The Keeper of Worlds: More feels in this one. There are so many feels in the last couple of chapters, be prepared!

Ace went to the navigation room in the morning to check if he'd made any maps, since he'd forgotten to lock the bedroom door the night before, too tired to remember. He looked in his cubby, and found one more map, only this one was more crumpled and had not been put away neatly.

He uncrumpled it to see it was a sketch of water 7. Not too accurate, but the shape seemed correct enough. Maybe that's why he crumpled it. Sleep-Ace didn't like how it turned out apparently. When he was deciding whether to throw it away or not, Aioba came in. Ace folded it and stuffed it back in his cubby before leaving, not wanting to get in a tiff with him in the morning.

He said nothing of Aioba not supposed to be in there after ruining his map. He still had a few weeks of being suspended from his position. He just didn't want to deal with his bad attitude. Ace ran into Teach around the corner, and apologized before realizing who it was.

"Yo, Ace! I've been wanting to talk to you. I heard about your map making skills," the hairy man said.

"Oh. What did you want to talk about?" Ace wondered.

Teach said, "I just wanted to ask how you learned it while being so young. You've only been a pirate for a few years right? And usually the captain isn't the navigator either, if you know what I mean." Second division commander.

Ace held in a huff. "I don't remember learning. It must have been some time during my pirate journey that I just don't remember. Besides, so far I'm best at it when half-asleep," Ace explained. Teach looked interested, but didn't ask further.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be helpful with that," he said happily. "It's nice to be back with everyone. Missed everyone. Especially Thatch's cooking. He's a good guy." Ace nodded, saying he clicked with Thatch in the beginning. "He's easy to make friends with. He was super popular when he first came."

Ace asked what it was like, being one of the first to come. "It was interesting to see the crew grow to this massive size. I can't remember everyones' names even though we're all brothers!" Ace asked why he didn't want to be a commander if he was one of the originals. "I don't think I'd ever be a good leader. A commander or captain. I'd rather others do that work for me," he said, sounding sheepish.

"I can understand that, I guess. My crew said I was a good captain, so that's nice to know. Would have sucked if I was a terrible leader or something," Ace said with a laugh. Second division commander. He didn't know what else to say. So he asked if he knew what time they were leaving.

"Not sure. I'm not a commander, you should ask Marco. He's in his office, I think," Teach said, and Ace nodded thanking him before heading to Marco's office. He didn't remember ever going there, but he knew where it was. Like he knew where most things were. He even knew where the drawer holding all the replacement pens and pencils were. That was the first week he'd been there. Thatch had been surprised before he started to just expect Ace to know things he shouldn't.

Ace found Marco working in his office with glasses on, and knocked on the doorframe. Marco turned around in his wheely chair. "Oh, hey, Ace. What's up? I'm just doing paperwork."

"Paperwork sucks," Ace said, like he had experience in it. Marco nodded, and asked if he did a lot of paperwork on his ship. "I assume. I was captain. I guess I just remember it sucking. When are we leaving the island?" he asked, getting to what he'd come for.

Marco took his glasses off and said, "By lunchtime. We usually leave island midday so everyone is fed in case there's an attack on our way off an island. Did Teach tell you where to go to come here? Nobody but the commanders come here. Don't worry, you're not in trouble."

Ace didn't want to lie. He felt bad lying to Marco, since he was so nice and understanding about Ace. "I don't know. I guess I was lucky finding it?" he said honestly.

"Hmm, lucky guess then. I'm just gonna finish up and then come out. Be ready to help us leave," he said, and Ace nodded, leaving him to his work. He walked back down the hall before slowing, looking in one of the offices. It was bare inside, and he hesitantly looked around inside. It was smaller than Marco's was.

He touched the deck, wiping dust off of it. This was no doubt the unused second division commander's office. Ace felt it should be full of paperwork and files. And maps and charts that weren't in the navigation room for some reason.

It felt wrong for it to be empty. Ace just shrugged off the feeling, and left, heading back to Thatch. He didn't look inside the other offices, since the doors were shut fully and he didn't want to snoop, as it was none of his business. Second division commander.

"God damn, shut up," Ace grumbled to himself. He headed to the galley to find Thatch moping at the counter. Ace walked to him and asked what the problem was. Thatch pouted at him, and Ace worried he'd done something wrong.

"You didn't tell me first about getting the mark on your back. I thought we were BFFs!" Thatch lamented. Ace laughed, and said Marco had asked, and Ace would have been rude to ignore him about it. "Still! I'm your confidant!"

