A/N: Okay so I meant for the ball to get rolling but this chapter took on a life of its own. So please enjoy the fluffy cinnamon roll that is Ace. Thank you so much everyone for your awesome dedication to this story! The reviews, messages, faves, follows… just, agh! UFIOUYAOUSDD. AM I REALLY THIS CLOSE TO 700?! WASN'T I JUST CLOSE TO 600 LAST CHAPTER?! I'M GOING TO CRY! I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR YOU LOVELY READERS!
*cough* I'm okay, I swear.
Huge thank you to Beyond Kailani for her awesome beta work (I MISSED YOU!) and keeping me on track. As always, this story is dedicated to her :3
I don't want to clutter the author note here, but I have gotten a lot of requests for scenes to take place in this story. Unfortunately, very few of them would fit with the plot I already have going. Maybe in another AU sometime :D Also it's harder to answer the anon reviews because I don't generally reply in A/N anymore, but if you want to remain anon and you want more direct answers, feel free to message me on tumblr as well :3 It's at the bottom of my FF profile.
Bonds of Sea and Fire
Chapter 21: Living Fire
Ace couldn't help but tremble slightly, despite his best effort to keep his hands steady as he turned the fruit over in his hands. It didn't feel magical, or hot, or anything like that, but all he really knew was that they were supposed to taste awful.
And that he'd lose his ability to swim in exchange for becoming living fire.
"Is it really okay?" he asked once he found his voice, lifting his head to look up at Whitebeard.
"I don't go back on my word, Ace," Whitebeard told him, his voice serious. "That fruit is yours. Whether you eat it or not, it is your decision."
Ace swallowed, looking back to the fruit. "I want to," he promised shakily. "It's just… I didn't think I'd have a chance so soon."
Whitebeard chuckled again. "Have a little faith, brat. I'm Whitebeard."
Ace looked to him hesitantly, then smiled when he realized Whitebeard was only teasing him. "So I just… do I eat the whole thing, or just take a bite? I mean, Luffy ate the whole thing, but he's Luffy. He even ate half of the tray his meat cake was on before Thatch stopped him."
Whitebeard laughed at the memory, then shook his head. "All it takes is a bite, Ace."
Ace nodded, squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath. He didn't want to appear hesitant - and he didn't waste food, no matter how badly it was rumored to taste. The first bite was every bit as bad as the rumors claimed, but he kept a straight face and finished the entire thing. Still resisting the urge to double over and empty his stomach, Ace turned back to Whitebeard - who burst into thunderous laughter.
"What?" Ace asked with a scowl, his voice hoarse.
"If you could have seen the look on your face…" Whitebeard trailed off with a grin that seemed equal parts teasing and smug.
"It was the worst thing I've ever tasted," Ace said defensively, crossing his arms over his chest. "And I don't feel any differently. How do I know if it worked?"
"Don't go testing it in here," Whitebeard warned, though his tone was more playful than cautious. "Marco's still around somewhere if you want his advice."
"Yeah," Ace agreed, automatically relaxing at the mention. Of all his new brothers and sisters, Marco was definitely the one he'd grown to trust the most, and the only one he felt he could be completely honest and open with. He turned to leave, only to pause, realizing how rude he was being. When he turned back to Whitebeard and opened his mouth to thank him properly, Whitebeard merely waved his hand in a dismissing motion.
"You don't need to gush over one Children's Day present, Ace," he said in a warm, understanding tone. "Go on."
Ace hesitated while he gauged Whitebeard's words, and after finding them to be sincere, he smiled. It wasn't guarded at all - his eyes lit up and he relaxed even further. "Okay," he finally agreed. It was on the tip of his tongue to follow Sabo's example and try calling him 'Oyaji' for once, but that was one step he still found himself unable to take. He turned and left before his nerves caused his smile to falter.
It wasn't until he was on deck, searching for the crow's nest he knew Marco would be in, that he realized something was on his arm. He moved to brush it off, only to realize mid-swipe that the 'thing' on his arm was in fact fire. A sharp yelp escaped before he could help it as he automatically started shaking his arm, his brain shouting at him that he was burning and it hurt and he had to put out the fire - until it actually registered that it didn't feel hot.
He stopped shaking his arm, drawing in an unsteady breath as he looked to the flames and confirmed that he was in no danger of hurting himself. The fire was a part of him - he'd become fire - and even though he hadn't ignited his arm on purpose, a bubble of excitement rose up inside of him.
The excitement started to wane as he realized he had no idea how to make it stop.
Ace extended his arm, absently pleased to see that his brace - while technically on fire - wasn't burning either, then tried to will the fire to get smaller. It worked at first, the almost mesmerising glow of orange flickering along his skin until only his hand remained aflame, but no matter how hard he concentrated, he couldn't get the last bit of fire to go out.
With a quick look around to make sure no one saw him struggling, he covered his hand and tried to smother the flame, only to sigh in annoyance when it spread over his other hand too. It took him twice as long to get the flame to recede this time, a scowl on his face when he found himself back to square one with his left hand still on fire.
Ace tried shaking his hand in another futile attempt to quench the flames, completely unaware as a figure landed behind him, blue flames transforming into arms.
"Having some trouble, yoi?"
"GAH!" Ace flailed, whirling around to shoot an accusatory glare up at the familiar blond. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sneak up on you?" Marco smirked, amused. "A phoenix landing right behind you at night is sneaking up on you? I don't know if you noticed, but I tend to glow in the dark, yoi."
