Butterflies
Summary: Ace wasn't sure what it meant to be in love with someone, until he realized he already knew. Marco/Ace.
Author's Note: Hey everyone and welcome to Butterflies! So, I've been having a hard time trying to write for the One Piece fandom for the last few weeks. Nothing just feels like it's working out, so I hope you enjoy this! On with the fic!
Pairing: Marco/Portgas D. Ace, Izou/Thatch, mentioned Shanks/Benn Beckman
Butterflies
Growing up in the woods and away from almost all social contact for most of his life had an impact. He was a quick learner. Ace had to thank everything that he was good at putting up a façade and being able to fake it until he made it. He had to thank Makino for a lot of what he had learned. If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have made it as far as he had.
They were partying. Drinking, eating, singing, whatever they could put their mind too. They were doing it. Ace was on the second deck, legs thrown over the side and letting them dangle down over the edge, his chin balanced on his palm as he looked down. He wasn't really in the mood for festivities. He was tired, ready to go to bed, but his nakama were adamant about partying. The noise alone could keep him awake. He really wished that his narcolepsy would agree with his body for once and knock him clean out. it was the only time that he got sleep that wasn't interrupted by noise. Or, should he say, he could sleep through the noise. He was so inept with being on guard and jumping awake at the smallest sound that his body was trained to do just that.
It was only slightly quieter where he was sitting. He could hear the drunken singing and shouts. The loud exclamations as most of them were trying to talk over one another.
His gaze had settled on Thatch and Izou. Seeing the way that the two moved and danced around each other. Laughing with flushed faces as they stumbled on their feet. They were beyond plastered at this point, but there was still that look in their eyes. Like they were the only two on the entire ship.
He would always here them say the same thing: I love you.
Makino had spoken about love once. How there were different types of the emotion. A familial love. A platonic love. Romantic. He would assume that what was between those two was the third choice. Romantic. He had learned many things during his time on the seas, and romance was one of them. The thought of being in love with someone. He didn't understand the concept. Maybe, it was because it was an emotion he didn't know or even understand. It wasn't like he ever had the chance back where he grew up. He had seen the same thing before a few times. Shanks and Benn Beckman of the Red Hair Pirates. Civilians on islands. They always had the same look in their eyes.
He didn't look up as he heard the footsteps approaching, but he knew who it was almost immediately as Marco sat down next to him, leaning against rail with his arms crossed over each other as he looked down. For a moment, there was a twist in Ace's stomach as he saw the blonde Commander through the corner of his eye.
It was a strange feeling.
To him, it was almost like watching butterflies flying around, the way that they felt when they touched his skin. A tingle, he supposed. It was so hard to explain. He wasn't the best with his emotions even on a good day. The only emotions that he really understood were anger and hatred. Happiness was still a new concept to him despite all these years later.
Marco chuckled, bringing Ace right out of his thoughts as he peered over to Izou and Thatch. "Have you ever loved someone, Ace?" Marco questioned.
Ace blinked, turning his head to look at Marco for a moment. "Like… that kind of love?"
Marco nodded, humming for a second as he tilted his head. It only took a second for him to realize that Marco was tipsy. Probably why he was asking such weird questions. "Yeah, have you ever loved someone?" Marco repeated.
Ace sighed, turning his gaze back down to his partying nakama. "I… don't know what love feels like."
He wasn't lying. He had no idea what it felt like to be in love with someone. He didn't even know the first thing about it, let alone to be able to know if he had felt it. Whenever he questioned it, no one could give him a definite answer. Makino tried. Deuce tried. Hell, Izou's tried. He still didn't understand it. They all had different answers for him.
How was he supposed to learn what love felt like if no one could give him a straight answer about it?
Marco laughed for a second, turning his attention back down to the party, "One day, you'll know."
X
The idea of love had been weighing heavily on his mind ever since his conversation with Marco. From that moment on, he had been in search of an answer. He wanted to know what it meant. He was sure he had never felt it before. He tried asking Marco on a different day, but just like all the other times, he didn't get a straight answer.
He was starting to wonder if he would ever learn what it meant. What it felt like. He was pretty sure he knew what a platonic love was. What that felt like. He took Luffy into consideration for that. He cared about his brother. Cherished him. Luffy was the one person in the world that he knew for a fact would always be by his side. Wouldn't judge him for anything. That wasn't the same of what he was questioning. That was different.
He did know there was a clear difference between being in love with someone and loving someone.
Late one night, he found himself in Whitebeard's quarters. Sitting on the edge of the large bed with his legs pulled up underneath him and his boots discarded on the floor. Whitebeard had been speaking to him, but he would be honest, he hadn't heard a word that he said.
Then he found himself asking the question, "What does being in love feel like?"
Whitebeard grunted, tilting his head as he took a drink from his bottle, setting it off to the side as he chuckled. "Why do you ask?"
Ace made a noise, shrugging, "Well, I see it with Izou and Thatch… I've seen it with people on islands we go to." He felt the heat raise on his face as he lifted his hand up to his neck, placing it there as he sighed, "I guess… I just want to know what it feels like."