Ace replied, "Well, it wasn't really any secret. Everyone would find out eventually, right?" He sat down next to Thatch, taking an apple from the fruit basket that was always there for people to snack on.

Thatch grumbled, "Stop being reasonable."

"Well, one of us has to be," he said, and Thatch lightly shoved his arm before they both started laughing. "Another weird thing popped into my head just now. The feeling of doing paperwork and stuff, even though I don't remember doing stuff like that as a captain. I mean, I don't remember anything about that time, but I feel like I can tell when something pops into my head, if it's one of the things I shouldn't know," Ace explained.

Thatch leaned forward and said, "Maybe you were a workaholic or something? Or you might do some paperwork soon. Usually your thought-thingies come before you do something regarding that, right?"

Ace nodded, but asked why he would do paperwork. He wasn't a lead in his own division. He was good at maps when he slept, and was getting better at predicting weather like a normal navigator, but he didn't have any reason to do paperwork like the leaders of his division.

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe we'll find out soon," Thatch replied. Second division commander.

Ace finally said something about it. "Thatch, will you guys choose a second division commander soon?"

Thatch put his chin in his hand and said, "Well, we can't just shove someone in the spot. They have to fit multiple criteria. So, I'm not sure who we'd choose right now. It's been empty a real long time, and even though it would be nice for us to not rotate, I think we're doing just fine now."

"Hmm," Ace mumbled. "Weird. I feel like someone will be appointed to that seat. Don't know when or why. I wish I could get some context about it. Maybe I just want a permanent commander. Having a clearcut leader would be nice, even though it's helpful getting to know more commanders," he mused. Thatch nodded.

"The last commander we had ran off with Gold Roger. I wasn't there when that happened, but his story was pretty funny!" Ace looked shocked.

He asked, "Roger stole one of your crew members? And you didn't get angry?" He knew the Pirate King was a terrible person, surely Whitebeard would have retaliated with him leaving with one of his members, and a leader at that!

Thatch replied, "Roger had a weird relationship with us. He was sort of a friend, but also a rival. And Oden left willingly to go on another adventure. I know Pops was pissed about it, even after the Roger Pirates give us a shit ton of presents. Nobody knows what happened to Oden, though," he explained.

Ace had thought that Roger was Pops' enemy, not a friend of some sort. It made him confused. Why would Whitebeard be a friend with someone so heinous? Roger was hated by the world, Ace had learned that the hard way. Gramps had told him he could tell no one, besides Sabo and Luffy. And Dadan may have known, too, but said nothing. "I thought Roger was a terrible person. Why would Pops be friends with someone so awful?"

Thatch shrugged. "I wasn't around back then. I've only been here fifteen years. That was over 20 years ago, so I didn't have the pleasure to meet them. Shanks was the cabin boy on Roger's ship." He added, "If you want to know those times, I suggest you ask Pops or Marco."

Ace stood up immediately, thanking Thatch, and hurrying out of the room to find Pops. He wasn't out on deck, and not in the galley, so Ace went to the infirmary, just thinking Pops might be having a check up by the nurses. Ace had been right with Whiskey being scary. Tami was nicer. He did find Pops in the infirmary, walking out as he reached the door.

"Hello, son," Whitebeard said, then noticed Ace's expression, one of confusion and just looking lost. "Are you alright?" Ace looked surprised before he composed his expression and nodded.

"Thatch told me you were friends with Roger. I was wondering if you would tell me about it? I always heard he was a terrible person. I just can't see you being friends with someone so horrible," Ace said honestly. He was just leaving some details out, but what he'd said was not a lie.

Whitebeard nodded, and said he'd be glad to talk about those times. Ace smiled and followed him out on deck. It was still an hour before they were leaving the island for the next one. He sat in his throne, and Ace sat on the armrest. Marco usually sat on Whitebeard's shoulder, teased about being a parrot with his owner.

"Roger and I were rivals, but also friends and drinking buddies, much like I am with Shanks now. He was a strange one," and Whitebeard told Ace about all of the times he met the man, fighting with him but then drinking happily. "I was pissed at that man for stealing one of my sons, vacating the second division seat for the last twenty years. It was then that he told me he was sick and dying. He wanted to have the best adventure, and taking Oden with him would have helped him with that goal."

