As Whitebeard sat on his chair, still lost in thoughts, he was suddenly aware of the sudden silence around him, replacing the whispers and murmurs that had filled the deck as soon as the other Whitebeard disappeared. Looking up, he soon found the reason to be Marco right in front of him in a dogeza.

No, not Marco. Future Marco, he corrected himself silently as he noticed Marco still standing next to him and squirming silently as he took in the sight of his doppelganger, staring awkwardly. Whitebeard turned his attention back to F!Marco and noticed how his form was shaking. A choked sob from the man confirmed his thoughts as he rose from his seat, staring down at F!Marco who suddenly looked so small.

"Marco." His voice made F!Marco (and Marco behind him) flinch, but the Phoenix did not move. He called out again in a gentler tone. "Marco. Look at me, son." It seemed like several minutes passed (though in reality it was only mere seconds) before F!Marco apprehensively raised his head to meet his gaze.

The instant Whitebeard looked into F!Marco's eyes, he nearly stumbled back, feeling the air being sucked out of his lungs. The anguish in F!Marco's eyes, paired with the tears streaming freely down his face behind his glasses, conveyed several emotions.

Frustration, at being unable to say everything he wanted to say from the lips he was biting down in an attempt to stifle his sobs.

Guilt and Shame, for having failed his Oyaji.

Loneliness and Longing, which spoke of a family gone and brothers lost.

He suddenly understood F!Whitebeard's actions then, as he bent down and scooped F!Marco into a bone-crushing hug, grief welling up within him and bringing a wet shine to his eyes as he patted F!Marco's back reassuringly.

"I'm sorry for forcing whatever I did on you. You have nothing to apologise for. You have not failed me." His hug tightened slightly at his desperation to ensure that F!Marco knows that he meant every word he was saying. "You've done your best. I will never be disappointed in you for that, no matter the outcome. I'm proud of you, son. I'm so proud of you." F!Marco broke down in his arms, burying his face in his shoulder, which did little to muffle his sobs, while wrapping his arms tightly around his neck. The clatter of his glasses hitting the deck was deafening, nobody saying a word as they took in the scene.

After what seemed like forever, F!Marco finally pulled away, and the now relaxed form of his son from the future filled him with relief, while simultaneously filling him with sadness. For how long had F!Marco been chained down by his heavy burden? Blue and gold appearing in his vision snapped him out of his thoughts as F!Marco swooped down, arms replaced by flaming wings of blue and gold, towards Ace and greeted the boy with a punch which sent him sprawling to the ground.

The dumbfounded teen didn't even think to react in anger before he was picked up and gathered into a hug. When F!Marco pulled away, he shot a brief warning glare at Ace, the same scolding glare Marco always gave Ace whenever he did something reckless, before his gaze softened into one of sadness and longing. His expression didn't change even as he turned to Thatch, and pulled the chef into an embrace.

"W-Woah, Marco! Look at you! You finally learned how to hug!" Thatch smiled, trying to loosen the tense atmosphere with humor to no avail. His words only made F!Marco hold him tighter.

"…W-Wait, hey!" Ace leapt to his feet. "Why does Thatch only get a hug but I get a punch to the face as a bonus? How is that fair?" F!Marco pulled away from Thatch to roll his eyes at Ace, but the smirk on his face gave away his fondness for the fire user. Seeing F!Marco acting like the Marco they know, the crew relaxed slightly, smiles starting to appear on their faces as they watched the trio.

"Gurarararara!" Whitebeard's laugh made F!Marco turn to him, and his eyes shone with tears again even with the smile on his face. The smile quickly dropped into a frown, as if he suddenly remembered something, and he walked over to the meeting room, gesturing for Whitebeard and his Commanders to follow. They did so without hesitation, the Phoenix's power having convinced them that this was indeed Marco, despite his new appearance and weird behaviour at first. Whatever F!Marco wanted to tell them, it was clear, by leading them into the meeting room, that he didn't want the rest of the crew to know.

Once everyone was gathered and the door shut tightly, ensuring their privacy, F!Marco turned to them with an expression of barely suppressed anger and hate. That clued them in on the fact that something big will happen if nothing was done about it. The three words that left his lips before he disappeared in a blink left the occupants of the room with varying emotions, including confusion, anger, and dread.

"Don't trust Teach."

He spat the name out with such hatred and disgust that they could not bring themselves to think of his words as a lie. Whatever elicited such intense emotions from their brother clearly came from experiencing it. Just what had happened to them in the future? What did Teach do that to make F!Marco so angry at him? Did it have anything to do with why he acted like that when he first appeared? They swallowed hardly. Somehow, they felt like they didn't want to know despite their curiosity eating up at them.

Sorry for the long wait! I wanted to upload this yesterday, but I kept getting an error while trying to log in! But everything's working fine now, so don't worry!

Anyway, read and enjoy! And of course, Reviews are always welcomed!