebrows raised a few times. "Yeah, he did make you sound stupid. But he does have some points. I know it's against your policy, but you really can't trust anyone you don't know out on the Grand Line, even in Paradise, but especially here.
"And he has a point about not wearing the hat. I know you're really fond of it, but it is very recognizable. I think you shouldn't wear it on random islands anymore. I'm sorry," Izo said when Ace's face fell. He loved the hat, but knew they had a point in it being dangerous for him.
"Okay, I won't wear it on islands anymore," he said and fiddled with the string against his chest from his hat. More commanders came in while others on the crew trickled in in groups and headed to their tables. Marco sat down next to Ace, looked nice and clean. He smelled good, too. "Guess what came in the mail," Ace asked with a smile. Before Marco answered, Ace held up the letter.
"No way!" Haruta shouted from across from him. "He actually replied?!"
Ace nodded. "He even gave me tips on how to be a better pirate while also calling me stupid," the sayla said pleasantly. "He said he only replied to me casue he thinks I'm not like normal pirates and won't try to cause them trouble with this power."
Whitebeard arrived and asked him to read it to them aloud, so he did. The man laughed, and told Ace that he was already adjusting well and to not rush it when he didn't need to. To just focus on controlling his haki instead of aiming to be a "better pirate".
Jozu said, "Kind of makes me wonder what kind of pirate Dogtooth thinks Ace should be? A cold blooded killer like him and his crew? Some drunk idiot, though strong, like Shanks? His and our definitions of a good pirate are quite different."
Marco nodded. "That is true. Ace is his own type of pirate," he said fondly.
The others at the table agreed, some chuckling at the darkened cheeks of Ace's face. "You know what it said in the paper?" Izo asked. "Apparently some of the super rookies formed alliances to try and take down some emperors."
"Oh no, should we be worried?" Whitebeard asked with an amused voice.
"Surely not," Thatch said dramatically, sitting at the table next to Marco and digging into his own food, one of the last to eat, as usual. "Though that one guy, Trafalgar Law, has a creepy power. Cutting people up and rearranging their body parts is quite disturbing."
Vista smiled. "Worse than becoming a skin coat and having someone else wear you?"
A few of the commanders laughed along with the captain and Ace just had a grossed out look on. That really was disturbing, and he was glad he got a good fruit, once again. Every time he heard of a useless devil fruit, he was thankful he found a strong and useful one, even if he didn't use it for combat. Being a logia gave him a sense of peace, since he wasn't very good at running anymore.
"Perhaps, but it sure is more useful than that one. Then there's Eustass Kid, the one with the highest bounty, though it's mostly from him killing civilians." Ace had another disgusted look on his face. Why would you kill innocent people for fun? It just didn't make any sense to him, how anyone could enjoy that. He got that fighting was fun, and sometimes the pirates accidentally or purposely killed marines and other pirates who attacked first, but never civilians.
"I don't like him," Ace said. "Why kill regular people? What's the point?"
Marco sighed. "Who knows how people like that think. We may be pirates, but we'd never kill innocent people." The commanders nodded, and Whitebeard took a big swallow of his morning sake, even though the nurses wanted him to stop. Ace still hadn't tried alcohol, despite it being very popular on the ship and at the Whitebeard parties, which Ace more often than not skipped and went to bed.
Those nights, Marco would come to bed exhausted, and flop down in his clothes. He couldn't get drunk like the others, but it made him sleepy. Ace always let him sleep the morning after.
Ace thought about the posters he saw, and a question came to his mind that popped up often but faded when there was no one around to ask. "Why are there so few female pirates?" he asked curiously.
Jozu replied, saying, "They're either too weak or don't want to get involved with other pirates who would do unspeakable things. There are many female pirates, don't get me wrong, but they're the minority compared to men. Many of the Big Mom pirates are women, and other crews have women sprinkled about. Then there are the pirate crews that are only women, like the Kuja pirates who live in the Calm Belt. They hate men and they are forbidden from entering their territory."
Ace frowned. It had been weird coming to this world and seeing virtually no females around. His world really was different than this one. "That's sad," Ace said. "Women should be able to explore, too."
"I agree with that. They should be able to," Thatch said. "We've only had a few women who weren't nurses on this crew, but they either left for a different sort of life or formed their own crews."
