Tinajp: Thanks! Not much Shanks and Luffy, though.

HOLY CRAP THIS IS A LONG CHAPTER. I guess a reward for me being a day late! One of my favorite chapters because of things that happen between Marco and Ace. What a good guy Marco is! Enjoy~

"Well, those are some interesting kids," Shanks said in good nature as he shared sake with the captain while the commanders talked to each other about how surprised they were that five of the nine Spades had stayed awake even after the burst of conqueror's haki. Something only very strong and competent people could do.

They were mostly shocked about Luffy and Jojo. Ace and Sabo were both clearly strong, and Deuce also had a strong presence. Jojo was a surprise as she was the cook and a woman. Thatch had hearts in his eyes about, "She's so cool and strong", making his brothers chuckle.

"So, when are they joining your crew?" the red haired pirate asked. Whitebeard didn't let people onto his ship unless he planned they were going to stay. The vampire captain laughed, and said, "Hopefully soon."

Shanks grinned. "A child vampire huh? Did he eat a devil fruit?" Shanks asked. There was no other way he could see having a power like that. He, surprising everyone, didn't ask about Luffy's heritage. They had all expected him to ask that first.

"No, we still don't know the mystery behind his illusions." Whitebeard then explained the shenanigans that had happened lately, starting with the first dream and ending with the butterfly. Shanks laughed about the time puppies ran around the ship and confused everyone, making messes.

"So, what are you doing in Paradise?" Marco asked, sitting on the railing cross legged. "And no, I'm not joining your crew."

"We just got a little bored in the New World and took a vacation to the East Blue," Shanks replied. "Visited many of the islands, came across a few oddballs out there. Like the island that has a ban on all vampires entering. Quite hostile. It was a surprise to us," the man explained after taking a sip of his sake.

"Hey, that's the island that Ace, Luffy and Sabo grew up on," Haruta said in interest. "They've been sailing around East Blue for a couple years," the vampire elaborated.

"I definitely wouldn't want to live there," Shanks said. "Even though I'm not a vampire. We didn't land, as outsiders we're not welcome, as we could be harboring a vampire to pollute the island. It was not a nice place. No wonder those kids left." The commanders frowned, not having really thought about what it must have been like to live there while hiding a vampire from everyone. No one knew the specifics of the boys' pasts, but it didn't sound the best.

Whitebeard chuckled. "Well, we'll give them a much better home here than there. They have no family, but hopefully we can change that. Eventually." Whitebeard didn't sound in the least bit doubtful that the stubborn Ace and Sabo would someday accept being with them permanently.

The smaller yonko then questioned how they met the Spades. And if they were pirates, since there was no Jolly Roger on their ship that he could see in the moonlight. "They accidentally ended up in the Grand Line, and came into contact with some large dolphins that destroyed their rudder.

"They were going hungry and running out of resources. Ace used his fire powers to make an SOS signal. Marco went and decided to help them and voila, now they're on our ship for the time being."

The two captains talked for awhile, drinking all of the sake Shank had brought. The Red Haired crew were fun to drink with with the other commanders, and soon everyone was drunk. Those who had been knocked out had awoken and were irritated that that happened every time Shanks came to visit. It was annoying, both that Shanks found it fun to do so and that they couldn't handle it and felt weak.

When Izo told some of the pirates that a group of the Spades had stayed awake, it garnered both respect and irritation that some kids and a woman could stay conscious and they couldn't. Haruta teased them all, causing many to leave the deck and give Shanks a glare. He just chuckled at it.

"Those kids are strong," Jozu said out of the blue. They could all hear Luffy's laughter, the vampires especially, coming from the back deck, where the Spades usually spent their time together when not in their room.

"Yeah, I'm surprised about Ace and Sabo mostly," Blenheim said.

"You aren't surprised about Luffy?" Vista asked in surprise.

"Nah. He already has pretty strong feeling haki, so I'm not surprised that he stayed awake," Blenheim replied. "I think that Luffy will grow to be extremely powerful if taught well. After all, his own dream took over the entire ship and surrounding area. And he's a child, imagine what he can do when he grows older and more experienced. Hope they stick around so I can witness it." He took a large swig of his own booze, not the one that Shanks had brought.

Marco listened curiously to his brothers talk about the Spades and Luffy. They might have just gained quite a bit of respect by their ability to hold up against a yonko's haki. The twins, Saber and Aggie 68 had been the ones to pass out. Aggie 68 was too big to carry so he had been left by the stairs and woke up thoroughly confused.

Though, when Marco told him what had happened, the commanders were surprised to see he wasn't angry about both being knocked out and being left behind. He just asked where his crew had gone, and left in the direction he was given.

The vampire commanders looked up when they heard lots of pitter patters coming from the far deck, and weren't surprised to see Luffy's purple puppies had made a second appearance. Whitebeard laughed as Shanks looked thoroughly amused with the swarm that came jumping off the steps and barreling down the deck. He was incredibly drunk by now, and laughed heartily as pirates were confused and annoyed.

