With the mess at Wano Kingdom concluded, the new Whitebeard Pirates bid farewell to the Strawhat Pirates and their allies, and returned to their days of sailing around the world, freeing and claiming islands they came across which were ruled by tyrants and hunting down enemies who tried to mess with them, else they just spent their time training.

Marco stared at the sea from where he was perched on top of the crow nest, deep in thought. It's become a habit of his ever since 2 years ago. Since the day his family almost crumbled apart. From up here, he could see the whole of the Mo- no, the Triquetra Whale clearly, and he could watch his family as they go about their day. From up here, he could hear the wind rushing in his ears, feel the air resistance against him, and breathe in the salty sea breeze. It's the closest he could get to flying without actually taking flight and leaving his family behind to fend for themselves. He used to fly often, back when their days had been peaceful and they were protected by their father's monstrous strength and reputation, but now that their father is no longer around, it's up to him to protect their family now, so he no longer flies as much as he used to, and when he does, he never flies far.

There were a lot of things that they used to do, which they no longer do now.

Jokes, for one, have been by far minimal, and pranks that used to be carried out daily all but disappeared when the main perpetrator was killed by a traitor. They stopped celebrating every little thing, which used to be done at Oyaji's insistence. Now that he was gone, they no longer saw a reason to party. Although the party celebrating the end of the War at Wano was fun, none of the Whitebeard Pirates could actually put their hearts into it. They stopped drinking too, mostly because they never ever want to be left in a state where they'd be vulnerable and unable to properly defend themselves in case of an attack, and left all their alcohol at Whitebeard's grave.

Namur now swims as much as Marco flies, and he never goes far either, only swimming to check for possible dangers underwater, just like Marco flies ahead to make sure they never get caught unaware. Haruta, who used to spend his free time helping Thatch with his pranks or running around with Ace, obsessively collects all sorts of intel in his free time now, making sure to notify the Division Commanders of any possible threats that they need to be aware of. And anyone that makes enemies out of them…

"GYAH! I'm sorry! Please, forgive us!" The pirate captain stammered out as most of his crew lay unmoving around him. "W-We just thought that with Whitebeard gone now, his territories-" He wisely shut his mouth and cowered more as Marco glared coldly at him, towering over him while half coated with his blue flames, painting an intimidating picture.

"Well, you thought wrong, yoi."

"I'm sorry! We'll leave! We'll never come back again! I swear!" Marco nodded and stepped back.

"Will 'sorry' bring back those you've killed here to assert your power, yoi? I don't think so, yoi." His gaze darkened. "You should've left the instant you knew we were back, yoi."

"Or," The pirate captain's gaze flicked to Haruta, who made a show of seemingly nonchalantly checking his sword, and then flinched when Haruta's eyes suddenly snapped to him without even turning his head. "you thought it meant nothing? That you could take us on?" Haruta smirked when one of the members winced and glanced to the captain. "Bingo."

"P-Please! Have mercy! I promise we'll never do anything like this again! Please, spare us!" The pirate captain let out a shriek when a gunshot sounded out, and a bullet hole appeared at his feet.

"Did you spare them?" Izo asked, glaring down at him, with his gun still smoking. "The townspeople who pleaded with you for their lives, who begged you to have mercy, did you spare them?"

"Please! I'll do anything!" The pirate captain scrambled to his knees and pressed his forehead to the ground. Marco instead looked to the townspeople. He saw in their eyes, their loathing and anger towards the pirates who have wrecked their homes, the frustration and helplessness of not being able to do anything but watch, and the pain and fear of having seen or personally lost something or someone dear to them. He glanced back at his brothers behind him, and saw that they were thinking the same. The look the townspeople wore were the same looks they themselves had worn just a few months ago, in a war where they had almost lost everything. He silently raised his fist up to the sky, coating it in blue flames, and his brothers mirrored him, raising their weapons or fists up to the sky in collective agreement. He nodded and turned back to the pirate captain, none of them lowering their hands.

"No. All the pain that you lots have inflicted on these people, we'll have you pay them back in full, yoi." The pirate captain looked up at that, and Marco dropped his flaming fist towards him, pointing it at him in an unmistakable 'Attack' gesture.

The culprits dealt with, they moved on to check on the townspeople while part of them split off to ensure no other enemies remained. They fed and treated the people, helped with the repairs, and left the pirate crew tied up so the townspeople could collect their bounties. They instead raided the pirate crew's ship for supplies and treasure, shared it with the town, and once they were sure the townspeople would be alright, the new Whitebeard Pirates bid farewell to them and went on their way.

Marco shook his head, trying to forget the look of fear on not just the pirates' faces, but also on the townspeople's faces. He's aware of how the world perceives them now and he doesn't blame the townspeople for being scared, especially with what they did to Blackbeard and Weevil. Whitebeard had always been known as the most benevolent Yonko beside Red-Hair Shanks. Even against his worst enemies, he never resorted to torture.