Ace was glad to hear that some women had been on this ship. At first, he'd thought that females were low in supply and that was why only the nurses were here, but it was more due to the world politics, even if the humans didn't call this kind of thing like that.
After breakfast, Ace practiced what Katakuri told him to. Besides trying to be a better pirate. He worked on both his observation haki and the super advanced one. The pirate had told him that the better his plain observation haki, the quicker he'd get the hang over the future glimpsing.
It was tedious and frustrating, and whenever he got too angry about it, he'd leave the library and go to his work area to do his other responsibilities. He was good at balancing what he had to do and what he wanted to do and still get everything done on time.
Two days after Ace got the letter, a message was sent to their ship from one of the protected islands. One of those rookies had attacked the island to challenge Whitebeard. Ace found out a while ago that this was a reoccurring thing. None had done it since he got there, but no one seemed surprised by the news. They did seem angry about one of their islands getting attacked, and changed the ship's course immediately. The Moby Dick had an eternal pose to each one of the islands under their protection, so it was easy sailing to where they needed to go.
They were in a hurry, so the ship sailed even at night, with much of the crew awake to do so. Marco was one of them, having the best eyesight in case anything came at them. Of course, Ace stayed, too, and it was good practice to try to pick apart presences in the distance, whether they were big animals or people. He hadn't felt anyone in the sky since the first time. He also extended his hearing, the couple staying in the crowsnest.
It felt good to be useful again. More than his usual ways. He'd felt like a burden lately with all his haki problems. Even though it was clear his crew mates didn't see it like that, he couldn't help but feel that way.
-x-
Ace eventually fell asleep against Marco that night, and the mythical zoan held Ace in his lap while keeping his own senses armed. He had to inwardly scold his phoenix for getting distracted by Ace being so near when he needed the powers to help out. The phoenix copped an attitude and flared up, drawing out Ace's flames in his sleep.
"Stop it," Marco hissed. "Don't you want Ace to be safe?" The bird inside him bristled, but relented and got back on keeping watch with Marco. Once the sun rose, Marco woke Ace up so they could go get some sleep. They still had a few days before they'd make it. Ace was exhausted and nearly fell over the crowsnest, so Marco had him latch onto his back so Marco could get them both down.
He carried Ace to bed and tucked him under the covers, where he then curled into a ball, holding a pillow to his chest. Marco chuckled and changed before crawling in next to him. He put an arm around Ace and he automatically latched onto his hand instead of the pillow, and stayed deeply asleep.
It was little times like this that really showed Marco how lucky he was that Ace fell to earth next to their ship. If it had been somewhere else, Marco would probably have never met him before, and that was a nightmare that he didn't like thinking about.
For the last few nights, what got Marco to sleep easiest was listening to the tune of the paper-basket song in his head. He couldn't remember the words since they meant nothing to him and he didn't understand a thing, but the soft tune made him sleepy. Probably why Ace chose that song to sing in the first place.
The day they landed on the island, Ace opted to stay on the ship and watch over the railing, curious to see the captain's powers at work for the first time. Well, probably not his devil fruit since it was an island that was important to them, but he might use his bisento.
The rookie crew, the guy that Ace liked the least, Eustass Kid, was already on the shore that the Moby Dick docked near. Whitebeard and the commanders got off of the ship to watch, while much of the crew did as well and the others watched from the railing, crowded together.
Since so many of the pirates were bigger than him, Ace decided to watch from the crowsnest, accompanied by Nick, who was also pretty short, and not because he was the youngest like Ace was. The sayla had been requested to appear in human colors, even if it was a slight chance he was seen, so he was kneeling on the bench looking at the selected battlefield in human disguise.
The commanders stood by the ship, but out of the way, standing in order of division number. Marco had all his attention on the enemy. He sure looked haughty, challenging the strongest man in the world. They all knew his powers had to do with magnetism. That's why none of the pirates had any weapons on them. They were all inside. They weren't stupid. And it would be useless for this normal sized man to take away Pops' bisento. Not that he was weak without it. And if any fragments of metal came at him, he'd just knock it back with a mild quake.
The phoenix zoan wondered what Ace would think of the fight. He wondered if Kid would end up dead by the end. Mortally injured at least. That was a given. Pops may get a few scratched, but that would be it.
