Normal POV
Marco groaned as he slowly woke up, he felt like total shit and would have prefered not waking up at all actually. It felt like he had had the whole moby's supplies of alkohol to drink last night and the burning sun in his face didn't help.
Wait... sun?
He jerked fully awake and sat up as best he could to take in his surroundings, he was on a fairly small boat surrounded by ocean, but he thought that he could make out something like an island in the direction the boat was heading.
How the hell did he get here?
He thought back to the last thing he remembered and got images of lots of water, the sounds of a fight, screaming, Ace calling out for him... Ace!
Marco frantically looked around for the firey marine only to find him on the opposite side of the boat, fast asleep. Marco sighed in reliefe before being overwhelmed with a feeling of deep gratitude and confusion. Ace had saved his life, why?
If his memory didn't fail him, the boat had been sinking due to an enemy attack if Ace's bruises was anything to go by, and Ace had risked his own safety and life to come back for him. He could have just left, saved himself, Marco was a dead man walking anyway with his execution only weeks away, but he hadn't. He came back. Marco couldn't quite stop his smile as he steared the ship as best he could with the handcuffs towards the island while Ace slept, he didn't try to wake him, Ace must be exhausted after everything he went through. It was the least Marco could do for his savior.
x.x.x.x.x.x Currently at Marine HQ
Sengoku frowned as he looked down at the most resent report of opperation Phoenix on his desk.
Two days ago a distresscall had gone out from the area where Ace's ship should have currently been, and short there after they had lost contact all together. It could be a conincidence, someone else could have made that distresscall and Ace's radio could have broken down. It could be a coincidence, but it could also not be. Across from his was garp, it wasn't more than right than to let him in on the decision on how to proceed, it was his grandson after all.
"I think we should wait with a search party for a day or two, Ace is a capable sailor and marine". Sengoku said carefully, very much aware of Garp's protectiveness for his family.
Garp didn't say anything for a moment, most likley fighting the urge to destroy everything in the office for being presented with such an idea as to not emidietley search for his grandson who could be in need of imidiet assistance at sea, and the fact that Ace was a grown man who knew how to survive at sea better than most, he had been a Marine for years, and a very high ranking one at that.
After a long moment of silence, Garp finally agreed.
"Alright, but if nothing is heard until tomorrow evening, I want a search party sent out".
Sengoku sighed and nodded, agreeing to Garp's request. He was worried too, not that he would admit it out loud.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Marco groaned as he dragged the ship up onto the island, he would have been embarressed if someone had been there to see him struggle with the fairly small boat, but to be fair the seastone handcuffs drained him of pretty much all energy, and Ace was still on the boat. not that he looked all that heavy, but every pound counts, right?
When the boat was finally secured he flopped down in the soft sand breathing heavily. He would have loved to sleep a few hours, but just as he was about to close his eyes, a soft groan was heard from the boat and he rolled his eyes. "Just my luck that he would wake up the second all the heavy labor is done, yoi" He thought as Ace sat up inside the boat.
"Huh..`? wher..wha"? Ace said in a sleepy voice looking around before setting his sight on Marco's amused face.
"Hey, you're alive"! He called out with a bright smile, standing up taking a step. The moment his left foot made contact with the ground his face turned into a pictre of pain and he cried out as he fell to the deck. Marco was up in a second, worry rushing through his veins as he sprinted to help Ace up.
"Ace, what's wrong, yoi" He yelled as he crouched down, helping Ace sit up as best he could scanning him for serious injuries.
"Forgott about a wound I have" Ace muttered through gritted teeth clutching his left leg making Marco look down, the pants leg had ripped quite a bit so he could clearly see a bit of the wound Ace must be talking about, and it was clearly infected. No wounder Ace was in so much pain.
"That's infected, didn't you clean it"? Marco said with worry, staring at the wound.
"WIth what" Ace said in a deadpan voice.