"Shut up," Ace muttered, looking thoroughly embarrassed. He tried to hide his left hand behind his back, but that only made the fire travel up his shirt and into his hair. "..."
Marco raised an eyebrow at him.
"Help me," Ace pleaded lamely. "I didn't do this on purpose and I can't make it go away."
"Oyaji didn't tell you that you were on fire, did he, yoi?" Marco chuckled, motioning to Ace's left side.
Ace's cheeks darkened as he realized the fire could have easily started inside Whitebeard's room - and that Whitebeard hadn't admonished him for having such poor control right from the start. "No."
"Try thinking about your brothers," Marco suggested. "If they were to come up on deck right now, they'd see the fire, and you wouldn't have control of it."
Ace sobered instantly at that thought, the blush on his cheeks dying down as he glared accusingly at his hand. Thankfully, after a few moments of silence, the fire flickered to nothing. He flexed his hand just to make sure, then sagged in relief. "I can't go back to my room. Not when I burst into flames like that. Whitebeard said you could help me?"
"We'll see how much we can get done in one night if you're not tired, yoi," Marco agreed.
"Then can we go? Somewhere off the ship," Ace asked, wringing his hands together. The thought of Sabo or Luffy wandering out of bed and finding him had him on edge. "Luffy sleeps like a log right now but Sabo…" he gestured helplessly.
"Sure," Marco agreed with a simple shrug. He didn't bother taking them both up to the crow's nest or even looking around for cover. He simply transformed into the phoenix and lowered his neck so Ace could find purchase with his iridescent feathers, and the moment Ace had a secure hold, he was taking to the sky.
They didn't go far - although any time spent flying felt like it lasted longer than it really did. Marco touched down on top of one of the mountains on the island where they'd spent Luffy's birthday, waiting until Ace was steady before he changed back into his human form.
"On top of a mountain?" Ace questioned.
"Well it's off the ship and you can't start a forest fire up here, yoi," Marco joked. "I'm the only one around and you can't hurt me. So let's test it. Lose control of it, try to pull it back - whatever you need to do."
Ace looked doubtful, but he couldn't see so much as a tree or a squirrel on the mountaintop. It was all flat, rocky terrain and the Moby Dick seemed like a speck in the distance. He brought both hands in front of him and took several minutes to will his fire to come back to the surface, face lighting up when the flames answered his internal call.
He couldn't help lifting his face to grin up at Marco over the twin flames in his hands, feeling oddly proud that he'd managed to call it out without any actual coaching.
"Not bad, yoi," Marco acknowledged. "One of the first things you should know about a devil fruit is that the power is yours to interpret. As a logia user, you can become fire. This means the same way blunt attacks won't work on Luffy because they rebound, blunt attacks won't work on you."
"What do you mean?" Ace asked, frowning down at his fire. "I can't bounce an attack with fire." He pictured the way Luffy's body would scrunch in on itself when he took a punch or a pipe. Luffy had no control over how the hits would rebound, and Ace honestly couldn't picture himself doing anything like that.
"What happens when you hit a flame, yoi?" Marco asked.
"You can't," Ace answered, his frown slowly melting away. He was starting to picture it - any of the nameless thugs he'd fought back in Edge Town taking a swing with their crudely fashioned weapons, and the weapons passing right through his body in a blaze of flames. A slow grin began to form on his face. "That's what it means to be living fire, doesn't it?"
Marco nodded. "It will be purely instinct at first, rather than a conscious decision, yoi. If someone were to fire a gun at you, your body's natural defense would be avoiding the shot by becoming fire. As you train, you'll be able to have more control over it. For now, you're probably going to feel more natural encasing yourself in fire. But there are two things I want to make sure you understand first, yoi."
Ace managed to smother his flames again, looking up so he could pay attention. "What's that?"
"The first thing you need to know is that being a logia user - being able to turn into fire - does not make you invincible, yoi. Haki-users will be able to hit you, fire or no, and you can't become cocky or careless, especially when we go back to the New World." Marco placed a hand on his hip as he spoke. "The other," he continued before Ace could interject, "is that you should be able to control what your fire burns. You've already noticed that it doesn't burn you. That means you can also prevent it from burning anyone else."
Ace absorbed those words, looking to his hands again. He wanted to believe he wouldn't become arrogant with his newfound power, but he had to admit he was cocky in a fight. Having Marco around would help keep him grounded, ironic as that statement was.
Then there was the information that his fire didn't have to burn others. He'd assumed he wouldn't be able to be around his brothers at all until he was able to keep the fire from coming to the surface, but hearing that he could make his flames harmless? That his brothers would be able to touch his skin while it was on fire and it wouldn't burn them? It was possibly the greatest news he'd gotten all day, next to Luffy saying it was the best day ever.
"I want to learn to control who my fire burns," Ace said with certainty. "That's the most important thing to me right now."
"I thought it would be, yoi. So, let loose for a little, get a feel for it - and then you're going to practice not burning me."
Ace nodded, still hesitant as Marco gave him space. The fire had felt natural when he'd gotten it to listen to him, and he had a feeling that was a big part of controlling it. He couldn't look at the flames and tell himself it was supposed to be hot or that they didn't belong on his body. They were a part of him now, and he couldn't reject them anymore than he could reject himself.