"Squirt, you're a real moron to 'take over' one of my islands and then challenge me while I'm angry about you hurting innocent people under my protection," Pops said, not sounding excited about the fight at all. There was something that none of the pirates liked about this guy. Maybe it was because he was needlessly cruel, even to his crew members. Strangers and "friends" alike. Though he may not even consider his men important. Just like Kaido and many other crews.
"I'll take you down today, Whitebeard!" Kid shouted. The pirates scoffed or chuckled at him, most coming from aboard the ship. Marco just had a thought when Kid glanced irritably at the crew on the ship. He was going to exercise his first mate privilege, and he flew up and landed on the railing.
"I'm sorry guys, but for your own safety, you should probably head inside. A big crowd is an easy target for someone who can shoot metal weapons in any direction," Marco explained. There was much complaining and groans, but Marco gave them a look, and they shuffled inside, cursing Kid.
Marco looked up at Ace, who was watching from the crowsnest. "My fire, time to go inside!" he shouted.
Ace climbed down the ratlines, and then said, "Don't call me that in front of other people. It's embarrassing." Marco just laughed. "My flaming chicken."
"Don't listen to Thatch!" Marco scolded, knowing where that had come from and he thought he extinguished those stupid puns, and he did not want his lover calling him that. Ace laughed and headed inside. Marco watched with a pout, the best it could be described. But now his family and lover were safe in case the rookie tried anything underhanded.
Marco flew back off the ship, seeing faces pressed against the portholes on the right side of the ship to watch the ship. He laughed lightly when he saw Ace's blue face pressed to the window. He landed next to his fellow commanders.
"They're all gonna be complaining about that later, you know," Izo said conversationally.
"Better than anyone beheaded if the rookie decides to do something stupid like attack Pops' family. Anything happen while I was up there?" Marco asked, leaning against the ship and watching Kid glower.
"Yeah, Kid declared he'd defeat Pops, yada yada. But, he made a mistake and you made the right choice. That idiot threatened us. All of us. I think you can tell Pops didn't like that," Izo replied. Marco had noticed that his entire demeanor was one of anger and protectiveness. After all, a strong rookie, most likely stronger than much of the crew, had threatened Whitebeard's precious family. You could tell Kid wasn't seasoned in the New World because no one threatens the family. Especially to the captain's face! Fool.
Thatch said, "So, there's no chance Pops would defeat him and his crew and have us be allies. It's gonna be a one sided beat down, most likely." Kid attacked first, and he didn't have any metal to draw towards him to use, so he used that of his crews' weapons, which was not much. He couldn't manage to take Pops' bisento, of course, since Pops was strong and even the strongest force of magnetism didn't take his weapon from him.
"Squirt, we could have had a fun fight. One sided, but enjoyable. But the moment you threaten my children, the moment you forsake your life," Whitebeard said in an angry voice. The commanders knew it would be over soon. Honestly, what was this rookie thinking?
Marco looked back at the window Ace had been at and could see he had been pushed out of the way so he was only visible by one eye. Marco tuned out of the fight a bit, wondering what Ace was thinking as he watched his captain attack half heartedly, but effectively, at Kid. Ace's eye eventually was pushed out of the way so he couldn't watch anymore.
By the end of the fight, Kid was missing an arm and covered in blood and bruises. Marco was glad Ace wasn't watching the end. Kid was clearly defeated, and shouted at the yonko to kill him now that he'd lost. Whitebeard didn't take joy in killing people, and usually he would have just left him broken and bloodied. But, he couldn't let someone get away with threatening his family in such a way, and he killed Kid, and his crew were scattered.
Easily, Whitebeard wrecked their ship and tossed everyone else into the ocean and away from the island. Kid and his first mate were both dead. It had been a quick fight, and showed that these many rookies were just not ready to fight emperors. They needed more experience. The first half of the Grand Line was much different than the New World, including how powerful the pirates or marines were in paradise.
"That was underwhelming," Vista commented. The other commanders nodded. "Would have lasted longer if the guy didn't make Pops angry in that way." They nodded again.
"This is a good spot to have a party tonight. We'll check on the island soon. See if those rookies did anything we need to help fix," the captain said when he walked over, wiping the blood on his bisento blade on the sand to clean it off.
Marco said, "Good job not destroying the island." Whitebeard grinned and laughed.