Marco wanted to yell at him, but he knew it wouldn't do much to the situation. Ace needed treatment or the infection would spread, and seeing their situation, Ace could die if that happened.
"Come on" Marco said and half dragged, half carried Ace who tried to hop one one leg to the shore to lie down.
"I'll start a fire, No! Stay put, don't you dare move Ace! I mean it!" He scolded as Ace tried to stand up to help, the best course of action for him was to stay down and rest while Marco searched for something to stop the infection with, he wasn't even sure there was anything helpful at this island, but he had to look. He owed Ace his life now and he would do anything to repay his debt. He would never forgive himself if he let Ace die here.
Ace sighed and lay back down, panting heavily from the fever he had and watched Marco walk around getting wood for the fire. Within the hour a fire was burning and Marco set out into the woods to look for plants to make medicin from, he had found some bandages in the lifeboat with some water, but he needed something to properly clean the wound and stop the infection from spreading. He was happy to find some yarrow growing a bit inside the wood, and he was even happier to find some berries and fruits, the vitamins would help Ace's body to fight the infection easier.
He had only been gone around one hour when he got back to their small camp and found Ace asleep once again, he started boiling some water to make a sort of disinfectant of the yarrow plant he had found, the rest of the plant he could use to stop the bloodflow. He silently thanked Thatch and Izou for teaching him about different plants, it really came in handy in situations like this.
When he was done he carefully took Ace's knife and cut the pants leg open to get to the wound better and started to pour the disinfectant directly onto the wound, it was still kind of warm to help get the old blood out with the dirt, it would hurt more but it was necessary. It didn't surprice him when Ace started to squirm, trying to get away from the new pain, he stopped and put the disinfectant down in order to be able to calm Ace better.
"It's okay Ace, i'm just cleaning the wound. I know it hurts, but it needs to be done, yoi". He said stroking Ace's leg in a comforting manner. It took some time for Ace to calm down and get his bearings right, but eventually he settled down and Marco could continue. He started to rub the sides of the wound as he poured the disinfectant and Ace whined in pain but tried not to move too much, it made Marco feel horrible as he heard the pained sounds but he knew it would be a lot worse if he didn't do this, so he continued. When he was sure the wound was clean he took up the bandages and started to bandage the wound. It would need stitches later but he didn't want to take the risk to shut the infection in, it would be easier to keep it clean it the wound was open until the infection subsided.
He silently thanked whoever would listen for making the chain through his handcuffs long enuogh to do this as he finished up and started to cock the berries and fruits he had found for dinner. He was thinking of going fishing but didn't want to risk being dragged into the water by some fish since his energy level was so low thanks to the cuffs, instead he took two of the needles in Ace's bag and warmed them in the fire until the metal were hot so he could bend them into hooks, then he took some of the thread he would use to stich Ace's wound later, but was careful not to take to much. He then tied the threads to roots at the edge of the island and put some bait on the hooks before leaving them be, hoping it would work. He hadn't fished like this himself but a few others from the crew had and he wouldnt loose anything by trying.
He walked over to where Ace laid and sat down beside him, looking at him.
The sun had started to set and the orange shine made the ocean sparkle and Ace looked like an angel as he laid in the sand in his white marine uniform. The sight was beautiful.
Just then he tought of something, he could have sworn he saw one in Ace's bag, he went over and searched until he found what he was looking for. "Perfect" He thought.
A while later when the sun saw almost set, he still sat in the sand thinking. He couldn't quite wrap his head around the situation, he knew he felt something for Ace, something he shouldn't feel for a marine. A marine. Ace was a marine, and still he had saved him. Not only from the boat, but every night in the prison. He had treated his wounds, talked to him, fed him, and just been there. He had been a distraction, then a friend, then... Marco wasn't sure now, but he couldn't really call what he felt now friendly feelings, it was something more. If Marco wanted to take of he could do so now, he had had the perfect oppertunity, but there was soemthing holding him here. He didn't want Ace to get into trouble, but was he really willing to give his own life to possibly save Ace's who probably would never feel the same?