Some of them branched off to go annoy others or run around loudly. "That kid sure keeps you on your toes, it seems," Shanks joked. A few of the puppies ran into the crowd of commanders, and there was one very visibly angry. Kingdew was always a stick in the mud, but Shanks laughed at his face, pointing at him childishly and irritating the commander even further.

Shanks was interested to touch the nearest puppy and feel that it was almost between being solid and not there. Suddenly he wished Luffy was on his ship because he was immensely curious about how things would end up with such a powerful child with incredible potential. The little animals disappeared about ten minutes after their initial appearance, fading away without a sound.

-x-

"I hear Whitebeard saying nice stuff about us," Luffy said happily as he sat in Ace's lap, making more butterflies fly away from his hands. "He says we are strong and good peoples." The others blushed a little bit. Though those that had woken up after being put to sleep looked a bit embarrassed that they had been knocked out in front of everyone, even if the majority of others had been rendered unconscious as well.

"That's nice," Sabo said lightheartedly. The group talked and played with Luffy as he made variations of butterflies that eventually turned into the purple puppies again. The Spades didn't react much to them other than to chuckle at the sounds of pirates shouting about the puppies being back.

They didn't say anything about it, but those of the Spades who had been awake worried about Luffy's impromptu magic trick. Marco had given the others who had been awake and weren't in on the loop a look that said not to tell the others.

Ace glared at a group of people that had become curious about the Spades and the mysterious butterfly, who came to see what they were doing. The sailors very much didn't like having so many people awake at night. Though, they were all slowly trickling inside to go to bed, as it was clear there would be no fight between the two yonkos.

"Go away," Ace said rudely. The pirates frowned, but Luffy had stopped making the butterflies at the moment. By the time the boy created a swarm of puppies again, many were inside and no longer spying or trying to spy on the group.

Aggie 68 eventually woke up, after the others had, and wasn't mad that they had left him on the other part of the deck. He was very large after all, and only a few had stayed awake out of them. When he approached his crew, they explained to him what had happened. He sat down and talked with his small family.

The night went by relatively quickly, and when it was Luffy's dinner time, and therefore all of the Spades' dinner times, Shanks was leaving. The commanders were all still awake, and the Spades could tell that Shanks was incredibly drunk. When he turned to see the small crew of guests, he waved drunkenly and said, "I'll meet ya again sometime!" and his first mate had to help him onto their ship that was docked next to the Moby Dick.

"Kay!" Luffy shouted back, waving enthusiastically. The pirates who were still awake smiled. They knew Pops liked hearing that. Did Luffy want to stay longer, or was he just saying that? Ace looked uncomfortable with the interaction, while Sabo was smiling lightly.

Thatch was still conscious, though he was incredibly tipsy, and asked Luffy for the blood candies for the crew to try when he woke up the next day. Luffy agreed and asked the man for dinner. His tummy growled loudly. The cook smiled and chuckled before he told Luffy that their crew would need leftovers tonight. He had known he would become drunk and wouldn't be able to cook for the Spades, so he'd made plenty of food before Shanks came and before the Spades had woken up, which was all now in one of the refrigerators in the large kitchen.

Luffy had no problem with this and went running inside, followed closely by his brothers and leisurely the rest of the crew. Luffy ran straight for the galley and started opening all of the fridges to find that night's dinner. He couldn't read, so he was unable to read what each fridge held on a note held in place by a magnet.

Sabo picked him up and plopped him down on his stool while Ace got out the left overs meant for the little crew, and served everyone, including himself. "So, you five were the ones to stay awake?" Aggie 68 asked curiously, looking at those who had been able to continue being conscious even after the powerful pirate had come aboard.

"Yeah. Us three, Deuce and Jojo," Sabo replied.

"Everyone was surprised. I heard them," Luffy said between mouthfuls of yummy stir fry. "I like Whitebeards a lot." He hadn't heard everything that the two captains had talked about, as he had become distracted through much of the conversation with talking and making things. Everyone but the boy noticed the fearful look on Ace before it disappeared. It made them all sad. Especially Sabo. He hadn't seen Ace this insecure in a while.

"But do you miss our ship?" Ace asked. Luffy nodded.

"I like the big space but I miss home, too," the boy answered. He kicked his feet a bit randomly for a few seconds before stopping. "I like Shanks. He looks fun," Luffy added.

Sabo smiled. "He sure was impressed with your magic trick. But no more tricks in front of anyone but us or the commanders, okay?" Luffy knew he must have a good reason, and trusted his brother.

"Kay," Luffy said with a smile.

-x-

The next day, all of the humans were awake fairly early as some of the crew that had gone on a mission were coming back. The vivre card was very helpful for finding their way back to the main ship. Since there was no commander for division two at the moment, Marco was over them as leader.