Ace was frowning deeply, confused with the conflicting things he was hearing. He had been told by everyone he'd ever spoken to about it (besides Luffy) that Roger was a monster, and any of his family should be killed. Ace may not remember much about himself after becoming a pirate, but he knew he'd hated him from the moment he was first yelled at about it.

"Then, the last time he'd visited me was when he was very near death. He wouldn't stop talking about a woman he'd met. Rouge, her name was. It was almost disgusting how deeply in love he was with her! Gurarara, it was a side I never saw of Roger. But, he was happy in the end," Pops finished. Ace was looking at the deck and not at Pops. "Are you alright, son?"

"Y-Yeah. Just surprised and all. I'd only heard bad things about him. I have to go to the bathroom," Ace said, and hurried inside, only to go to his bedroom, locking the door and laying on the bed under the blankets, shoes still on. He was so confused. He hated the man, he made Ace's life so much harder. He hated him for his relation to him.

It was only about 20 minutes later that there was a soft knock on his door. He sighed, putting a pillow over his head before there was another knock. Ace huffed and sat up, unlocking the doorknob and opening it to find Pops there, looking concerned. "Are you alright?" he asked in worry. Ace nodded, looking down. "Was it something about Roger?"

"I… just have always heard terrible things about him. It's weird, hearing the other side, that's all," Ace replied.

Pops asked, "Do you wish to talk about it?"

We are all children of the sea. Who your father is doesn't matter.

It was another quote that popped into his head, the least occurring thing. Usually, when it did happen, it was just knowing something, not hearing another's voice, Pops voice this time. He looked up at the man, brows furrowed and hands in balls. "Can we talk about it later?"

Whitebeard smiled. "Of course. We must leave the port now, so we need all hands on deck." Ace nodded and followed his captain out, closing his bedroom door behind him. He helped to move the ship, and it took many to help, the strongest of them doing the most work, which were the commanders, Ace, Teach and a handful of others including Deuce. Others did the more supporting tasks, and soon they were following the log pose to the most relaxed island. It was a majority vote with the commanders on which island to go to, and they chose the calmest one. So, that's where they were headed.

They made their way through a huge storm, everyone bolting things to the deck beforehand and working to survive it. Ace wished he'd known about it sooner, but storms were a normal occurrence. Cyclones like one that formed that suddenly with barely any warning were less often.

Aioba looked at him haughtily, and Ace scowled. "Hey, you did nothing to help either you know," Teach said to Aioba, noticing his look.

"If I weren't suspended then it wouldn't have been a problem! You don't get to talk when you're totally useless to our division!" Aioba shot back. Teach just shrugged, saying he was at least not an asshole to his fellow division members. "It's him! He pisses me off all the time!"

Ace shot back, "I don't even do anything to you. I don't talk to you. It's not my fault you're jealous of someone younger than you." He didn't yell, but his words were harsh. A small crowd was gathering around, watching the argument.

Kingdew came over and stopped it. "Aioba, stop trying to provoke Ace. It's pointless when you're always the instigator. Ace, move along and do your best to ignore any nasty looks." Ace nodded, sending one final glare to the asshole and walking off.

He headed to the crowsnest, and sat down, stewing, irritated with the guy he did nothing to do with! He never talked to him, he just did his best to be helpful. It wasn't Ace's fault he was good at things Aioba wasn't. It wasn't his fault that he knew how to do things he thought he shouldn't. His old crew told him he never made good maps and couldn't predict weather to shit, so he didn't exactly train himself. The talent popped out of nowhere, and Ace didn't ask for it. Ace took some deep breaths, before dropping down.

-x-

They were a few hours from the island, and Ace suddenly stopped thinking, and looked to the front of them. He saw nothing wrong, but recognized that feeling. Something bad was there, even if they couldn't see it. Or at least, he couldn't see it.

He dropped down to the deck and ran into the navigator's room, getting a pair of binoculars that were hanging on a hook with many other pairs, with telescopes in little boxes in the wall. He hurried to the figurehead, looking and seeing dead sea kings floating in the water, which was slightly steaming, but barely noticeable.

Was the water there super hot that it killed sea kings? Would that damage the ship? Well, they shouldn't risk it. They had time to bypass it. He hurried back to the navigation room and to one of his fellow division members who was often at the helm. "I think we should turn the ship to the starboard slightly," Ace said nervously, not knowing how anyone but Aioba would react to him suggesting them move the ship.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"I think the water in front of us is boiling. There are floating lumps that I think are dead sea kings," Ace explained.