But too much had been taken from them by the Marines, and Blackbeard was the indirect cause, the one who started everything by betraying their family. The look of absolute terror on that smug traitor's face the day they dragged him to the ruins of Marineford for his 'execution' awakened a monster deep within their hearts, which relished in his screams and pathetic pleas for his life. Although they didn't scourge anyone else other than Blackbeard and Weevil, the fact that they had still done it remained. And since then, they've become quite well-known for their violent vengeance, always exacted in cold blood without so much as a change in expression. It was an ugly side to them that made him somewhat glad that Whitebeard was no longer around to see. He often wondered what their father would think if he saw them as they were now.

"Marco!" At Haruta's yell, Marco looked down to see many of his brothers gathering on the deck with pillows and blankets in their hands, and couldn't help but smile at the sight as he jumped down to join them. Though they've changed after the war, it wasn't a lot, and it wasn't all bad. Out of all the changes, this is his favourite, a sentiment shared by everyone in the crew, judging from their enthusiasm.

Once a month, on the day of the Marineford War, the new Whitebeard Pirates fold up their sails and drop their anchor. No matter whether they were in the middle of the ocean or docked at an island, they put a temporary stop to their journey, in memory of the day their journey had almost ended with their losses at the end of the war. Everyone in the crew then gathers on the deck of the Triquetra, with the Division Commanders occupying the area around the replica of Whitebeard's throne on the deck, and the chefs in the 4th Division bring hot drinks and snacks. Brothers of different species and from all walks of life before they gathered under the same jolly roger spend the night mingling with one another, sharing fond memories of those they've lost and even stories of their life before the crew. It was the closest they got to having a party, with laughter and crying as stories varying from missions gone wrong to first experience of having a family were exchanged, and hot drinks and snacks constantly brought out to help stave off the cold and hunger.

All the while, Marco watched and listened to the scene before him, unable to keep the melancholic smile off his face. On this day a few months ago, this was a completely different scene.

After the Marineford War, after everything they've been through, everything they've lost, they need to grieve. Marco understands that. Not his family though. As soon as their wounds have healed enough for combat, they want to set sail and find that traitor that caused 3 deaths in their family. But Marco doesn't let them. His brothers want revenge, and he does too, but he knew they couldn't. Not while they're still emotionally crippled and haven't had the time they needed to process everything.

So as soon as they're done paying their respects to Whitebeard and Ace's graves, Marco instructs their allies to drop them off at some remote island away, big enough to fit all of them while still giving each of them enough space, and isolated enough that they can rampage around however they like without drawing any attention to themselves. He ignores his brothers' protests at his orders. Marco can't just suddenly take charge as Captain. Too soon. But he can take charge as the older brother who does what's right, even when his younger brothers don't understand why they can't have their way. Yet.

His family doesn't like the idea, but with no ship to carry them away and Marco technically being their Captain now, they're left to sulk about it on their own. Thanking their allies for the lift, Marco discreetly hands one of them a copy of the blueprints for the Moby Dick (with only minimal changes here and there) before they leave, asking them to get the ship built (which will probably take weeks or months, enough time for them to grieve) and then sail it to this island to pick them up when he contacts them.

On the island, Marco refrains from saying anything to his brothers and mostly leaves them to their own devices, letting them cope and mourn on their own. They're not kids, and it's not the first time they've experienced grief. They know how to deal with loss and grief, though they might be a bit more reckless than usual this time, considering the magnitude of their grief due to their losses. The identity of the indirect cause is also a big sore spot which only amplified their anger. But even so, Marco has faith that his brothers can handle this on their own, and that he won't be needed to step in unless absolutely necessary.

Idly, his thoughts wander to Luffy instead, and how he must be struggling to cope with the grief. Poor thing's just a teen and likely isn't as experienced with loss and grief like they've grown to become over the years. To make matters worse, Luffy is Ace's sworn brother whom he grew up with, and it's clear he thought the world of Ace, someone he heavily relied on growing up. To him, Ace must've been his invincible big brother Ace who would always come to his rescue no matter what and who would keep him safe and protected. But now Ace is dead, and he died in Luffy's arms of all places. Marco hopes that the straw-hatted boy will have someone with him when he woke up, someone who will be able to pull him out of the dark place his mind will surely be in and help him learn to cope with such a devastating loss. It will possibly be the biggest hurdle the boy will need to overcome since starting his journey to become the Pirate King, and the first of many yet to come. He's the boy Oyaji placed his faith in though, so Marco can't help but do the same. It's a strange feeling, to have so much confidence in a young teen he's only ever met briefly in the middle of a war, but somehow, Marco just knows that Luffy will surely be able to overcome this and everything else Life throws at him, and become the Pirate King one day.

Meanwhile, he set up camp, with food and sleeping bags, just to provide a comfortable place for them to return to if they ever want or need the comfort. A place where they can always find him, whether for words of advice, or just a solid presence to ground them, or even a punching bag they can take their anger out on, if they really need it. Better on him than anyone else, he decides, since he always heals. It's alright. It'll be harsh, and it'll take time, but they'll make it through this. Together.

Ok, to be honest, I had no idea where I was heading with this story. It started out with just a 'What If the Whitebeard Pirates remained in power', and it was meant to be a one-shot. But I didn't feel satisfied leaving it as it is, so I decided to try and explore into the Whitebeard Pirates' feelings and grieving process during their one year hiatus!
I don't know how well I did, but I hope you'll enjoy and look forward to it!