It was with that thought in mind that he brought his fire back out, letting it extend past his fingers and engulf the rocky surface he stood on. There was nothing nearby that could catch fire and maintain it without his help, which encouraged him to let go of his reservations and allow the fire to spiral around him in waves. He couldn't help but stare in wonder at the seemingly endless stream he was creating. It was only extending in front of him, but when he saw Marco shift back into his phoenix form and take to the skies, he let it spread all around him without inhibition.
Exhilaration and excitement flooded Ace's senses as he let go of all control. The fire surrounded him, covered the mountaintop - he felt like he could light the entire sky if he wanted to. The only thing stopping him from trying was the reminder that Marco happened to be hovering nearby, and even though Marco claimed the fire wouldn't hurt him, Ace wasn't quite ready to chance it.
Drawing the fire back into himself was harder than he thought it would be, but he couldn't help looking pleased as slowly but surely, the flames receded.
It hit him abruptly, a sense of rightness sinking in as he watched the fire return to him. On the Moby Dick, he hadn't been able to make the fire go away no matter how hard he'd tried until Marco had told him to think of his brothers. After having let go of his control with no fear about setting a ship on fire, or hurting someone, or the worst - being seen by one of his brothers and scaring them - he realized why it had been so difficult to extinguish his flames.
He wasn't making them 'go away'. He wasn't smothering a fire. He was simply pulling the flames back into himself, where they belonged. The moment he accepted that reality, he found the fire answering his call with ease. A quick look around told him he'd gathered all of it.
Ace had never felt stronger. He experimented with letting the fire out and drawing it back in slowly, then trying to do it faster and faster. It wasn't until he swayed, breathlessly staggering to his knees that Marco landed and transformed back.
"Tired, yoi?" Marco chuckled.
"I didn't even notice," Ace gasped.
"You looked like you were having fun, so I didn't want to interrupt." Marco moved to sit beside him, his posture casual and relaxed despite the fact that Ace could literally burst into flames at any given moment.
"It was fun," Ace agreed, lifting his head so he could look at Marco with a grin. "I'm ready to try the next step."
"Don't even want to catch your breath, yoi?" Marco asked. He didn't protest the idea of getting started though, holding his arm out.
Ace shook his head and shifted into a comfortable sitting position. "So, what should I do?"
"When you let the fire out, it's a natural instinct - it's a part of you, yoi, so you don't have to try to control what it burns. It burns everything but you," Marco explained. "What you have to try and achieve is learning to train yourself so that when your fire comes out - in any situation - it won't burn the people you don't want to hurt."
Ace took a deep breath. "You make it sound so easy. Is that why your fire doesn't hurt?"
"No, that's just a phoenix thing, yoi," Marco chuckled smugly.
Ace scowled, but his expression quickly softened as he placed his hand on Marco's arm. "What if I can't figure this out before we have to go back? I won't be able to go anywhere near Sabo and Luffy."
"You already knew that might be a problem and you still ate the fruit, yoi. Don't dwell on it. We'll figure out where you stand once it's time to go back."
Ace nodded, fighting back a wave of panic as he looked at their arms. "How will I know if I'm doing it right?"
"My fire will heal any damage you do to my arm, yoi," Marco told him. "Once you stop seeing blue flames, it means your fire isn't trying to burn me."
It took Ace several more moments of working up the courage before he was willing to bring his fire back, yanking away at the first lick of blue flames against his. "Shit," he swore.
"I didn't expect you to get it on the first try," Marco promised, his skin knitting back together instantly under his healing fire. When the blue flame vanished, it looked as though his skin had never been damaged at all.
"That's really amazing," Ace commented, bringing his hand back up once he was done admiring Marco's abilities. "Does that work whenever you get hurt?"
"So far," Marco said with a shrug.
Comforted by the proof that he wasn't doing any lasting damage, Ace resumed. No matter how much he concentrated, telling himself Marco was his friend, telling himself not to burn him - and even one instance where he found himself thinking "don't hot", which didn't even make sense - he couldn't stop charring Marco's skin.
"I'm getting nowhere!" Ace growled in frustration. "Why is this so hard?!"
"You ate your fruit like two hours ago, yoi," Marco commented dryly, though his gaze was patient. "And a logia is difficult to control."
"I just thought I'd be better at this. I should be better at it," Ace muttered, his fire roaring to life as if fueled by his frustration.
Marco hissed, automatically yanking his arm back as blue flames rose up to heal the damage Ace had just caused. All of the fire extinguished. There was a brief, tense moment of silence between them as Ace stared, his expression slowly filling with horror, and Marco sighed.
"It was hurting you!" Ace accused, head snapping up so he could stare at Marco. "You said I couldn't hurt you!"
"It was mostly true, yoi. You can't hurt me permanently." Marco's gaze softened at the frustration - at the betrayed look on Ace's face. "Sometimes I don't notice the pain, Ace. I've been like this for a very long time, and I've taken far worse damage. I've been tortured, yoi." He reached out and took Ace's hand, ignoring the automatic flinch. As the fire returned and a panicked Ace tried to yank his hand away, Marco's grip tightened. "I trust you."
"I don't want to hurt you," Ace argued almost desperately, staring at their hands. The blue fire contending with his had tears stinging his eyes. "Are you insane?!" The horrifying realization that he had been causing pain every time his ability had seared into Marco's skin, forcing the phoenix fire to regenerate, was almost too much for him to handle. He thought of Sabo, of how sharply his blond brother had flinched away from any touch and how weak he'd been after the explosion, and no amount of Marco's reassurances made him feel any better for having burned him.