Beside him Ace shifted slightly and mumbled something in his sleep with a small smile, it made Marco's heart make a small jump and he sighed. Yes, he was willing to do just that.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x. - Ace's pov - Dream
I ran through the woods with a panicked feeling in my chest, I didn't know why I was so scared, but I knew I had to hurry. I had no idea where my brothers were, and I needed to find them. But I had the feeling that they weren't the ones I should be worried about.
I ran until I came to a clearing, In the middle of the clearing were my precious little brothers. Sabo and Luffy, they were bigger than I remembered, but I knew it was them. they didn't see me though, their eyes was transfixed at something ahead of them, and when I looked my heart dropped.
Marco was there, right infront of a tiger with lava dripping from it, the tiger didn't seem bothered by it, it was almost as if the tiger was the source of the burning lava. Marco stood with his arms out, almost as if he was trying to protect the two others from the horror in front of them, and the second the tiger attacked, I reacted. It went so fast I barley knew what was happening, but Marco was pushed out of the way and the tiger was over me.
End of dream pov.
I Woke up with a loud gasp, looking at my surroundings, I was at a beach, my brothers was nowhere to be seen, and Marco was beside me fast asleep. It was dark out and I guessed it was early morning since it wasn't pitch black out. I had a vauge memory of being in a lot of pain and when I checked myself over my eyes landed on my bandaged leg. It didn't hurt too much and I guessed Marco had something to do with that. It made my confused, my would he help me? I was his guard, the only thing who kept him from his family, and the one to lead him to his death. He could have escaped without a problem while I was out of it, but he was still here. Why? Why would he stay when he knew it meant his death to do so. none of this made any sense. While I was thankfull that he treated my wound, he had no obligation to stay with me other than that.
I gritted my teeth to stop the frustrated tears from falling, shaking from anger. "He could have escaped, He could have LIVED" I thought. I hated this, Being the one leading him to his execution. Marco was the kindest person, the most interesting and real person he had met while in the marines. He didn't want this, He didn't. He didn't want to be the reason for his pain, for his family's pain, he didn't care that Whitebeard would target him when this was over. He almost welcomed it. If he could, he would let Marco go. But he couldn't, not now. He had someone to protect, and he would. Until his last breath. Marco choose to stay for whatever reason, and Ace could do nothing.
Normal pov
It wasn't until a few hours later when Marco awoke, He felt better now that he had gotten some sleep and was both surprised and happy to see Ace awake. He still wouldn't let Ace walk aroud to much and went to see too the fishing hooks. He was glad to see that he had gotten two decent sized catches and went to coock them over the fire before tending to Ace's wound. He was delighted to see that the infection had gone down significantly over the night and went to stitch it up right after cleaning it. The moment he was about to start however, a yelp came from Ace and he looked over with a raised eyebrow.
"What, yoi"? he asked confused
"Wha- what are you doing!" Ace asked in a high pitched voice pointing at the needle.
"I'm going to stitch your wound up so it can heal properly" Marco explained in the most obvious way that he could, trying not to laugh. Ace could be so cute sometimes.
"But...no" Ace said
"No, yoi"? Marco asked, now with an apperant smile in his voice
"No" Ace confirmed, trying to sound stern, crossing his arms.
"Mhmmmm" Marco hummed and turned back to the wound, starting to stitch it up anyway, getting a shriek in response as the needle came into contact with the skin. The next 15 minutes as Marco worked on the wound was filled with nothing more than cursingm shrieks of anger, threats ana Marco's humming. Marco hadn't felt so at ease in a long long time.
The next day Marco was awoken early. He knew the moment he opened his eyes that today was the day. It was time to start moving again. They had stayed here long enough and it was drawing closer to his execution date. The two days he had been at the beach with Ace had been wounderfull, but of course it couldn't last forever. Ace had a job to do, he knew that. He choose to stay with Ace for as long as he would be able to and he wasn't about to complain now.
