Ace had few possessions in life. So, what few things he owned he guarded fiercely. He owned nothing of real market value since most were either mementos that he's collected over the years or objects that other's had given him. It's never bothered him that they had either little or no monetary value. He had no use for things such as fancy clothes or jewelry since such things would just draw unwanted attention to himself.
He guarded his brothers, the food that they hunted in the forest, and their shack that they called home.
Nothing was ever expected on his birthdays. Ironically, his birthday was also the day that Gol D Roger was executed which only just increased the daily number of insults that he heard about the Pirate King. It also increased the hate that festered inside of him towards the man.
One day, he woke up dreading the insults that he would yet again hear around town, even more so as it was his birthday. It was however, the first birthday that he would spend without his brothers ever since the three of them had drunk that stole sake together. Sabo was dead and Luffy had been dragged away by Garp for another training session to "turn him into a fine marine" and would only return at the end of the month.
What utter bullshit.
With his mind still hazy from sleep, Ace did not immediately register the foreign pressure around his neck, something that he definitely did not feel the night before. The unknown feeling kicked his brain out of the sleepy state and straight into overdrive, eyes snapping down at his chest and hands moving up to grasp at his neck frantically. Ace excepted a noose or even a snake, but his hands only met cool metal and something smooth to the touch.
Looking down, he saw a necklace.
It wasn't one made out of those precious stones that he saw the nobles wear. It wasn't even colorful. Instead it was pitch black, both the chain and the pendant that hung from it. The chain itself was long causing the pendant to hang it at mid chest length. The pendant had a particular design, the symbol unlike anything Ace had ever seen before. It was a triangle with a circle within and a line running through it. Ace ran his fingers over it, feeling the cool metal beneath his rough fingers and something humming from it. Letting it drop to his chest, Ace stood up to grab his pipe so that he could head out and hunt his breakfast. Blindly reaching out to the wall where his pipe would usually be leaning against, callused hands wrapped around smooth metal instead of the rusty pipe that had been handing on its last threads.
His old pipe was nowhere to be seen while a new one, that looked to be made out of the same material as the necklace, was leaning against the wall with a letter innocently placed underneath it. Both items bore the same triangular symbol engraved on it followed by his name below in clear silver strokes that stood out in stark contrast against the matte black of the staff.
How did someone enter the shack sometime during the night, without waking him, replace the pipe, and hang a chain around his exposed neck without rousing Ace from his sleep? Hoping that the letter would contain some answers to the situation, Ace opened the letter with shaking hands, unknowingly taking care to not damage it.
"My little treasure, I'm sorry that I could not be there for you earlier. Use my gifts that I have sent to you and remember, your life is a treasured gift from your mother and know that your parents and I will be proud of you, no matter what choices you have made and will make in the future. We will meet in the future when you have set out to sea."
The young D didn't know if he wanted to either crush the letter or cry into it. In the end he stored it in a box that held the only picture that he owned. It was a picture of both his brothers and shitty gramps together, smiling whilst waving pieces of meat in the air. Grabbing the staff he headed out of the shack, determined to catch a crocodile lest he starve to death.
Years passed and he headed out to sea to live the life of a pirate. He gained a crew, the Spade Pirates, met and thanked the Yonko Shanks for saving Luffy and eventually got around to issuing his challenge to Whitebeard. Ace had also placed the letter and picture in the inside of his hat. It was just not practical to carry a box with him everywhere he went.
Instead of Whitebeard answering his challenge, the Warlord Jinbe answered instead. "You can't just head straight for Pops," was the fishman's reason for intervening. They collided against each other, fire and water was thrown around in epic proportions and they fought for five days straight, neither one giving in to the other. At the end of the fifth day, Ace finally managed to land a solid hit with his haki coated staff, causing Jinbe to fall and for the first time in days, to not get up.
At that moment, the smoke caused by Ace's fire was dispersed and the famed Moby Dick came into view. Standing at the helm was Whitebeard himself, with fifteen commanders standing behind him.