It could have been Sabo. It could have been Luffy. If it had been anyone but Marco…
"This is something you need to control," Marco's spoke sharply, cutting into his thoughts. "If you can't, then what? You'll isolate yourself to make sure you don't hurt anyone, but when you cut yourself off from your support, it makes control worse, yoi. You never would have tried with me if you'd known I'd feel it." His grip was already tight enough to hurt a little, but he didn't increase the pressure as Ace continued to struggle.
"Of course I wouldn't have!" Ace practically shouted in panic. He didn't care if it took ten times as long in isolation - it was better than having to intentionally hurt someone.
"Your fire burns hotter when you're emotional like this," Marco spoke, his voice sharp enough to cut through Ace's panic and anger. "For someone like you, who bottles your darker emotions inside until they burst out in a torrent, that's a deadly combination, yoi."
"Then let go!" Ace pleaded, the anger coming back full-force. "I don't want to hurt you!"
Marco's grip finally tightened when Ace almost pulled free, his gaze going to their hands. "Ace."
"I said-"
"Ace."
The tone of Marco's voice had Ace freezing, looking to their hands. He didn't know what he'd find there - it felt normal, but what if he was holding onto nothing but bone, having burned all the skin and muscle away?
At first, he wasn't sure what Marco was trying to call his attention to. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary unless he counted the fact that their hands were covered in a blazing fire, a fire he was just beginning to realize he should have absorbed back into himself rather than try to bodily pull away, but something tugged at the back of his mind. It was then that he realized the fire wasn't blue at all, and Marco's hand was whole in his.
"It doesn't hurt?" Ace breathed, almost afraid that calling attention to it would cause him to lose control again.
"Not anymore, yoi. It never really hurt that much to begin with," Marco promised. "I know it seems like I lied to you, but it was the only way I could think of to get you to this point if you couldn't do it from the beginning."
"Why?" Ace demanded, his eyes still transfixed on the flame that was his and his alone. "Why was it so important to you?"
"You wanted this power to protect your brothers. You wanted it to keep them from being afraid of fire, didn't you, yoi?" Ace's head snapped up, but Marco continued before he could voice his thoughts. "I didn't ask Oyaji, if that's what you're worried about. All I heard was that this was the fruit you wanted. Several of us have been keeping an eye out. Jozu was the one who picked it up from some of our allies, but the commanders had to know what the plan was. I was there when Thatch messed up in the kitchen and scared the hell out of both of them, so it wasn't hard for me to figure out why you'd want this particular fruit."
Ace opened his mouth, then shut it, frustrated and oddly placated by the idea that Marco had simply figured it out on his own.
"Sabo still has nightmares about the explosion that scarred him," Marco stated. "Luffy doesn't, but no one lets him near an open flame because they're all worried about the effect it'll have on him, yoi. And I know you, Ace. You want to protect them more than anything else, especially because a part of you still blames yourself for that whole mess."
He let go of Ace's hand but didn't pull away, letting Ace see that his hand, while still engulfed in fire, wasn't being burned. He didn't drop his hand until Ace finally pulled back, the flames extinguishing.
"Does everyone know that's why I wanted this fruit?" Ace asked quietly.
"I don't know, yoi," Marco admitted. "But the reason you gave Oyaji was enough to convince him, and his determination was enough to convince us - we already wanted to help. Bay and Vista know about Sabo's nightmares. Sabo refused the medicine Bay tried to give him to help him sleep."
"Yeah…" Ace shifted, pulling his knees up to his chest and absently playing with a row of flames in one hand. "He told me he doesn't want to wind up stuck in a nightmare if the medicine keeps him asleep. I knew about the nightmares, but I didn't…" Ace trailed off for a moment, clenching his jaw. "I didn't know if Sabo was telling me everything. About how bad they were, I mean."
"It's not bad if you were desperate to become fire to give them new memories to hold onto, but I know what you would have done if you hadn't been able to master it tonight, yoi."
"I knew it was a risk when I said I wanted the fruit. I knew I might have to avoid them for a while," Ace muttered, recalling Marco's comment about isolation. Even to his own ears, his voice sounded petulant. He was torn between wanting to admit Marco was right and wanting to bypass the subject before he had to. "A little loneliness would have been worth it. I would have been fine."
"I was tortured once, yoi."
"You said that, but it doesn't make me feel any better about burning you-"
"No," Marco cut him off, shaking his head. He sighed and tilted his head back, looking to the stars. "That's not what I mean. Memories of my childhood are vague and blurry. Honestly, I try not to think about it. Most of us try to forget where we came from before we found our home on the Moby Dick. I remember the torture, though."
Ace swallowed, closing his hand and smothering his flames again. "You were a kid when it happened?"
Marco nodded. "I wasn't used to my devil fruit back then. Like Sabo, I was born a Noble, but I never agreed with their view on the world, so I ran away, yoi. I didn't fare as well as he did. Stealing worked for a little while, but I stood out. My hair and eyes, even the color of my skin were a dead giveaway of where I came from."
Ace looked to his own hands again. He'd never given much thought to things like that. Sure, he and Luffy had darker skin, hair, and eyes compared to Sabo's lighter colors, but whenever a comparison came up, it was usually about Sabo's clothes. There had been one one moment when a villager on one of the many islands they'd chased Bluejam through had commented that they didn't look like brothers, but Ace had barely been paying attention to comments like that.