"He wasn't much of a fight despite having a sizable bounty," the captain replied. Pirates started flooding out of the ship, knowing the fight was over. Marco saw Ace's blue face, which stood out against the rest of the pink and tan faces, peek over the side of the ship. There was no one left, the rookie crew in the sea. Most likely eaten by sea kings.
Marco was glad that Ace hadn't seen the end, since Marco didn't see him looking out the window anymore. He probably didn't like the outcome, though it was normal for Pops to take out someone who ever threatened his family, especially those that were not commanders. Many on the crew were quite weak. Not in the way that Ace was, but they weren't commanders. Ace was basically weak at fighting by choice. But many others could not fight on their own.
"Well, this is the New World. They just weren't ready to fight a yonko yet, apparently. You'd think he'd know not to threaten the family. Idiot," Izo said flippantly. Kid really was an idiot, and he paid for it with his life. Maybe it would show the other rookies they were out of their depth so early in the New World.
They went back onto the ship, since it was early and nowhere near late enough to party. Well, to get overly intoxicated. People drank at any time during the day, but there was always a limit so they could function and do their jobs.
The pirates came out of the ship, talking about how disappointing the fight was while others argued about not being able to see well cause they were shoved out of the way of the portholes. "So, what got Pops so angry?" Perry asked, one of Marco's division members.
"He threatened the family if Whitebeard held back. So he didn't, and now Kid and his crew is gone," Marco explained, keeping the words "killed" or "dead" out. Trigger words for Ace, even though the sayla knew what had happened, even if he didn't see the end of the fight. But, there was also the fact Ace had advanced observation haki, so he had to have felt the presences disappear.
The others scoffed, and all thought Kid was a damn moron. It was the talk for the next hour while Whitebeard and Marco went to talk to the mayor, and ask if the pirates had done anything to them that they could help fix.
"Surprisingly, they didn't damage or kill anyone. Held the women hostage, but did nothing to them," the mayor said. He had been a mayor for over 20 years, the mayor since Whitebeard had taken the island under his wing. Marco was surprised, considering Kid had killed civilians often in Paradise. It was strange, and the captain agreed.
"Well, it's good that no one was hurt and nothing was damaged," Whitebeard said. "If you need anything, come to us tomorrow afternoon. Tonight is a party and drunken answers won't be of much use."
The mayor laughed, and agreed to that. When the two went back to the ship, some of the pirates were already on land, while the rest were doing their normal business on the ship. Marco sensed Ace in the crowsnest by himself, and he flew up there. His partner was working on what he assumed was another commision considering there was a big pile of clothes he'd already repaired, folded nicely and neatly.
"Hi, flaming chicken," Ace said with a cheeky grin. Marco sighed and sat down.
"Please don't call me that," Marco said sincerely. Ace frowned and apologized, and then promised he wouldn't anymore.
"What should I call you, then? Why do you have a nickname for me but I don't have one for you?" Ace asked, looking back down at his work. Marco would never be able to do the kind of work Izo's division did. He may be graceful at fighting, but he knew he was bad at sewing or knitting anything.
"Calling me 'my phoenix' would make the one inside me full of itself," Marco said, feeling a surge of anger inside from the phoenix. He ignored it, and tried thinking hard about it.
"My love? It's not exactly very creative," Ace said, still looking at his work, adjusting the silky fabric to create a new stitch after finishing the one he'd been working on. He didn't see Marco's blush, thankfully. "I probably wouldn't use it much. Kind of embarrassing." Marco didn't feel hurt by that, knowing Ace wasn't meaning anything negative.
While Ace showed open affection with hugs and holding hands, he didn't like kissing in front of other people, or saying things like "I love you". Marco had talked to him about it once, and he said that, on his world, PDA wasn't a big thing. And the first mate wasn't going to push that. Ace already had to change so much, Marco could deal with that.
"I think that's fine," Marco said and then moved to sit next to Ace, watching him work with interest. His hands move quickly and effectively, and Marco could watch for a long time. "There's going to be a party tonight out on the beach. It won't be compact like most parties, so we could sit away from the group if you want. Do you want to try alcohol finally? We have a very light one that we've been saving for you if you want to try it. It's basically alcohol added to lemonade."
Marco thought Ace would be fine from it, since he had no reaction to it on his skin, though it was rubbing alcohol. The sayla thought for a moment, before saying, "I'll try. I don't like the smell of the strong stuff, but I'll try something light. Everyone seems to like it. But I don't want to be throwing up in the morning."
