If you don't like 30 years before then that's fine, you don't need to tell everybody about it with vulgar language, there are underage people who read the comments and they don't need read stuff like that.

Secondly I'm not changing the story because some random doesn't like the story. Don't like it then go and read something else. Nobody is forcing you read this.

I'm writing this because I like it! Not for any other reason, this simply is self indulgent nonsense. It's a fanfic! Not something offensive.

Marco's POV

Marco wasn't entirely sure what was happening, though after Luffy uttered Ace's message, things got very quiet.

Of course, he understood that these were Luffy's brother's last words, but why he was relaying it to them, he did not know.

Though everyone else seemed to get it. Pops and Dragon were very quiet and solemn, Whitey was sat there with slight tears in her eyes and Luffy wasn't looking very happy, however he did look relieved, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Marco didn't really know what to say or do. The fact that he wasn't even sure of situation made it worse. He went over the whole thing again, trying to pick apart the whole conversation.

Ace's last words: "Thank you for caring about someone like me... This good-for-nothing this world never wanted, who has such bad blood in his veins... Thank you for loving me!"

Before he came to a conclusion Luffy spoke up, he drew his gaze over them briefly before setting his sights back on the sea.

"It happened about 2 years ago... that is in my 'now'. As I said before, Ace was captured by Blackbeard and taken to Impel down. I actually went there, went all the way down to level 6 but I was too late, he had been moved to Marineford by then. So, we stole a Marine ship and took it there, that's where a huge war was. You guys and your ally's vs the Marines. Everyone was there, even the 3 Admirals..." Luffy paused, he turned back to look at them, his face unreadable.

Marco snuck a look at everyone else too, Dragon had gotten up and was stood next to Luffy, he seemed as if he wanted to comfort him, but was having trouble with knowing how.

Pops on the other hand had a mixture of anger and upset written into his expression. The blonde teen had no clue what was going on in his head, until what Luffy said finally sank in.

He had said they were there, right? They had gone to save Ace...

That's when Marco got it... They were Ace's crew... That's why Luffy was telling them this. Suddenly he felt a little bit sick, they had known, were going to know Ace and he was Luffy's brother.

They had lost Luffy's brother.

They had failed to save Ace... He was dead because they could not save him.

Marco was wracked with guilt, not only did he feel awful for Luffy, but he actually was sad over Ace. Not only had Luffy lost his brother, Marco had lost a brother too.

And Pops had lost his son... No wonder he looked the way he did, he probably felt just as bad as Marco, maybe even worse.

After a moment Luffy continued.

"We fell into Marineford, everything was frozen, everyone was fighting the Marines. Crocodile tried to fight old man Newgate, but I stopped him, then old man Newgate told me to leave. I told wasn't going anywhere without saving Ace-"

Dragon interjected, he was suddenly looking extremely uneasy "Hang on Luffy! You said that everything was frozen right? Was Kuzan there by any chance? At that point who are the Admirals? It can't still be Zephyr, Sengoku an-" Then Luffy interrupted him "The Admirals? You mean the ones in the Summit war or the ones now?"

The long-haired raven was giving Luffy a anxious look, so much for him not asking about the future. Not that Marco was much better, but usually Dragon was normally the sensible one.

"Wait. Both? So they changed in the last two years? What happened?"

"The ones at the war were the light guy, Kuzan? He's the ice guy, right? And Sakazuki... The ones now... There's the blind swordsman, the light guy, I think...? I don't know the other one?"

Marco didn't really know why Dragon was so interested in the Admirals. Marco certainly wasn't, he wanted to know about the battle at Marineford. That was until the name Sakazuki was mentioned, then he was all ears.

"Sakazuki is that lava guy that attacked me, the one you said was really dangerous?" Marco asked, so he had actually been fighting a future Admiral. Good to know...

Dragon flinched at my question, before he could even ask why, Luffy answered his question bitterly.

"Yes. That's him. He's dangerous, he's the one who killed Ace. When I said he wouldn't hesitate to kill you, I meant it."

Marco's jaw dropped; Dragon did actually place an arm around Luffy's shoulders then. While Marco couldn't see his face as he had his back to them, he could feel the wind pick up, so much so that it ruffled his hair and clothes, even the air went frigid.

"THAT BRAT!" Pops roared all of a sudden, startling everyone. He slammed his fist into the planked floor, causing the Mody to shake, yet Marco was pretty sure the punch wasn't the cause of the quake, it was just his outrage alone.

"I SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM!!"

Marco shrank, he was regretting sitting so close to Pops. Whitey who had been silent up until this point squeaked, before nervously shuffling away from him as well.

Dragon's defences went up, his long hair bristled most likely the winds doing, though he did not move from his spot next to his future son. Luffy was the only one not to react, he was still gazing over the ocean. The sun was setting, casting red shadows all over, yet the warm colours were not stopping the cold chill through the air.

"NO, I SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SAVE MY SON! How could future me fail to save one so-" Luffy cut him off, something nobody else would dare do, however the young captain spoke in a clear, unwavering voice. " You did try, everyone did. Ace was bad at running away from a fight as it was, but the reason he died was because of me..."

Pops went very quiet, as if trying to process that information, then in a much quieter tone said "Well that wasn't Ace's job, why wasn't I there protecting both of you, that's my damn job."

"Because you were old sick man... you couldn't have gotten there in time and anyway you were covering the retreat. Ace did what Ace did best and that was dumb stuff... He stopped because Sakazuki insulted you and I tried to get him to move... Ace was stubborn... he got in the way of a lava punch that was meant for me..."

