Snippets
1.
„No, you will not wake up Ace!", with crossed arms Marco stood next to Thatch and dared him to touch their youngest.
"But look at him….", said Thatch pointing at the sleeping figure of the young pirate. "He is so thin… He has to eat some- "
"He also has to sleep!", insisted Marco. "Ace can eat once he wakes up."
Thatch looked unhappily at his brother. He had looked forward to finally being able to feed the young pirate without him badmouthing his food. And most importantly getting to know his new brother. But the hard look on Marco's face made it more than obvious to the chef, that he would not be able to talk – let alone feed – their newest brother.
After a hundred days of trying to take Pops head Ace – stubborn little snotty-nosed brat he was – had finally caved in and accepted Pops proposal. Much to the joy and – in cases like Blamenco and Thatch – relive of the family. And Pops was sitting at his regular seat looking all proud of himself. It was amusing to many in the crew how Pops got all sappy and happy after somebody joining the crew.
So, everything should be fine.
Right?
Wrong!
The first thing after Ace caved was Marco dragging the little butt of their youngest into the sickbay for a check-up. And Ace promptly fell asleep within seconds after the check-up was done. So, the nurses placed the young pirate in one of the beds, from which he still must rise. More than 24 hours later!
"I know you mean well Thatch but if Ace is sleeping it means that's what his body needs right now.", said Marco sounding tired while rubbing his eyes. "You can feed him as much as you wish once he is up, okay?"
Thatch sigh. "Okay…", mumbled the chef dejected and turned around to take the tray back. "I will… bloody hell!" Surprised the chef looked into the sleepy storm grey eyes of Ace. He idly blinked up at Thatch.
"What's with all this talk about food?", the black-haired youth yawned.
Thatch head whipped around. "He is awake… So… I can feed him, right?", Thatch smiled brightly at Marco.
The doctor looked from Thatch to the still sleepy Ace, who looked up to the two older pirates with tired eyes. Marco sighed. "Don't keep him awake!", he warned the other and turned away shaking his head. And here he thought life on the Moby Dick would be quiet once Ace joint their ranks. He really should start to remember, that Ace carried a D. in his name.
2.
"Doesn't he seem to be down to you?", noted Izou with a worried frown on his face.
"Who?", asked Rakuyo around a mouth full of stew.
"That's disguising.", remarked Izou annoyed. "And I mean Ace."
"The mission his team went on proceeded well as far as I know.", replied Haruta without looking up from the papers he was concentrating on.
"Haruta put that away! How often do I have to tell you lot to not read papers or do paperwork while eating!", grumbled Thatch setting down a tray filled with desserts for his brothers.
"I'm nearly finished. Stop nagging, Thatch.", retorted Haruta ignoring the angry look Thatch send his way.
"Thatch, do you know if something happened at the mission Ace was at?", asked Izou the chef taking one of the small bowls filled with delicious custard and fruit sauce. Confused Thatch looked at his wanonese brother.
"No. Why?"
"I don't know. He looks so down.", answered the former samurai.
"I haven't heard anything.", replied Thatch now worried that something was bothering their youngest brother. The last few months have proven that Ace could be a handful and asking for help didn't come naturally to the young pirate. Instead, he tried to solve all his problems on his own much to the displeasure of his older brothers, who all would love to help him out. "Who oversees the 2. Division right now?"
"Jozu, but I would not bother him at the moment.", answered Marco putting down his plate filled with food. "Apparently 10 kegs of sake vanished, and everybody claims to know nothing."
"Oh my…", moaned Thatch. "Please tell me not from the good sake we bought at Barrow?"
Marco sent a knowing look at the chefs.
"Oh, for fuck's sake!", coursed Thatch. "These idiots. Pops going to be pissed." Pushing his chair back, Thatch left them to search for his brother to help him find the culprits. There was no way he would take the blame for the action of his boozy brothers.
"Marco!"
"Hm?"
"Do you know, why Ace is down?"
Questioningly Marco looked at Izou. "No, but I can talk with him.", offered the doctor. Izou did not seem to like Marco's answer. "Or you do it if you think something is troubling him." This suggestion his brother didn't seem to like either. Marco sighed. Sometimes Izou could be unbelievably troublesome.
"Izou! You brought it up. I just offered help."
"Okay… okay. You talk with him.", conceded Izou unhappily.
Marco nodded before looking around for the young pirate. Ace was sitting at a table a little further down the dining hall together with his roommates and other members of the 2. Division. Izou was right. Ace did indeed look like something was bothering him.
3.
"You should find another hide-out?", the calm voice of Jinbe cut through the false silence around Ace. Sometimes he could hear the low cheering and shouting of his brothers far below.
Tiredly Ace opened his eyes and looked at the whale shark fishman as he climbed over the board of the look-out. "Jinbe! What are you doing here?", he asked surprised.
"I came to visit you, of course.", laughed the fishman joyfully as he dropped next to Ace. Then he fumbled with his kimono just to pull out a small package. "Here! A gift for you."