Marco smiled. "Don't worry, I don't think you'll be drinking a lot anyway. Besides, we'll be limiting it for you so it doesn't risk harming your heart, which already works way over than it did before," he replied. "No one will think you're weak if you don't like alcohol. They may not understand how you wouldn't like it, but they won't make fun of you."
Ace nodded. "I know." Marco smiled softly, relishing in the trust of those words in his family.
The party got into full swing around dinner time, with a big bonfire in the middle of the beach, powered by Ace's hottest flames. He didn't use his powers much on the ship, so using it on land made him happy based on his smile. Dinner was shish kabobs on the massive grill that the pirates had rolled down the ramp and onto the beach.
Drinks were flowing by the end of the meal, and Ace was sitting with Izo, Haruta, Marco and Namur who were curious about Ace's reaction to it. Pops was sitting on his chair, which was brought down, near the group of his commanders and Ace.
The sayla held the glass of pink lemonade and sniffed it. It really had barely any alcohol in it, so it was a good start for Ace. Deeming it not smelly, Ace took a sip. Apparently it tasted good as he ended up drinking the whole glass, not as big as a tankard most of the pirates used. His cheeks and chest grew flushed and dark.
Then they saw what kind of personality Ace had when drunk, even on the mildest drink they had, even after one glass. He giggled helplessly, and Marco took the bottle away so Ace wouldn't get anymore. "Why?" he slurred. The drink was good, why couldn't he have more?
"You're already smashed, Ace. We don't want it to make you sick," Thatch said, now sitting in the group since dinner was over.
"I wove you guys!" Ace shouted. "Sooo niceeee," he slurred happily with a dopey smile on his face. The commanders sitting around hid their laughter behind their hands. Ace hiccuped, his flames reacting to each one by popping up on his shoulders every time. Marco was extremely amused, but didn't give Ace any more to drink.
"If you love us so much, wouldn't you want to be our brother?" Izo asked.
"You...d be baad brothers," Ace slurred. The commanders frowned, wondering why on earth Ace would think that. "Everyone but Luffy and Shabo are bad brothers." Marco frowned, wondering what he meant. He knew that Ace had a new "unit" after his brothers died, but he didn't give much answers. Just that he was forgotten about sometimes. Marco didn't know all the details. The first mate grew worried about Ace saying something he'd regret.
"Why do you think we'd be bad brothers?" Thatch asked, sounding hurt.
"You got... a fousand of dem. You'd inore me, tooo," he replied, a smile still on his face. "Like neglet. Like eferyone else." Suddenly, those around him who could hear felt sadness.
Ace had been neglected as a child, or teen, and didn't believe anyone but his original brothers would not do that, too. He was ignored by those who were his second family. Suddenly, all of the pieces came together. Ace was afraid he'd be forgotten about, since there were so many of them. It wasn't anything against them, like some had been afraid, but a result of the way he was raised.
"We'd never neglect you, Ace," Haruta said strongly.
"You just say dat," he replied. "You do it soon, too."
Whitebeard was watching with a very upset expression. Marco knew he felt happy that it was nothing against him as a person, but was also very sympathetic to Ace. Marco knew they'd now all be trying to show Ace that he wouldn't be neglected.
"We love you like our brother already, Ace," Thatch said softly.
Ace then laughed and pointed to Marco, who was too close and had a finger poked into his cheek. "Insess. I don' want Marr... co to be my brofer." Marco spit out his drink. The others around him laughed.
"Marco wouldn't be your brother by blood, Ace. You don't need to call him brother," Izo said in amusement.
"I love my brofers but I don' want to kiss dem. Ick!" Ace said childishly, gaining more chuckles around him. "I'm sleepy, Ima go to bed now," Ace announced, and tried stumbling his way back to the ship.
"I'll help you, Ace," Marco said, and wrapped his arm under Ace's shoulder to help him walk until he passed out and Marco just carried him to their room, tucking him in with a glass of water on the nightstand and a bucket near the head of the bed in case he got sick.
When he returned, there was a solemn atmosphere around the people who had heard what Ace said. "We're not letting Ace get drunk ever again," Marco announced when he sat back down. The others audibly agreed.