"Fifteen? I'm pretty sure that there are supposed to be sixteen commanders…" A small part of Ace's brain tried to helpfully whisper but was pushed aside by the sight of Whitebeard standing before him. "Whatever, the old man is standing right there." After ensuring him crew members were safely separated by the wall of fire he turned to face the Yonko.
"Become my son!" The statement was shouted at Ace, but it only caused him to become enraged.
The young captain launched himself towards the grinning Yonko, fist reared back and yelled a defiant, "FUCK NO!" before he was promptly knocked out by a solid punch in the face. Perhaps not the most glamourous ending to a fight.
White walls and the smell of disinfectant was the first thing he registered when he came to. Ten minutes later he sat frozen on the bed, trying to process the information that was just dumped onto him.
Whitebeard was the one who had knocked him out.
Whitebeard wanted him to join his crew.
None of the Spade Pirates were dead. In fact, they had been well taken care of.
The Whitebeard Pirates had even placed his staff and hat right next to his bed. They even dusted off the ash from his hat for crying out loud!
But none of that mattered the moment he heard Whitebeard say, "Become my son" again. So came the hundred day streak of Ace trying to kill Whitebeard. Between his attempts, he got to know how the ship operated and even met all of the commanders. Though he mainly met them after each one of them took turns to fish him out of the water after his failed assassination attempts. All except for Thatch and the first-mate.
Ace first met Thatch when he had gotten hungry in the infirmary and had decided to raid the kitchen. Just as he was about to shove a piece of meat into his mouth, the fourth division commander walked through the kitchen door and blinked at the sight of Ace holding a piece of meat. After that Ace had tried to bolt but was grabbed by the back of his neck and forced into a seat where the cook proceeded to cook piles of food for him. Thatch was probably the only one he hadn't mind from the start.
On the other hand, Ace had yet to even see the first-mate, let alone meet him. Oh, he had definitely heard about him. At that point, what self-respecting hadn't heard of the Marco the Phoenix, the first mate of Whitebeard. Apparently capable of taking down both marines and pirates without a sweat. Also apparently able to turn into a legitimate phoenix but he has not seen that happen in any of the recent fights that the Whitebeard pirates were in, so Ace didn't believe that the dude can actually turn into a phoenix. "Dude probably got that nickname cause of the rumor that he hasn't aged over the decades. Pishhh, if he hasn't aged then I'm a marine." It was safe to say that Ace didn't believe a single rumor about the first mate. He firmly believed in the 'if I can't see it, I don't believe it' reasoning.
Ace was lying on the deck, after yet another failed attempt, when the spotter in the crow nest hollered "Division One is in sight!" There was a flurry of excitement as everyone ran about yelling "Marco's back!" and strangely enough, half the division started to mop the deck. Seeing Ace's look of confusion Thatch laughed and explained, "Marco is the one in-charge of handing out the chores which includes cleaning the deck. But every time he leaves, we never clean it. But if he sees the state it's currently in…" Thatch winced at the last part seeing as how there was still some vomit from last night's party. Soon enough, a smaller ship pulled up next to the Moby Dick. The pirates, from what assumed was Division One, jumped abroad and started to greet their crewmates.
Only when they stopped piling over did the commander come abroad. It was Ace's first time seeing the first mate and he had to say, he was not impressed. Blue eyes, blond hair and no presence. "Kind of expected him to be older looking." He watched as the commander approached Whitebeard who was seated on his chair. Ace's eyes widened when he saw the look on Whitebeard's face. Over the days that he had spent, unwillingly, on the ship, Ace had observed Whitebeard's interactions with his self-declared 'children'. He would always smile at them all with the same look in his eyes. Fondness and pride. Yet, the smile and look that the Yonko was giving his oldest son was different. Yes, there was pride and fondness, but there something akin to hope which just made Ace reluctantly curious about Marco. "What is Whitebeard seeing that I'm not?" From that moment on, Ace added stalking to his list of daily actives which also included his assassination attempt on Whitebeard.
Stalking someone or something without being noticed was something Ace excelled at. After all, he had to do it for years when hunting for food in the forest.