"Oh."
Dumbfounded Ace took the small package. Even after being a member of the Whitebeard Pirates for nearly two years, there were still some traditions Ace had trouble adjusting to. Like getting presents for his birthday. And since his birthday coincided with the turn of the year, everyone thought it was necessary to give him a present. Enough of his brothers had hinted at this in the past few days.
"Er… Thank you, Jinbe.", Ace thanked him remembering his manners.
Jinbe smiled brightly at him.
"It's just something small I thought you might find helpful."
Ace ducked his head clutching his inconspicuous gift. He really wasn't used to all this fuss everybody was making of his birthday. Last year everybody was going crazy in the days leading up to New Year's Day because he – the youngest of all – was celebrating his first birthday with his family. Nobody seemed to understand that Ace did not like his birthday, let alone celebrating it.
For Ace, it has always been the day his mother gave her life, so he could live.
In the end, Ace was so frustrated with his family that he seriously considered to simply take his Striker and leave for a few days. Turn of the Year party and birthdays be damned. Only an alert Marco and a patient Pops figured out that something was wrong and after an exceedingly difficult talk for Ace they stopped the family from going completely ballistic.
Many were even very understanding why Ace didn't want to celebrate his birthday to excessively once Pops explained his reasons because Ace really didn't feel up to do that himself. So, it was a Turn of the Year party with the bonus of a birthday cake and presents for Ace. At least, that was what Thatch vowed to organize every year.
"Hm… I may should warn you, Ace.", hummed Jinbe suddenly.
"Huh?"
The mighty fishman nodded.
"Yes! Everybody knows you are up here. They even tried to stop me from climbing up, because your brothers thought I would bother you.", explained Jinbe seriously. "I was only allowed to join you up here because I got permission from Pops."
Ace blinked astounded. Then he began to smile before bursting out laughing.
4.
"That was close!"
"You will still lose. Marco is going to annihilate Ace!"
"Only in your dreams, Raheem."
"Ha! You have to say that seeing as Ace is your commandant, Rockall."
Rockall snorted. "I don't have to say anything. All I'm saying is that you will lose."
"Oh yeah? As long as Ace doesn't tie with Marco I win.", countered Raheem confidently.
"Or the ship's getting burned down!", butted Daloa in. "Seriously. What was Pops drinking as he allowed Ace and Marco to fight on deck?" The master joiner already saw a huge lot of work waiting for him once the two devil fruit user finished their fight.
"No idea.", answered Raheem. "But can't say I am against it. This is impressive!"
Blue and orange flames danced over the central part of the main deck where Marco and Ace were fighting. Even Pops has abandoned his regular seat to give the two fighters more room and was watching from behind the rail surrounding the main deck.
At that moment, a huge ball of blue flames rose from the sea of flames and built the graceful form of a phoenix. On mighty wings, it rose higher over the angry tongues of orange flames, before these slowly lowered and allowed the curious onlookers a glance at Ace standing in the middle of the deck looking up at Marco.
"Oh damn! Ace is pissed!", cursed Rockall.
Raheem laughed. "Of course. He is losing!"
As if Ace had heard him the black-haired pirate jumped with all his strength and catapulted himself high into the air. Calling all the remaining flames from the deck to himself Ace created a column of flames, which he threw at the phoenix. Nearly lazily Marco evaded the attack and dove for Ace.
"Thanks to all seas that we stopped sailing. Otherwise, the sails would have caught fire.", noted Daloa.
"Well… I'm not a pro like you Daloa, but the deck doesn't look as charred as it could be to me.", judged Raheem as Ace and Marco continued their fight in the air.
"I will let Blamenco know, that you offered your help for the repairs.", snarled Daloa at Raheem.
"Hey! If anyone should help, it is our loser Rockall here.", snapped Raheem. "It's his commander burning the deck!"
"Yeah, right why should I do the work for your huge mouth?", bristled Rockall.
"Because you are losing!"
"I am not!"
Suddenly, Ace and Marco dropped out of the sky and each landed in a crouch on deck.
"I would say it's a tie!", said Marco slowly standing up, a lazy smile in place. "Again!"
"Gosh darn it!", coursed Ace angry. "Why the hell can't I win?"
All Marco did was smile while Ace continued to curse.
"No!", breath Raheem shocked.
"Ha! I win!", triumphed Rockall. "I told you Ace would tie with Marco. You own me a thousand Berry's my brother."
Raheem growled angrily, but before he was able to retort anything another voice loudly echoed over the deck.
"Ace! Ace! Now me! You promised you would fight me too, today!"
A small figure climbed over the rail and ran up to Ace.
Rockall smiled challengingly at Raheem. "Up for another bet? I'm pretty sure Ace will win this fight"
Raheem snort. "How dumb do you think I am? Not even I'm going to bet against Ace in that fight."
And so, they watch another fight evolve at the main deck, even though this one wasn't as impressive as the previous, it was still spectacular in its own way.
5.