"I knew I had to leave, and that's where things got tricky, yoi. I stole my devil fruit," Marco paused his story, as if there was far more to the tale than he was letting on, but ultimately decided not to elaborate. "But I didn't know how much it was worth or what it would do. I didn't even know about devil fruits. After I ate it, I couldn't control my transformations. To cut a long, unnecessary story short, I was caught, and after it became apparent that I could heal, I was tortured for the amusement of a handful of nobles whose faces I don't even remember."
"I'm sorry," Ace blurted out, feeling utterly childish for having basically thrown a tantrum over hurting Marco.
"Don't be. It's in the past, yoi," Marco promised, reaching out to tousle his hair and grinning when said hair ignited. Ace even managed a grin back once he'd confirmed that his fire wasn't burning Marco.
"The point is, after I escaped, I isolated myself. I lost more control that way, and it took a long time before I could freely transition myself from man to phoenix and back. Now I can't remember not having this ability, but back then it was more a curse than a gift, yoi."
Ace was silent for a while, and it was a comfortable silence. He eventually shifted to lie on his back and stare up at the sky, trying to imagine Marco as a kid his age. He brought his left arm up, holding his palm as high as he could and letting the flames come out again. "Do you think I'm really able to control it from now on?"
"I think so," Marco chuckled, watching him fondly. "I think the only reason your fire burned me before is because I didn't tell you it would hurt me, yoi. You'd never willingly hurt Luffy or Sabo - so, simply put, you won't."
Ace smiled at that thought. There was a nagging doubt in the back of his mind that he'd mess up, but he tried not to focus on it. "Thanks, Marco."
"No problem," Marco answered.
When it was finally time to return to the Moby Dick, with Ace still fascinated by his newfound ability, the sky was a soft shade of pale blue mixed with orange. The sun was going to rise soon, and without the darkness as a backdrop, Marco's phoenix form stood out far less than it would at night.
They were halfway back to the Moby Dick when Ace asked, and it was so sudden, so ridiculous, that Marco brought his right wing up over his head and smacked Ace right in the face before he even stopped to think about the fact that he could have dislodged his passenger. At least in retrospect, he knew he was capable of catching Ace should something like that actually occur.
"Hey!" Ace protested, sputtering at the blue flames that had gotten into his mouth. Marco took a sharp dive off course, landing in the sand with the Moby Dick in sight. Ace had the foresight to jump off before Marco simply shook him free and transformed back.
"Drop you in the sea? Drop you in the sea, yoi?" Marco repeated the question Ace had asked him moments earlier. "Are you trying to die now?"
"No!" Ace yelped, ducking his head like he thought Marco might smack him again. "I just - I mean, I can't swim now, right?" He lifted his head when the hit never came. "Luffy always looks like the energy completely drains out of him. Me and Sabo always had to get him when he fell in the water. Even if it was just a toe. He couldn't even grab onto driftwood to keep himself floating."
He took a deep breath, aware of Marco's scrutinizing gaze. "My first instinct if Luffy hits the water is to dive in after him. We both got good at swimming to make sure we could save him, and I want to know what it'll be like if I hit the water now. I can't be the one to go in after Luffy - Sabo's going to have to go in after me."
"While I understand that, what do you think would happen if I dropped you in the sea, just the two of us, yoi?" Marco asked.
Oh. Ace's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Uh… I'd probably sink. And if you went in after me…"
"I'd probably sink too," Marco teased. "If you want to test it, go play in the water right there," he said, motioning to the shoreline. "But if I have to come in after you and we both drown, I'm blaming you, yoi."
"Noted," Ace promised. When Marco nodded him on, he headed to the water and hesitantly knelt to stick his hand in. The effect was instantaneous, and it was only Marco's hands encircling his waist and catching him that stopped him from pitching forward to what he could only assume would be death by drowning.
"Still want me to toss you into the sea?"
"No," Ace groaned. He practically slumped in Marco's grip. It was difficult to explain, and yet it helped him understand Luffy far more than any book Sabo had tried to find. He felt like the sea had become a vacuum, siphoning his energy at an alarming pace. It was almost like being paralyzed, except his body didn't fully register the paralyzation. After only a few minutes, he felt like he was falling asleep, his flames gone and his body heavier than before.
The feeling vanished instantly - so instantly that his head snapped up and he gasped from the disorientation. Marco was holding him higher, his hand no longer touching the water.
"Do you ever get used to that feeling?" Ace asked, sure he had to look as miserable as he felt.
"Over time, you can work up a resistance, yoi," Marco answered. "Some people can even use their power underwater for a short time. It's different for everyone, and it's especially rough on a new user."
"I can't imagine anyone using their power underwater," Ace grumbled. "I couldn't even stay kneeling."
"Give it time, yoi."
Ace didn't respond to that - and when Marco transformed again to take him back to the Moby Dick, he held on just a little tighter.
...
Ace hadn't expected to make it back to his room without some form of confrontation. He didn't know who he'd expected - maybe Bay coming to check on Sabo, or even Whitebeard himself making sure he hadn't burned the living quarters down. He didn't know how much extra deck-swabbing or kitchen chores it would take to make up for burning portions of the ship, but he had a feeling it might be helpful to know.