It was frustrating. Ace would observe Marco for hours and watch him do nothing other than what any first mate would do. Most of the time, Marco would spend his time on the other ship, only coming over to give the captain updates. Marco was never actually on the main ship when Ace carried out his assassination attempts on Whitebeard.
"Doesn't he worry for his captain's life?"
He had actually voiced that question to Thatch one day while he helping to peel the potatoes in the kitchen. Thatch gave a sheepish laugh and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Actually, no one has told Marco about them yet, not even Oyaji. Honestly, we ourselves are kind of curious what kind of response he would have to your attempts." Ace looked at him in disbelief before steeling himself and told Thatch, "Get Marco on the main ship's deck tomorrow and I'll put forward my best attempt." Thatch had looked at him with stars in his eyes before thanking him and running off to tell the other commanders. How bored was he that he needed to watch an assassination attempt on his captain to make up for the lack of entertainment?
The next morning there was a commanders meeting on the deck in front of Whitebeard. All the commanders were lined up before the captain except for Marco, who just stood at the Yonko's right. Just as Haruta was about to step forward to give her report on her divisions status, Ace had appeared in a blaze of fire above Whitebeard, knife clutched in his right hand. Just as he was about to thrust forward the knife, a vibrant blue replace the red in his vision. The next thing he knew was that his shirt was fisted in someone's hand and was promptly slammed into the deck which sent splinters of wood flying.
When Ace blinked the spots in his vision away, he realized that someone was standing above him. Cold blue eyes gazed down at him. "So this is what has had all of you have been acting so skittishly around me for the past few days?" Marco drawled. Ace took a few seconds longer than usual to process the statement, his head still ringing from the smash, before shouting in ignition. "I'm not a 'what'! My name is Portgas D Ace you shit head!" Upon hearing his name Marco blinked.
"Portgas D?" He squinted his eyes at Ace as if trying to get a closer look, before he turned to look at his captain who just nodded at him before turning back. An "I see…" was muttered softly before he continued in a louder voice, "Welcome to the family little one." and then had the nerve to ruffle Ace's hair before walking away. The entire time he walked away, Ace had his arms pinned to his side by the other commanders while he screamed profanities at the first-mate. "What right do you have calling me 'little one' you fucking pineapple!" was just one of the many things spewed at the first-mate.
That night when Ace was about to head for the deck, he was suddenly grabbed by the arm and shoved into a room. "Who the fu-"a hand was slapped onto his mouth, effectively shutting him up. Thatch stared at him, as if asking him if he will keep quiet if he removed his hand. Ace rolled his eyes and Thatch removed his hand away. Only when Ace finished wiping his mouth did he realize he was in the commanders room, and that he and Thatch weren't the only ones present. All the commanders, bar the first division's, were present.
"What's all this about?" Ace demanded. "We," Thatch gestured at himself and fellow commanders, "are here to tell you that there is a certain hour at night that you are not allowed to go onto deck and try to assassinate Oyaji." Now Ace was curious about the demand and explanation. "Why not? You lot have never set any limitations before, what's different now?"
The commanders all stared at him until he fidgeted uncomfortably. Vista was the one to answer this time. "Because that hour, now in other words, is Marco and Oyaji's time together."That answer threw Ace off. "I don't understand. Their time together? What do you mean?"
Izo sighed before expanding on Vista's answer. "Every night, Oyaji and Marco drinks a bottle of sake together. Sometimes Marco tells Oyaji stories about the past. Myths and legends. That sort of thing. Sometime they also talk about their old friends." Ace nodded his head in understanding now. Next, Jozu spoke, "If you want to listen in, you can. Just don't disturb them unless they talk to you first. Sometimes they do that." After that explanation did Fossa move away from where he was blocking the door.
Now curious, Ace softly made his way to the deck. Just like the commanders said, both the captain and the first-mate were sitting there, each holding a glass of sake. As he got closer, Ace could hear Marco telling a story though he did not recognize any of the names. "Louis? Marie Antoinette? Who the heck are they and what is France? Is it a type of food?" Ace had never heard of such tales before but was transfixed by the story that was being painted by Marco's words. Grudgingly he had to admit, Marco had a gift for storytelling. So he joined some other pirates who were also sitting on the deck listening to the story. When the story ended, Ace got ready to stand up and go back to his room and retire for the night when Marco's next sentence made him pause in his step.