"Here he comes.", muttered Blenheim. "Haruta, you better finish with the newspaper."
"I'm all prepared.", whispered the smallest commander. "You better don't mess this one up. We will never get a chance to do this again." Warningly he looked at the other commanders at the table and then vanish once again behind the newspaper.
"Good morning.", called Ace breathless as he reached his place at the commander table.
"Good morning, Ace.", answered Speed Jiru smiling at his little brother.
"My, aren't you excited today.", noted Izou.
Ace grinned before looking around the table. Then he zeroed in on Haruta. "Haruta are you finished with the newspaper, right?", asked Ace and at the same time tried to grab the newspaper out of Harutas hands.
"Hey! I'm still reading!", complained Haruta turning away to get the newspaper out of Aces reach. "Why are you even so eager to read the newspaper? For the past few weeks now, you try to steal my newspaper every morning." Pouted Haruta and blinked at the black-haired pirate.
"Stop acting dumb, Haruta. You know why?", answered Atomos instead of Ace. "Ace is waiting for news on his baby brother."
"Yeah, the baby brother he hasn't been able to shut up about for the past few weeks because he finally set out to sea.", needled Rakuyo over his cup of coffee.
Ace looked from one to another. "You are all idiots!", he finally stated. "I just want to know how he is doing and whether he has been able to find some crew members." Sulking he leaned back in his chair.
"Who are idiots?", questioned Marco and put a plate before Ace.
"Haruta put the newspaper away!", ordered Thatch, who appeared together with Marco at the table. "I swear, one day I'm going to stop cooking for you lot if you continue reading and working while eating."
"Why I am pretty confident that this will never happen?", wondered Curiel.
"Because Thatch has been threading us with his cooking strike for years, but we all know he will never be able to bear the thought of us being hungry.", answered Speed Jiru.
"Oh… you are right."
"They are!", whined Ace. With big eyes, the black-haired pirate looked at the blond doctor. "They are making fun of me! And thank you, Marco."
Marco just smiled at Ace.
"That is really mean. You never bring any of us breakfast, Marco.", complained Namur. "If I wouldn't know it better, I would say Ace is your favourite."
Jozu snorted. "We all know Ace is Marco's favourite."
Nearly every commander chuckled. A small blush adored Ace face as he ducked his head and shoved two sausages into his mouth. Knowing he was Marco's favourite is one thing, the other publicly teasing him with it was something else. Meanwhile, Marco acted as if nothing was going on.
"Ow… Look! Ace is blushing. How cute!", gushed Kingdew with a wide smile. He was clearly enjoying himself. Once again, the others were laughing while Ace was mumbling something under his breath.
"Good morning.", said Vista as he sat down. "Are you guys once again making fun of Ace and his beloved baby brother?"
"No, about Ace, the favourite of Marco!", laughed Blenheim.
"You shouldn't listen to them. They are just jealous, Ace.", advised Fossa as he sat next to Vista.
"Oi!", shouted Haruta and Namur. Both looked at each other, then at their smoking brother. "We disagree with this!"
"And now they're talking in chorus.", deadpanned Marco.
"Who is talking in chorus?", asked Blameco as he heavily fell into his chair.
"Haruta and Namur.", answered Izou. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. Just spend the night doing paperwork." Blamenco waved his brother's worries away.
Meanwhile, Ace noticed that Haruta has put down his newspaper and his hand itched to grasp it. As inconspicuous as possible Ace's hand crept over the table. Just as he reached the desired source of information Haruta noticed Ace's hand and slapped it away. "That is my newspaper!"
"Haruta, stop it!", sighed Blameco. "You are not even reading it anymore. Just lent the papers to Ace."
"Or tell him if there is anything written about his baby brother.", told Vista him.
As if betrayed Haruta looked at them, but still handed Ace the paper. Happy to finally being able to check if his baby brother has made it into the news the black-haired pirate grasped the newspaper and started to read it. With a bread roll in one hand, he stopped.
Right there, at the front page, was a big picture of the smiling face of his baby brother.
"Huh?", Ace blinked.
After a few seconds of dumbstruck staring at the front page, Ace began grinning. Eagerly he read every line to figure out how his beloved little brother was doing. "Bounty?!", he muttered. "Where?" Frenzied he started to page through the papers but couldn't find the desired piece of paper.
"Where is the bounty!", demand Ace angrily.
"Here!", Blenheim laughed and handed the wanted poster over.
"Oh….", cheered Ace, taking every bit in. "Look! Look! Marco! Luffy finally has a bounty!" Excited he showed the blond man the poster. With his ever-present patient and a lazy smile, Marco studied the wanted poster.
"That's great!", complimented Marco. "Look! There is Pops. I'm sure he will love it if you show him Luffy's bounty poster."
Like an excited child, Ace took the poster and raced off to Pops, who just stepped into the dining hall.
Once Ace was out of earshot, Marco turned a leveled stare at most of the other commanders. "That was mean!"
"No, it was fun!", laughed Haruta.
Happy Birthday, Ace!