"I feel sad for him," Thatch said quietly. "He thinks that if he becomes family by name, we'll ditch him, or stop being close with him. It's nothing he has against us or Pops, which I'm happy about, but I'm not happy he was neglected in his second family. No wonder he doesn't want any more brothers if his previous ones ignored or left him out."
Haurta frowned. "I feel bad that we found out like this, but I don't think he would have ever told us on his own. He hasn't even told Marco."
Pops said, "We need to show him somehow that we wouldn't forget about him if he became family."
Izo sighed, and added, "It makes a little sense he'd think that. It's true that we have over a thousand people in this family. And we don't socialize with each and every one of them. But Ace is special. None of my other division members get to sit at the commanders' table. I know it's playing favorites, but I haven't gotten any complaints about it from anyone.
"I think it also has to do with his relationship with Marco," Thatch added. "Maybe it's also that Pops doesn't take out the time to socialize with each son individually. We all know how much Ace craves attention, even if he isolates himself fairly often. We've seen that from the start, except when he felt hated. I know there's just not enough time to socialize with each of us every day-"
"Besides the commanders," Haurta pointed out.
"Besides the commanders, but most of the crew fare fine just being around their brothers. Do we know anything about Ace's parents?" Thatch asked.
Marco shook his head. "He just doesn't want a parent figure. That probably also has to do with neglect. It's a form a child abuse. It may not be as damaging in some ways as physical child abuse, but it would stay with him either way."
Izo said, "But I am glad it has nothing to do with us as people. It's what he's afraid of happening again. Maybe he thinks being in this position is the only reason many of the commanders spend time with him personally." Thatch bristled.
"Well that's not true. We have been friends since the start, since before he officially joined."
Pops spoke up, and said, "Maybe he thinks being separate, a friend instead of a brother, makes him more noticeable. As a person to us. He's the only one on the crew to not consider us family, maybe he thinks staying this way will make sure he doesn't blend in with the rest of the crowd."
Marco sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't think he wants a big family. He's fine with how things are now if we're all just friends. He might never join us as a family, especially if fear is part of what is keeping him separate. As much as I want him to call us family, I really think we can't push it. Knowing Ace, it will make him feel guilty and ashamed. Nobody wants him to be pressured into it and not actually meaning it."
The others nodded in agreement. Pushing Ace would just set them back. He might not feel welcome unless he says he's part of the family. That would be a bad outcome, and possibly one impossible to reverse.
They were subdued for the rest of the party until Marco decided he'd go to bed, and see how Ace was doing. He said goodnight to his brothers and father, and headed back to the ship, heart heavy after the unintentional confession. They'd agreed to not bring up what Ace had said. It would do no good, and just make him upset and embarrassed.
When he entered their room, he heard retching coming from the bathroom. He hurried inside and found Ace throwing up into the toilet. It didn't take long for his body to react to the foreign drink. He was sobbing, and Marco felt for him until he saw a little blood in the toilet. His eyes widened in horror, and he knelt next to Ace.
"Ace? Ace, are you alright?" Marco asked in worry. Ace shook his head. Marco hurried into the room and got the bucket and coaxed Ace away from the toilet and helped him to the infirmary while he held the bucket in front of his face.
Tears were in his eyes, and Marco assumed it hurt. They hurried to the infirmary, and Marco was so glad he was never affected by the alcohol. When they entered the room, he walked Ace to the bed, and called for help from any of the nurses.
"Ace drank alcohol and n-now he's throwing up blood," Marco said. Ace started to say he was fine until he retched again.
Tami touched Ace's forehead, since she couldn't take his temperature while he was throwing up. "He doesn't feel like he has a fever. Ace, does your throat hurt? Nod or shake your head." Ace nodded. "Like a scratchy feeling, as if your throat is raw?" Ace nodded again. "I'm going to look down your throat, okay? If you throw up, we clean up the mess. That's all there is to it. Try to breathe as slowly as you can, through your nose and out your mouth."
Ace did as she said and she shined a light in his mouth to look at his throat. "Did the pain happen before or after you started vomiting?"
"After."
"It looks like it is just your esophagus. I think that the vomiting was too much. Sometimes, violent coughing or vomiting can tear the tissue of your lower esophagus. It can start to bleed if it's too rough. There is most likely nothing severely wrong internally, in your stomach or lungs if breathing is not painful.