It wasn't until he'd shut the door behind him that he realized he could see Sabo sitting up in the dim light, Luffy still snoring away with his head in Sabo's lap.
"Hey," Ace said, trying not to let his voice give away how nervous he was.
"Hey," Sabo echoed.
There was a single beat of silence before the words tumbled out of Ace's mouth.
"I didn't mean to hide anything, I swear - can you come down here? I need to show you something."
If Ace's nervous stammering bothered Sabo, it didn't show. His touch was patient and careful as he shifted Luffy onto the pillows, despite the fact that he probably could have dropped Luffy off the bed without waking him. Once he was sure Luffy hadn't been disturbed, he jumped off the bed and made his way over to Ace, standing in front of him.
"What do you want to tell me?" Sabo asked. When he saw Ace's hesitance, he grinned to try and set him at ease. "It's me. You can tell me anything."
Ace nodded, but he was still tense. "I'm a devil fruit user now," he blurted out.
Sabo's eyebrows both went up. "You are? Since when?" He clearly recalled wading through a pond with Ace the day before, Luffy perched on Ace's shoulders. It had been part of Luffy's birthday present after all - he'd wanted to get a better look at the frogs.
"Since after the party," Ace answered, exhaling. "That was my present. For Children's Day. A devil fruit I asked Whitebeard to help me find."
"You asked him? Specifically?" Sabo's eyebrows seemed to go even higher. "I didn't know there was one you wanted… or that you would have asked him for a favor."
"Yeah…" Ace absently rubbed at his arm. "It's fire, Sabo."
Sabo went still. For a moment, he didn't speak, a tense, uncomfortable silence suffocating the room. "Fire?" he finally echoed. "Like the logia fruit?"
"I didn't want to freak you out, but yeah," Ace admitted in a small voice. "I was practicing my control with Marco. Can I show you?"
"Sure, go ahead," Sabo relented in a strained voice, spurred by fake courage.
Sabo took a step back as Ace slowly brought his left arm up, tiny flames licking at his skin before fully engulfing his hand. To his credit, Sabo didn't flinch, but there was no mistaking the haunted look in his eyes.
"Do you trust me?" Ace asked, hating that haunted look and wanting to make it go away.
"What?" Sabo's head jerked up as he tore his gaze from the fire. "I - trust? Of course I trust you, Ace. You're my brother."
Ace looked to his hand. "I wanted this fruit because all of us were scared of it."
Sabo chewed his lower lip for a moment, shaking his head. He didn't deny his own fear. No one would have believed him. "You never seemed scared of it."
"I almost lost both of my brothers to it," Ace told him, lifting his head again. "That scared the hell out of me. I still hate how powerless I was back then." He held his hand out, the fire dancing in his palm. He offered a small, almost shy smile. "Guess you're gonna have to be the reliable one if me or Luffy falls into the water, huh?"
The tension broke as Sabo laughed, muffling his snickers in one hand. "What am I going to do with you two hammers?" he joked. He still seemed uncertain about the fire, but he was no longer scrunched away from it, and the haunted look in his eyes was fading. "You're not going to set our room on fire, are you? I mean we just got it painted."
Ace grinned. "Touch it."
"Pardon?"
"The fire. Touch it."
"I think I'll pass," Sabo retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You said you trusted me," Ace reminded him. "I spent all night working on my control so I wouldn't have to spend any time away from you guys. You're not afraid of me, are you? Because I'm living fire now."
Sabo huffed, looking decidedly conflicted. While he trusted Ace with his life, and he could never be afraid of his brother, he could still remember the feeling of fire searing into his skin, scarring him forever. It came with an acute fear of never being able to be with his brothers again - of dying before he ever knew freedom.
"Just once," he relented, because it was important to him to at least try. If Ace had taken such steps to protect them from their fear, to ensure he was stronger if anything like that ever happened again, the least he could do was plunge his hand into an open flame.
It didn't help that his words had Ace grinning, a wide smile of excitement that was much more commonly seen on Luffy's face. With a deep breath and a mental calculation of what to do if his hand caught fire - where they had water, how easily he could smother it with a blanket, and a reminder to keep quiet so he didn't wake up Luffy - Sabo boldly reached out to grasp Ace's hand.
He wasn't aware he'd slammed his eyes shut until he heard Ace call his name in a curious, questioning tone, and he realized he couldn't see him. His eyes flew open as Ace gave his hand a squeeze, and he saw that the flames were not only engulfing his hand, but almost playfully creeping up his arm.
"It's not hot at all," Sabo murmured, too entranced to pay attention to the part of his brain screaming at him to claw free and extinguish the fire.
"It only burns what I want it to," Ace answered softly. "So don't worry about my fire ever burning you or Luffy, okay?"
The flames vanished in an instant, leaving them with only the barest light from the impending sunrise filtering in through the window. Sabo looked down at his arm, processing Ace's words. He knew there had to be more to it - that Ace wouldn't have simply mastered something like that in a single night without really pushing himself - and he couldn't help the soft grin that spread across his face.
"Okay," Sabo promised. "Thanks, Ace."
Ace modestly pulled his hand back with a mumbled "don't mention it", before the brothers made their way back to the top bunk to sneak in a few more hours of sleep before they'd be woken for their daily training and chores.
...
Luffy was the first one awake in the morning. Normally, that would be odd, but considering how often Sabo's sleep was interrupted by nightmares and the fact that Ace had only gotten at most, two hours of sleep, neither older brother could even fake surprise at Luffy having to wake them up.
