Ace still hadn't gotten his tattoo yet. That might be because he forgot, but he would say it's because he's waiting. Waiting for what? Well, Izou. Izou was the one who did all the tattoos for higher rankers on the ship and for newer recruits while his division did touch ups or other requests. So when Ace realized Izou hadn't started with tattoos yet, he waited.

And he still is. Izou is headstrong and fierce, but that is definitely not how he will act in the future. Izou was kind and quiet. Always watching and listening, he only ever lost face when someone really got on his nerves, usually Thatch, or someone he cared about got hurt. He was confident and walked around the ship like a king, but now Izou seems small, usually around Oden and Toki, does he ever show a little confidence. Ace never found out much about Izou's past while he lived on Wano, but he knew it was at least somewhat tough for him. Meaning that all the years he spent on the ship was where he got his confidence from. His ability to walk into a room and everyone would try their damn hardest not to spill even a drop of alcohol onto his clothes, was gone.

It really hurt Ace to see his family like this. So dull compared to what they would become.

After they had left the docks of one of the islands, Ace went to talk to Izou. First mission: get Izou's confidence back.

Slowly trotting up to Izou while waving his hand out and about, calling out for his, "IZOU!"

He turned, and he could see Izou tense up the tiniest bit. Izou seemed to excuse himself from the conversation he was previously in and met Ace half way. "What do you need, Ace?"

He smiled, "I was thinking of getting my whitebeard tattoo and a couple others."

Izous' eyes widened a fraction, "oh? And why would I need to know this?"

"I want your help designing the other tattoos I am thinking of getting."

Izou's eyes widened even more, "w-why would you be asking me for help?"

Ace just shrugged, much to Izou's irritation, "What does it matter? You've got good style, and you have this-" Ace did jazz hands- "sparkly aura about you that just fits what I am looking for."

Izou looked even more irritated, "Sparkly?!"

Ace snickered in response, "yeah, so wanna help or not?"

Izou calmed down a fraction and lifted his head up. He seemed to be looking over Ace, sweeping his gaze across him. "Tch, fine," he grumbled out.

Ace was ecstatic, "THANKS IZOU!"

Izou would never admit that he felt happy to help Ace out.

—-

"NO!"

"What? Come on, it's awesome! "

Izou slammed his hand down on the table. "NO!"

Ace fell back dramatically from where he was sitting on the floor with Izou across from him at the table. Groaning, Ace lifted his hands in defeat, "Why not?!"

"For one, it's hideous,-"

"HEY!"

"- and second blue is not your color."

They had been fighting back and forth about the second tattoo Ace wanted on his upper arm. The whitebeard mark on his back would stay the same purple color and design as the Jolly Roger. On his left upper arm, where his usual ASCE tattoo had been burned off, he will now have red, blue, and yellow ASL lettering instead. Now for his upper right arm, Ace wanted to just put a blue flaming phoenix, but that would be a little too straightforward, wouldn't it? He wanted a mark for each family he had: his brothers, the whitebeards, his blue bird, and his parents. Two down, two to go.

Sitting back up and looking at the really ugly design, he rethought what he wanted for the last tattoo. "Ugh fine," Izou's eyes lit up in victory, "but I still want something along these lines."

He deflated a little at the end, "fine, what do you want it to have?"

"A sword, hibiscus flowers, and a flaming bird," he got a strange look for that one, "the bird doesn't have to be all blue, but can it have like a mix of orangish red mixing with the blue to -"

"- make purple."

"Make purple."

They said the last part together, Izou finally catching on. Ace started to sketch out the sword to look like the one he was named after. "The flowers and the sword are together."

Izou took the papers and pencil and started to draw, "It's late. I'll find you when I come up with a good idea."

Ace smirked, "yeah yeah-" he stood, "-see yah later."

—-

It really didn't take Izou as long as he thought it would take. He stayed up all night focused on finding a design that looked good. Izou doesn't know the importance of the sword and flowers, nor the bird, but who was he to judge? After he finished, his bleary mind looked over the picture. It was too stiff. Then it hit him, the flames.