"Alright," the pirate agreed, and tilted the wheel enough to change the course a bit. Ace walked out, glad that it wasn't a problem this time, and stood at the side of the ship, watching as they got closer to where he had a bad feeling. He did indeed see burnt sea kings, floating dead on the water.

Fossa was suddenly there. "Who, what the hell?" Ace looked up, but said nothing and then looked back at the water. "Wow, that water was boiling. Would'a fucked up the ship. Who noticed it?" he asked conversationally. He looked like he'd be mean, but he was pretty nice.

Ace admitted that he noticed it. A huge hand slapped his back, and he almost stumbled forward into the railing a bit. "Nice! You sure are useful to be around!" Ace turned red and quietly thanked the commander. "Anytime, you just keep following your instincts."

"Okay," Ace said, feeling good. His argument with Aioba was forgotten from the high of saving the ship from damage and getting a compliment by one of the leaders he wasn't friends with. Fossa left, and Whitebeard was there.

"Son, when would you like to talk about it?" he asked. Ace looked at the deck.

"After dinner?" he asked quietly. Whitebeard said that was fine, and said he'd heard about his argument with Aioba. "I didn't even do anything to him. It's so annoying," Ace grumbled.

The captain said, "Sadly, no one will ever get along with everyone on the ship. Everyone will always have someone that grates on their nerves. It's just worse since you usually work with him. But, he still is banned from his usual work for over two more weeks."

"...He's been doing stuff in the navigation room even though he shouldn't. I didn't want to tattle, but he pissed me off. So I'm being immature," Ace said honestly, causing Whitebeard to laugh.

"I admire your honesty. I will speak to him, and not tell him you were the one to say something. I encourage everyone to report any wrongdoings of any kind so we can deal with them promptly," Pops said simply. Ace nodded, saying he would.

Ace took a bath a big after that, a towel draped over his crotch, feeling embarrassed whenever someone else came in, but they used the other baths when they did. If there was one open, usually the pirates choose that one over one with someone else in it. Ace was grateful for that, and relaxed into the water that drained his energy, but he was shallow enough to be able to get out on his own.

He mostly soaked, didn't wash his body, and looked up at the ceiling with a sigh. The water got cool, and Ace was unable to use his power in the water to heat it himself, so he got out after that, and headed to the galley for dinner.

When he sat down at his division's table between those he usually sat next to, he didn't expect to be thanked for detouring the ship. Ace blushed, and said that anybody could have noticed it. "I saw it better in the binoculars. It was nothing special."

"Yeah, but you noticed it without the binoculars! How do you do it?" Dex wondered. Saber was there, too, smiling at him. Deuce walked over not long after and sat across from Ace. While it wasn't prohibited for other pirates to sit there, it didn't happen often, since most were friends with those they spent most time with, their division.

Ace said, "I don't know. I just got a bad feeling again in that general direction."

"Well, it really helped us out, so good job!" Ace thanked them awkwardly. He still wasn't used to compliments, for any reason. He didn't know if his own crew complimented him a lot, as he didn't remember, but it still made him feel awkward.

-x-

Ace sat on the huge recliner bolted to the floor across from Pops' bed in his room, which was huge and the only room on the ship that Ace knew had carpet instead of wood flooring. "So, what would you like to talk about?" the captain asked with an encouraging smile.

The teen looked at the floor. "You did like Roger, right? You didn't want him dead or anything?"

"Of course not. As I said, we were on friendly terms," Whitebeard replied patiently. Ace took a shaky, deep breath and said it.

"He's my father." Whitebeard looked confused, no doubt thinking the timelines didn't line up. But he didn't look like he thought Ace was lying. He had no reason to lie like this while looking so nervous and upset. People knew by now that Ace wasn't the best at hiding his emotions, especially strong ones. "My mom carried me for twenty months. She died after giving birth to me."

Whitebeard looked shocked, and said, "I am not upset with your heritage. We are all children of the sea. Who your father is doesn't matter." Ace knew he would say those words, and smiled. "I will tell no one of this. But your father was not a monster. Though I can understand your negative feelings. Just his name must have given you a hard time," the captain said kindly.

Ace nodded, saying things weren't easy when he was told a kid of Roger should be killed before they grew up. "No one here will ever think that. We are your family, now," Whitebeard replied. "You will always be welcome here."

"Thanks, Pops," Ace said in a relieved voice. "I'm glad I woke up here, and was friends with Thatch and then everyone else." Whitebeard laughed and smiled, replying that he fit in perfectly. Second division commander. Ace ignored it.