"Why did he stop? Anyway that shouldn't matter, I should have-" Once again Luffy interrupted him, this time with a much firmer voice. "As I said, you were a sick old man, you made your choice. You were going to make your final stand there."

"So what I was just happy to die! Without making sure everyone got out alright! Without making sure Ace and you were going to be alright!"

"YOU WERE COVERED IN STAB WOUNDS! YOU'D BEEN HIT BY BULLETS. YOU HAD TWO FREAKING HOLES IN YOUR CHEST!YOU WERE A SICK OLD MAN!"

"WHY THE HELL SHOULD THAT EVEN MATTER! I'M WHITEBEARD!"

"YOUR A HUMAN! You were strong sure, but you couldn't even use haki by the end. When Ace was on the execution platform, they were going to kill him, you couldn't even use Conquerors haki to save him, you collapsed because you were too sick."

Pops was about to snap back, but Luffy had other plans.

"You couldn't move like you do now, you were slow you took hits, when someone fought you they went to you, you weren't running around! The first half of the fight you spent on the whale ship head, watching. Marco, Vista and Jozu were mostly protecting you. The only reason you joined the fight was because one of your allies stabbed you! You went down to prove that you would fight with everyone too."

Marco was watching this scene play out from the sidelines, but for the first time Pops was sat there, actually listening... He was listening, not dismissing what was being said to him. He was taking it on board.

Whitey was staring at them with wide eyes, their eyes met and they exchanged a disbelieving look.

"Ace said you were hooked up to machines most of the time. I don't know what was wrong with you... but there wasn't anything you could have done. You tried, just like everyone else did." Luffy finished, he sounded extremely serious, he was facing them fully, nothing unwavering. The way he laid them out made them sound like simple facts.

Dragon was sullen, he said nothing, for once he had almost a sympathetic look. He was rubbing Luffy's back gently, though Marco could help but think he looked guilty.

"Did I at least kill that Sakazuki?" Pops finally asked. He was staring down at his clinched hands.

"No. He became the Fleet Admiral when the Buddha man stepped down."

The blonde man turned away, he looked honestly ashamed of himself, Marco really hated that. Luffy made it clear that Pops had tried. But that probably wasn't enough in his eyes, to Pops he had failed.

"Did I at least die with some dignity? I am dead right?"

"Yeah, you did die standing up, in fact you didn't even fall over when it happened. Though I wouldn't say it was a good death. Anyway, I was gone at that point I don't remember much after Ace died..."

Pops was nodding lowly, as though it was something completely fine. The thought of his father being dead, made Marco incredibly upset. It was not something that had ever crossed his mind, to the teenager his dad had always been this strong unkillable force. The reality was that he was just a human like everyone else, he could die, he was strong but he could actually die in a fight... that was horrifying. One day his dad would die.

Whitey spoke suddenly, her tone was devoid of it's normal indifference. "This is why we're always telling you to look after yourself. Pops it's sounds like you were really sick."

Pops grunted, turning his head away. Though for the first time he didn't disagree, he said nothing at all.

"I think you guys get it. I don't want to talk about this anymore, I told you enough, just thought you should know. Ace would have wanted you to know." Luffy murmured as he pushed himself off the railing, he began to walk away, Dragon was practically stuck to his arm, he looked increasingly upset.

However he paused, his back to them. He seemed to be thinking, then he turned and smiled a little distantly.

"It meant a lot to him you know, he always thought he was better off gone, but when everyone came to save him, I think he finally realized how important he really was"

Then Luffy turned around and bowed his head respectfully.

"Thank you for taking care of Ace."

With that final thing Luffy finally left, leaving Marco, Pops and Whitey in a quiet sad silence.

Notes: As these are some frequent questions I'm asked I thought I may as well answer them.

*This is set 6 months before Whitebeard landed on Wano, so Oden isn't part of the crew yet. I thought it would be too boring if Toki was there, she could literally send Luffy back to the present and the story would be over. So no Oden or Toki sorry. (I can't believe I still have to point this out so far into the story, some people are convinced Oden is going to show up with Toki in tow and fix every problem possible XD)

*The story is set post Wholecake island arc, Luffy in his current timeline has not arrived in Wano. When he was taken back in time he was on his way there. The reason I have chosen to set this story before the events of Wano is quite simple. The manga still hasn't finished with the Wano arc, despite this being an AU I would still like to follow the one piece story closely as I can. So no Luffy isn't as Op as he is currently in Wano, he has literally just come away from beating Katakuri.

*Yes, Sabo is in the past too. Yes, the kid with Sabo is little Shanks. (I don't know who else the red haired boy with a straw hat could be.)

*Some stuff don't line up quite the same as in One Piece, I am trying to keep it close as possible. Do you have any idea how much law there is? There's like over 1000 chapters people. So I am not an expert, I use the OP wiki when I'm unsure of stuff. And do not get me started on the OP timeline, so if I make mistakes then I am sorry I am only human.

*So to recap:

.Nobody knows Blackbeard currently, except Luffy and Sabo.

.Whitebeard hasn't taken in Teach yet so he doesn't know him.

.This is before Oden is on the Whitebeard crew.

.Roger has not found the One Piece yet and won't for several years.

. Luffy hasn't arrived in Wano, so no he does not know the advanced Conquerors haki technique or the Armament one either. Though Whitebeard has started teaching him.

Any other questions ask away.