"C'mon," Luffy whined, tugging at Ace's arm while Sabo made a sleepy descent down the ladder to get dressed for the day. "The sooner we wake up, the sooner we get breakfast!"
"It doesn't work that way, Luffy," Sabo explained around a loud yawn. "Breakfast is all morning."
"Then we should be up all morning!" Luffy decided. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaace!"
"I'm up, I'm up!" Ace grumbled, shoving at Luffy's face to get it away from his. "Jeez!"
"Yay!" Luffy literally bounced off the top bunk and over to the dresser to get his clothes.
Despite being awake, it took Ace several moments to collect himself and jump out of bed. By the time he made his way to the dresser, Sabo had already helped Luffy get dressed. If left to his own devices he'd wear the same clothes every day, which may have been fine in the forest, but Izo tended to frown at them when that happened, so Sabo had gotten into the habit of keeping them tidy enough to pass the unspoken inspection. He'd only just finished dressing himself for the day when he heard Luffy's alarmed yelp.
"Ace is on fire!" Luffy cried, grabbing Sabo's arm.
"What? Oh," Sabo relaxed, laughing softly. "Yeah, he does that now."
Ace blushed, absently rubbing his arm where the flames had become apparent. "I ate a devil fruit, Luffy," he explained. "I'm fire the way you're rubber."
Luffy, who had looked to be on the verge of panic, immediately paused in his flailing. He tilted his head to the side. "You're fire?"
"Yes."
"The way I'm rubber?" Luffy repeated.
"Yes."
Sabo watched as Luffy curiously inched closer, inspecting Ace for more fire. Ace obliged by holding his hand out and igniting it, clearly nervous that Luffy might jump back or recoil. Neither one expected it when Luffy suddenly grabbed the flaming hand in both of his, spreading Ace's fingers out to look at it.
"Cool!" Luffy cried.
Ace, on the other hand, nearly fell over. "You idiot! You just grabbed fire! You didn't even ask if it would burn you!"
"It's Ace's fire," Luffy said with a shrug. "I knew it wouldn't hurt me."
Ace struggled with his expression, torn between warm and sappy from Luffy believing in him so unconditionally, and annoyed that Luffy would base a decision off something so simple. If he hadn't been able to control it, Luffy would have burned himself and negated half of Ace's reason for wanting the fruit. He settled on exasperated affection. "I'm still learning to control it."
"Rubber is still cooler," Luffy decided, grinning up at Ace like he hadn't even heard the comment about control. "But fire is really cool too." He turned to Sabo. "Are you still normal?"
"That's me," Sabo joked. "Normal and the only one capable of saving you two from the water now. Well, when it's just the three of us." He paused. "Hey, Ace, how many of the commanders know about this?"
Ace tilted his head to the side. "I dunno. Marco and Jozu know, and I guess everyone knew I was looking for the fruit. Marco didn't say who knew I was getting it last night."
"Do you think Thatch knows?" Sabo pressed.
"I doubt it," Luffy chirped, still playing with the fire in Ace's hand. He kept trying to grab the flames, giggling when they vanished. If he'd had any reservations about Ace embodying the one element he'd actually shown fear of, it didn't show.
"Why do you say that?" Ace asked.
"Because he said Sparkles wasn't telling him what your present was. He talked about it a lot when I was eating my cake," Luffy explained. He paused, then started to drool. "That cake was so good…"
The drool landed on the flames and sizzled, making Ace sigh. "C'mon then, let's get you to breakfast. Sabo, why do you want to know if Thatch knows?"
"Because he still feels guilty for startling us back before we got to the Moby Dick," Sabo answered. He smirked. "Maybe we should startle him so he feels like we're even?"
Ace's eyes widened. And then he found himself smirking back. "Yeah, I mean, we can't let him feel bad about that, right?"
"Totally," Sabo agreed, nodding sagely.
"I don't like it when Thatchy feels bad," Luffy agreed. "He talks to the tables and chairs and stuff."
"Then let's not keep him waiting," Ace said, pulling his hand back and smothering the flames with a thought. "We'll let you get your food first, Luffy."
"Yay!" Luffy didn't bother waiting to hear more, dashing past Sabo and right out the door.
"You didn't have any kitchen shifts today, right?" Ace asked, hurrying after Luffy and casting a sideways glance at Sabo, who was right alongside him.
"Nah. None of us do," Sabo reminded him. "I'm helping Fossa with some ship stuff. I think it's just sanding wood planks, but it beats first aid lessons with Bay. I think she's still on my case about that hug. You're doing weapon inventory with Rakuyo's division, in case you forgot."
"I did," Ace admitted. He frowned - they typically had combat training after breakfast and chores for a few hours before lunch. It was unusual for Luffy to have a different schedule from theirs, now that they had schedules officially worked out. No one really complained if they strayed from it, but they were trying to show responsibility and make an effort to contribute. Especially given how often their evenings were spent playing pranks. "Where's Luffy going after training?"
"He can go with either one of us. My vote is with you - yeah, the weapons are dangerous but there are a lot more sharp tools lying around in Fossa's division," Sabo joked. "And Rakuyo's pretty good about keeping an eye on him."
Ace nodded. "I'll take him with me, then."
They caught up to Luffy in the galley. It was about half full for the first shift of breakfast - with a crew the size of Whitebeard's, it was impossible to fit everyone inside at once - and Luffy was already in line at the serving area with his tray.