"I want Marco to stay up and monitor him. You need less sleep than the rest of us. Marco, calm down, Ace is not going to die." She then turned to Ace, and asked, "Do you throw up often?"
Ace shook his head lightly, breathing as calmly as he could. "Medecine at home treats nausea before throwing up happens." Tami asked about any food that might make him sick. He shook his head.
"Then I'm sure it is just that the unfamiliar and violent retching tore your esophagus. You should be fine, but I'll keep you overnight just in case. It usually takes seven to ten days for this type of injury to heal. You won't have to stay in here the whole time, I'll release you tomorrow if you sleep alright through the night. Marco, how much did he drink?" Tami asked.
"One small glass of the mildest drink we have," Marco replied. Tami blinked twice.
"Alright, no more alcohol for Ace. If that little amount had such a violent reaction so soon, then I think it's best to avoid any drinking." Marco nodded, and Ace looked embarrassed and ashamed, looking the other way even as he held the bucket under his jaw, though he hadn't thrown up for a while.
"Ace, do you remember anything about tonight?" Marco asked. Ace shook his head. Good. He won't know he spilled out what he's been hiding.
"Did I do something embarrassing?" Ace asked in worry. Marco was about to say no when something stopped him. Ace was honest to him at every possible moment. He was averse to lying. What would happen if he found out Marco lied about something important? He'd lose Ace's trust, and Marco knew he would be eaten alive with guilt over keeping it a secret. He told his family to hide it from him. But he realized he couldn't do that.
"Tami, will you give us a minute?" Marco asked, going to sit next to Ace. The nurse nodded and left, far enough she wouldn't be able to hear. Ace was looking really nervous, that he did something very embarrassing.
"What did I do?" Ace asked fearfully, completely different than his bubbly and happy voice after being drunk. He'd never see that Ace again, not with the risk of what came after drinking, even that tiny amount.
Marco took his hand, which was clean from hand sanitizer. "You told me, Pops, and a couple of the commanders why you don't want to be our family." Ace's face turned dark blue, and his lips were pursed tightly, corners of his mouth dipping down drastically. "We understand why you don't want to be our family. And we won't push you to be part of it. But we want you to know that we'd never neglect you like your previous unit had. We'd never forget about you, or have you blend into the crowd and become an afterthought.
"I'm so sorry we found out like that. You didn't tell us willingly, and we all feel guilty about that. If we were to find out, it should have been while you were in control of what you were saying. It wasn't our right to find out what you didn't want us to know." Marco kissed Ace's knuckles. "I love you, and I'm sorry I didn't stop you from talking. I'm sorry I found out and you didn't tell me when you wanted to."
Ace looked deeply ashamed. "I forgive you." He turned away so Ace didn't see his face. "It was stupid."
Marco took Ace's chin gently, and turned his face to look at Marco. "You don't need to apologize for being abused as a child. Neglect is a form child abuse. There's a lot about my history you don't know, and I've moved on from it mostly, but it's hard to get past things that were in your childhood or youth."
Ace still looked ashamed, and didn't ask Marco what he was hiding. And Marco loved him for that. Anyone else he knew would press for the information he hinted at. But Ace didn't. And it wasn't right for Ace to learn from someone else. Just like how it wasn't right to learn about something about someone when they weren't in control of their actions or words.
"The information won't spread to anyone else. Just me, Pops, Izo, Thatch and Haruta. We're the only ones who heard you, and they won't be telling anyone else, not even the other commanders."
Ace still looked humiliated. He turned his back on Marco and laid down on the hospital bed, curling up under the blankets. "I'm going to bed. Good night," the sayla said quietly. Marco didn't show the hurt he felt with Ace shutting him out. Marco felt ashamed for not stopping Ace talking when he should have. Now people knew something Ace hadn't wanted anyone to know. Not even Marco.
"Alright… Goodnight. I love you," Marco said in as calm a voice as he could. He heard a quiet, "Love you too", and then left the room, turning the light off. He went back to their room in emotional turmoil. Had he been taking advantage of Ace's intoxication by asking questions when he clearly didn't have any filter?
He felt cold laying in bed, staring at the empty space that he had gotten so used to being filled with a warm body. The phoenix inside expressed displeasure at Ace not being there. "Stop it. He wants alone time. We'll see him in the morning." He pulled a pillow over his head, and had a hard time falling asleep for the first time in a while.