"The name Ace, comes from Latin. It means one, unity, a whole, a unit." He could feel blue eyes staring at his back. Of all things Ace had expected to hear that night, the origin and meaning of his name was not one of them. He continued to stand still, not hearing Whitebeard tell the rest to go back to their rooms.
"Ace, come sit down." Like a robot, Ace stiffly moved towards the pair and sat down a meter away from either of them.
Inside Ace's head was a mess. Hearing the meaning of his name, "Unity of all things", made him think of all the times people cursed his existence. No, so far other than his crew, brothers, and Makino, he had always been alone and he was fine with it staying that way.
"Wouldn't you think that Luffy would want you to be happy?" Hearing Luffy's name snapped Ace out of his daze he lunged towards that stupid first-mate that always looked at everyone with those droopy eyes and knocked him down. As he crouched above first-mate with his two hands grabbing the front of his shirt Ace snarled, "How do you know about Luffy?", licks of flames appearing on his shoulders.
Usually the sight of an enraged Ace would send everyone running, and he sometimes secretly relished in the reactions, but the man beneath him had yet to even bat an eyelash. He wasn't the only one who had yet to move. Whitebeard was still seated and taking another gulp of his sake, not caring in the slightest that his first-mate had been knocked down.
Enraged, the flames on his shoulders started rising higher, and Ace tightened his hold on Marco's shirt and asked, more like demanding really, "I said, how do you know about Luffy?" but Marco continued staring at him as if trying to find something. After staring for another minute, it seemed like he had found what he was looking for and opened his mouth.
"My little treasure, if I was able to give you your gifts, what makes you think I don't know about those you deem your family?" Marco had finally spoken, but Ace was not ready to be called by the name in the letter he treasures so dearly.
After so many years of wondering and searching, he had finally found the person who had cared about him and had given his first material gift. Ace was so happy, but pissed as hell.
"Why didn't he tell me when he first came back? Why didn't he appear earlier?" Ace was so angry, and so relieved, conflicted with so many emotions that he didn't even know that he had started crying until his own tears dropped onto the face below. That night Ace fell asleep crying on the chest of Marco.
When Ace woke up he blinked his eyes once and then blinked it again. He didn't recognize the room he was in. The walls were first of all, painted in a powder blue and secondly, it was frankly too neat to be his. Then his body tensed up as the door opened, relaxing slightly when Marco walked through. He stayed silent as he watched the older male place a steaming tray of food next to him before grabbing a chair and sitting down next to Ace.
"You have questions, ask away." Well…that was much more direct than what the fire user was expecting, but not unwelcome. He was tired of people never answering his questions.
"Who are you?" That one question had more layers than one would expect when hearing that. "Who are you to me, how do you know me and why give me gifts?" Were just some of the questions within that three words. Ace looked at the man, daring, pleading for him to answer and so Marco did.
He told the child, because that was all he was to him, that he was his great-grandson by blood. That he had always kept an eye on him but was never allowed to interfere in his life until a certain time. That the gifts were there to protect him and for him to use to protect those that are precious to him.
"While I may be the most powerful thing on both the land and seas, I still have to follow the rules of the divine. Only able to interfere in the lives of those precious to me at certain times." While still confused because, "what the fuck are the rules of the divine?" , but he grudgingly nodded his head and accepted the offered answers.
A week later, Ace walked into the gallery to eat breakfast and everyone fell so silent that they could here the sizzling of meat from the back of the kitchen. There, smack right in the middle of Ace's back, was the Whitebeard Jolly Roger tattooed across his entire back for the entire world to see. A party was thrown that night to officially welcome their newest brother who would later on become their Second Division commander.
Surrounded by the crew around him cheering and singing,Ace was content.
He had gained a precious family, one made by forging bonds, blood, and death.
Sorry for the long wait but a new chapter is finally here! I hope that all of you enjoyed it \o/