Ace grinned again when he saw Thatch working the line, already cheerfully chatting with Luffy. His almost-pompadour was peeking out of a white chef's hat, and he looked completely unsuspecting.
Sabo went next, getting his tray and waiting at the end with Luffy, and then it was Ace's turn.
"Morning, Thatch," Ace greeted him, smiling. "How are you doing?"
"How nice of you to ask!" Thatch practically sang. "It's a great morning so far!"
Ace almost felt guilty - but then he reminded himself that Thatch would feel better in the end - and he pasted a bright grin on his face. "Yeah, the party last night was amazing. Hey, can I have some pancakes?"
"Sure!" Thatch grabbed one of the plates, piling the pancakes high and handing it over the counter.
Ace accepted it, then frowned. "Hm… are these hot? They look a little cold."
"They're hot," Thatch promised. "I just made them a second ago!"
"They still look cold…"
"Maybe you should warm them up?" Sabo suggested. Thatch's attention was on Ace, so he didn't see the wicked smirk on Sabo's face or hear the stifled giggles escaping Luffy as they waited for their freckled brother.
"Yeah, good idea," Ace agreed - and then immediately burst into flames, tray and all.
Thatch gave a loud, squeaky yelp of shock, flailing and backpedaling into two other members of his division. They attempted to catch him, but between the serving spoons and limited space, all they managed to do was cover his chef's shirt in sauces and grease.
Ace casually grabbed some more food, not bothering to put out his fire. After both his brothers had come out unscathed after touching it, his confidence was peaking. "That's better!"
By the time Thatch scrambled back to his feet, all eyes were on the trio.
"How - what - FIRE!" Thatch stammered. He was staring at Ace, mini-pompadour disheveled and hat askew.
"Observant, aren't you?" Izo asked as he approached, withdrawing a small fan from his sleeve. He lightly smacked Thatch upside the head with it.
"Why did I get hit?!" Thatch cried, sounding wounded. "He's the one who burst into flames! Izo, he's on FIRE!"
"If you'd been paying any attention, you'd have figured out Oyaji gave him the Mera Mera no Mi last night," Izo quipped dryly, rolling his eyes. Realization dawned in Thatch's eyes, and he opened his mouth to retort.
"Me and Sabo thought we should even the score," Ace interrupted, grinning teasingly. "After you shocked him and Luffy with fire, we figured we should shock you back."
"Yep," Sabo agreed. "C'mon, let's go eat - Luffy's drooling again."
Luffy looked up, half a dozen biscuits in his mouth. "Ahhmffoo," he agreed.
Thatch and Izo both stared at the trio in shock. Then Izo was hiding a smile behind his fan, and Thatch was practically melting. He grabbed onto the counter and vaulted over it, lifting Ace from the side and giving him a warm hug. "C'mere, you!"
"Hey!" Ace yelped, immediately flailing and trying not to drop his tray. "I'm on fire! What's wrong with you? Put me down!"
"You'd never burn your big brother Thatch!" Thatch cried, ignoring Ace's protests.
"I practiced for one night!" Ace yelped, his cheeks burning under a layer of harmless flame. "Thatch!"
"Oh, fine," Thatch sighed, setting Ace down and dabbing at his eyes. "You three are just too sweet! Thank you!"
The flames flickered away, and then Ace was ducking his head to hide his blush. "Just - we're even now, okay? So no more feeling guilty."
"Promise!" Thatch agreed. He grabbed a plate piled high with fried potatoes and sausages, putting it on Ace's tray - if he didn't want it, Luffy could always finish it. "You three go on or I'll hug all of you!"
"Ahhhuuuaee!" Luffy said around another mouthful of food.
"He said he'll hug you after he eats," Sabo translated, guiding Luffy over to a table with Ace quickly following.
All three brothers shot Thatch one more grin - which caused Luffy's already puffy cheeks to puff up further - and once they'd given their attention to the food and the crewmembers flocking to them to ask Ace about his new powers, Thatch leaned against the counter and happily sighed.
"I thought you'd be cranky," Izo commented.
"I would have been if they'd, ya know, done it to be mean," Thatch answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "But those little angels-"
"Angels is pushing it."
"-did it so I'd stop feeling guilty," Thatch continued like Izo hadn't interrupted. "You know, it may have been a freak storm, my stubbornness, or even my decision to make Marco chase me down… but I'm really just so happy I crossed paths with Luffy when I did."
"We all are, dummy," Izo murmured, lightly tapping Thatch's hat with his fan. "Now go clean up. As soon as your shift down here is done, we're going ashore to restock."
"Leaving already, huh?" Thatch joked, dabbing at his eyes again.
"Marco charted a course," Izo confirmed. "The marines are getting closer again, and Bay thinks we'll have a better shot finding new medical staff if we don't have them breathing down our necks."
Thatch nodded, but he was still watching the trio with a sappy grin on his face. Their success had been pretty dismal thus far, but he had a good feeling about the next string of islands they planned on visiting.
He'd been looking forward to swinging by Foolshout Island - but at Namur's request, they'd decided to skip it at the last minute. No one could blame him, though. Not when Fisher Tiger's death had been so recent.
...
A/N: Thank you SO much everyone! I'll be busy with my OPBB fic again after this but I'll do my best to get this updated again soon. Until next time!
~Mithril