He followed Ace into the woods to gather some supplies, Ace hadn't been able to take anything with him form the sinking ship except for what he had in his bag, so gathering supplies was important since they would spend most of their time at sea from now on. It wasn't hard to find supplies since no one was living at the island, so the fruits grew freely and in large amounts. Marco would forever treasure the picture of Ace surrounded my the beautiful green forest, climbing, jumping from tree to tree with a vibrant smile gathering fruit, almost like he belonged there. His laugh as he hung upside down, forgetting that he had a job to do, begging Marco to join him on the fun, Marco couldn't help his own smile growing as he watched Ace with his cheeks flushed from happiness and heat as he looked at Marco with hopefull eyes that seemed to shine in the light that seeped in through the trees. He couldn't say no to those eyes and started to climb himself, it was a little harder for him since he wasn't used to climbing trees, he also still had the cuffs on and had to mind the chain with every step, but it was worth it to see Ace perk up when he saw what Marco was doing. So worth it. He would do anything to see that side of Ace more often, the playfull, happy and slightly childlike side. They continued like that for a few hours, Ace jumping around in the trees laughing, Marco following more clumsily, gathering fruits along the way until they had enough to last them for days and Marco was beat. Marco enjoyed the content happy feeling as he helped Ace carry their supplies back to the boat, he knew what was coming, but right now he didn't care. He never wanted this moment to end.
X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X. OMAKE
Makino panted as she ran up the path towards the bandits hideout. Her lungs burned but the hope inside of her made her run faster untill she reached her destination. she knocked on the door and waited until it was opened, but before the person could say anything the words had already slipped passed her lips.
"Are the boys here"? She asked hurridly, but once again before the person could answer, a voice interrupted from behind.
"Makino? what are you doing here"? Makino turned to see Sabo and Luffy waling towards her, looking surprised but happy to see her.
"Sabo, Luffy, there is something you need to see!" She exclaimed, running up to them she stuffed a newspaper in Sabo's hands. Sabo looked confused but took it and read the headlines. His eyes got bigger and bigger with every word, and Luffy who read over his shoulder had the same reaction.
"Vice admiral Portgas D. Ace dissapeared at sea 4 days ago as he was on his way towards marineford. According to our sources no body has been found at the place of the dissapearing and hopes are still high that he will be found alive. We ask that any information on his whereabouts is to be repported to closest marinebase or marinepatrol. The dissaperance happened 4 days travel from marine HQ in the grand line".
There was a picture of Ace in his uniform, and neither Sabo or Luffy could take their eyes of it. It had been so long since they saw Ace, years, since they heard his voice or got a letter. They thought he was dead.
Sabo could feel the tears gather in his eyes as the feeling of reliefe and hope filled his chest, overwhelming him.
"Luffy, I think it's time" He said, making Luffy look up at him.
"It's time to find our brother." The only answer he got in return was Luffy's traidmark laugh, grin and a nod.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.
So, this was the chapter. I'm sorry it took me so long, but you know... stuff. A lot has happened here the last year..
But I do have some plans. I lost the next chapter for Born through fire, so i'm working on a new one. I have also started working on a chapter for Obsessed, and Love me is going to be re-written in due time. Please have patience with me for the time being, I will do my best to update as much as possible but make no promises time wise, I'll try my best NOT to make it this long this time thought, that is totally not okay xP I have the perfect ending for this and i'm wierdly excited about it, so i'll try not to make you wait too long.
Anyway, I really hope you like this chapter, I tried my best but since it was a while ago I might have messed some stuff up like with the time frame and such, I hope that's alright. :)
It's 02.20 PM over here, so have a nice day, or you know. Night depending on where you are, and I'll see you in the next chapter :D (If I have any readers left)