Whitebeard bellowed out another laugh that had Ace looking back at him. "Being in love with someone is not easily explained. Explaining emotions isn't easy. Explaining a feeling can be harder." He paused for a moment, releasing a breath as he got a fond look on his face, "Being in love with someone… they become the person who you always look to. You could look at them like they were the only person in the world. Someone who could put a smile on your face. It's like a twist to your gut whenever they look at you. Someone who can take your breath away. Someone who makes you feel safe. Makes it feel like your heart could stop beating in an instant. There are so many ways to explain what being in love feels like. All I can say is, when you feel it… you'll know."
Ace blinked. Once again it was a completely different answer than all the others, but for some reason, it felt closer.
He nodded, muttering out a quick, "Thanks, Oyaji."
For just a split second, Marco flashed before his eyes and a soft smile came to his face. As soon as the thought was there, it was gone again.
X
This was never supposed to happen. Not this. Marco's hand shoved against his exposed chest, sending him flying back from the haki that Marco had put behind it, casting him away from the incoming cannon fire. Ace could have easily deflected it. Marco knew that. Yet, he still pushed Ace out of the way.
The Second Division Commander rolled across the ground, his heart racing as he looked back up, clambering back to his feet just in time to see Marco getting hit by the cannon fire.
For a moment, his heart stopped. His stomach falling as a tightness came to his throat. Marco was engulfed in the explosion and large flames that came next.
All Ace could do was watch in horror as he screamed out, "Marco!"
Why did Marco shove him out of the way?
Where was Marco?
Was he okay? Could his Devil Fruit keep up with that? There were so many questions running through his head as he stared in disbelief. His hands still lingering on the dirt below as he curled his fingers, gritting his teeth. There was a fear coursing through him. The feeling of being unable to breathe. Where was Marco?
"Marco!" Ace shouted, pushing himself up completely as he went to rush forward. An arm hooked around his waist, hauling him back as he screamed out again. Demanding to be let go so he could go find Marco. Marco took that hit dead on. Leaving just flames and debris.
Why couldn't he breathe?
His heart was racing, every part of him tingling as his ears began to ring. For a moment, even tears came prickling into his eyes. Stinging the dryness that he could feel from the heat of the fire.
"Breathe, Commander Ace!" Deuce exclaimed, "Commander Marco will be okay!"
Was he? Was he really? There was only so much someone with Devil Fruit powers could take. He didn't want to lose hope that Marco was okay, but it was a thought lingering in the back of his mind. It wouldn't go away until the second he saw Marco again. Standing before him perfectly fine. That was he was positive about.
It was like the world had stopped around him.
He couldn't focus on anything.
Just Marco.
"Marco…" He whispered, feeling his knees giving out. Buckling out from underneath him as he clutched onto Deuce's arm.
He could only stare straight ahead, just waiting for the second he saw him again. He didn't care if anyone even dared to attack him in that moment. He would take anything over believing that Marco had been seriously injured or even killed in that blast.
Still, why did he push him away?
Through the flames, he could see it. The mixture of blue, yellow, and green hues mixing it. Hearing the shocked shouts of the Marines who had attacked them before it went silent. The air caught in his throat again as he watched as Marco came walking through, lit up in his flames. A smirk on his face as he came walking towards them.
Ace couldn't even see anything else around him anymore. Deuce's arm had dropped as Ace muttered out Marco's name again. The twist in his stomach as Ace's gaze settled on the elder pirate. The sense of relief that he got as he released the breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding.
He stumbled over his feet as he rushed forward, breaking free from the others as he shouted Marco's name.
Then it hit him as he approached. All the things he had ever been told in his life. In the end, they were all correct. Each of them telling him one thing that he had been feeling in that moment.
He was in love with Marco.
As he got up to him, he felt his feet leave the ground, his arms wrapping around Marco's shoulders as he did the only thing that he could think of. He pressed his lips into Marco's for a desperate kiss as Marco didn't even stumble underneath the newly added weight of Ace. Ace felt the spark that went down his spine from the connection. How right it felt.
This is what it feels like to be in love.
He understood it now. Why he felt butterflies any time he laid eyes on Marco. Why Marco always seemed to be the person to get him to smile whenever he didn't feel like he could. The reason that he could get a sudden burst of anxiety from thinking he was in danger. He had the answer all along and just never even realized it. Whitebeard had been right. He knew the second he felt it.
Marco had kissed him back. One arm looped around his waist and another hand lingering on his cheek and curling into his hair. After a moment, Marco played his feet back on the ground.
Ace pulled away from him, hissing out, "You idiot. Why did you push me out of the way?"
Marco chuckled for a second, leaning down and pressing his forehead into Ace's. Moving his hand from the side of Ace's face to the back of his head. Twirling strands of his hair around his fingers. "All I could think of was… I couldn't let you get hurt."
"I wouldn't have." Ace whispered.
"I know, but I still won't allow it to happen." Marco said back.
Ace blinked back the tears of frustration, curling his hands into Marco's shirt. "I love you… you idiot."
Marco grinned, almost looking like a mad man as he pressed his lips into Ace's temple. "I've known I've loved you for a while now."
Ace choked on the air in his throat for a second. Still feeling the anger seeping through him that Marco dared to allow himself to be in harms way instead of going through it together. "If you try to push me out of the way again…"
"I know." Marco whispered, "We're in this together."
Marco had practically read his mind.
So, this is what love felt like.
Ace couldn't say he hated it.
He honestly loved it.