—-

It was morning now, scratch that, midday by the sun's position. Izou lifted his head, still in his post-sleep daze. His gaze lands on a sketch he drew the night before, though he has no recollection of drawing was perfect. He stood, grabbing the sketch, and ran out of the room, after he fixed himself up. Of course, he's not a monster. Looking for Ace, he heard the second lunch bell ring in the dining hall. Running into the room and looking for Ace, "ACE!"

He could see the black-haired pirate meet his eyes. Izou ran over and pushed the pirates that were sitting in front of Ace out of the way, making room for himself. "I finished the sketch." He pushed the papers into Ace's smiling face while grabbing some food off the other's plate.

"HEY!" No touching!" Ace still grabbed the papers anyway.

Rolling his eyes Izou snarked back, "consider it a light pre-payment for my services."

He could hear Ace hiss at the words. Despite himself, he opened the papers, revealing the soon-to-be tattoo.

—-

Ace opened the papers, looking at the picture in front of him. The sword he had only seen in pictures was in the middle, stuck in the ground with his mother's flowers climbing the blade. The firebird was behind the sword. The bird had its huge wings surrounding the sword, almost hugging it, and its long tail coming around the front, circling the middle as well. Its neck was craned upwards, proudly looking up. The best part was the flames Izou had colored in. The bird was a mesh of purple, red, and blues. The flames seemed to almost merge in some spots, leading to a purple look around the picture.

He could feel Bay pressing closer to see the picture and Marco standing up to look over his shoulder. It was missing something, though. "Hey, you got a pencil on you, Izou?"

Izou slumped a little, "Why, you don't like it?"

Ace, Bay, and Marco looked up at Izou. A sappy smile broke out on Ace's face. "I love it, but I forgot to mention a few things yesterday."

Izou pulled out a pencil and gave it to Ace. He moved the food out of the way and placed sketches down. He quickly added three pipes together and Pop's spear into the mix of weapons. "There! Now it's perfect!" He pushed it towards Izou.

"Pipes and Pop's spear?" Izou asked, his head tilted a bit to the side with his eyebrows knitted together.

"Yep! The sword was my Dad's; I was named after it. And the pipes were added because when me and my little brothers were younger, we fought with them instead of knives and guns. And the spear from Pops, because this is my third family! So why wouldn't I have it? "

Oden, who was also sitting at the table, broke into tears, "HOW SWEET!"

Marco, Bay, and Izou seemed to cling to each word spoken. Another rule they learned after Ace joined was that he was very tight-lipped about his past.

"You have little brothers, yoi?"

Ace rubbed the back of his neck shyly, "yeah, ones a few months younger than me and the other is three years younger."

Bay, being the astute doctor that she was, butted in, "It is impossible for your younger brother to be born that close to you."

"Yeah, none of us are blood related, but when we were younger, we became sworn brothers."

Oden cried harder.

Whitebeard was smiling while listening to the newest recruits' families, and ignored the nostalgia from looking at the sword, he knew he'd seen it before, and kept eating.

Marco's eyes were stuck between looking at the obvious phoenix in the picture and staring at Ace while he talked about his brothers. He looked really happy.

—-

A few days later, after Ace got the design and after a lot of back and forth with Izou about him doing the tattoos, they did it with Bay's help. Ace was walking around with all his family on his back and the two others on his arms. They threw a huge party.

Izou, when he first saw the scar on Ace's back, flinched at the marred skin. He promised to never bring it up, ever.

And Ace was officially, unofficially, a part of their family. It's not like he wasn't already.

—-

Ace didn't tell Izou that the reason he all of a sudden came up to him wasn't just because of wanting the tattoos. But because he knew if he waited any longer he might not know what they would've looked like.

Ace didn't tell Izou that the reason for not drawing as well as he could was because his vision was more faded than before.

And he didn't tell Bay that when he got his tattoos, he couldn't make out Izou's face of concern very well. Even though he was right there.

Because it only makes sense that the price was to never see their faces when he would tell them. See their joy. The horrid darkness was all Ace was going to see. Never again those blue flames that mixed to make the most beautiful purple. Never see their happiness, knowing he loved them unconditionally.

"I love you with all my heart."

Never again.

Who knew the light could be so lonely when you knew the darkness was coming?

—-