Teach was the one who lead the group, the one in command while away from home. He had been one of the longest members on the crew that wasn't a vampire. None of those who went on the mission were vampires, as it was a small group and the ship didn't have a cabin very big for the vampires to stay in during the day.

The big man was a candidate for the second division commander, but had declined for some reason. When the smallish ship came into view, very tiny compared to the Moby and even smaller than the Spade's ship, some of the humans on the crew cheered at the side of the ship, glad to see their brothers again and recount all of the strange things that had been happening while they were gone. Those who had still been awake when Luffy made the butterfly were instructed to not say anything about it to anyone. By the captain, which meant it was against the captain's orders if someone did mention it.

Marco lowered the rope ladder down so that the returning pirates could board the ship. There were fifteen of them, and they were all happy to be back. They would report their mission before going into detail about the ship they were towing and that had no doubt been noticed. It was daytime after all.

"What's with-?" Teach began, but Marco cut him off.

"Give your report before I go into specifics about the ship we're towing. Pops is awake today since you're all back," Marco said, and lead Teach and the others who went on the mission into the ship. The human pirates gave them high fives or congratulated them for coming back from the mission with no injuries to be seen.

Teach and the others followed Marco into the galley, where the captain was playing chess against Jozu. Whitebeard was winning by far, and laughed at Jozu's frustration. It was a funny sight with the large captain using the very small chess pieces. He looked up when he sensed and heard Marco and many coming behind him.

"Pops! Good to see you!" Teach called in a jovial tone. Whitebeard laughed and ask how his sons were. "The mission went easily, ended up destroying a marine base, but what can you do?"

"Gurarara, glad to hear that." Marco sat at the table and put his glasses on to write down when Teach was saying about the mission. He didn't need the glasses, but it was a habit he'd had since being a human. It felt right to wear glasses when writing or reading, even if the lenses were just clear. It was a quirk his brothers teased him about often.

"So," Teach started after the report was finished. "What's with the ship?"

"We have some guests aboard. They were stranded, so we're taking them someplace their ship can be fixed up," Marco explained. "One of them is a part human, part vampire four year old. His name is Luffy and he sails with his brothers and their crew."

"A child vampire?!" one of the pirates who went on the mission exclaimed.

"Part vampire. He has special circumstances, and we know they're telling the truth. Luffy breathes, his heart beats, and he can eat human food while also needing a bit of blood every week. And if you see any apparitions or strange events, ignore them as best as you can and not try to figure out what they are," Marco said, unintentionally sounding very ominous.

Teach and the others just looked confused or shocked. Then there was some shouting coming from outside, and Marco shot up and ran to the deck, expecting some sort of dream from Luffy, and just hoping it wasn't a nightmare. Pops couldn't go outside so he waited for Marco to come back and tell him.

Teach and the pirates who had just returned followed Marco and they all stood shocked as giant butterflies dominated the sky and some were landed on the railing or yardarms. Marco went up to the nearest one fearlessly and reached a hand out. Like the puppies from the previous night, the butterflies felt that strange inbetween on being solid and not.

They were only present for maybe ten minutes before fading into nothing soundlessly. "Alright, everyone, back to work," Marco called. Some of the crew had started to just go along with whatever kept happening as they knew that the commanders and captain knew about it and felt that things were fine even with all the strange events happening for the last week or so.

Marco walked back inside and to the galley, where the captain and Jozu had resumed their chess game. "What was it this time?" Whitebeard asked lightheartedly.

"Just some giant butterflies. Harmless, but they're gone now," Marco answered. Whitebeard laughed.

"He sure does keep us on our toes," the captain said with a grin. Jozu then said, "Check mate," surprising his father, who looked baffled. Marco chuckled while Jozu grinned, having made a complete turn around just in the time Marco had left to go see what everyone was shouting about.

-x-

It was late afternoon when the first Spade woke up, who was Jojo. All of the others were asleep, and Zeno had been the one to take watch, and apparently nothing had shown up inside the bedroom. If there had been, he would have woken Luffy up to stop it.

She quietly left the room, closing the door gently and smiling at the three brothers, who were honestly so cute when they slept. She'd never say that to Ace or Sabo, or she'd have greatly offended the freckled-one's pride, but she could think it.

There were some mumbling about her while she headed to the galley, and she picked out the words "strong" and "woman". It just made her scoff and give those a look of "I'm better than you", because why not? They were just upset that she and some kids were able to last under a yonko's haki and they couldn't.

When she got to the galley, she saw Thatch and Izo at the kitchen bar, Thatch on one side and Izo sitting at the bar counter, talking. When the two pirates noticed her coming over, she didn't miss the look Izo gave to his friend. No one, and she means no one had missed the signals Thatch gave off. It flattered and entertained Jojo and from the looks of it, the rest of the crew.

"Hi, Jojo," Thatch said with tinted cheeks. Jojo held in a chuckle.

"Good afternoon, Thatch. So, Luffy is alright with the other vampires trying out his candies. I wrote you the ingredients and how to make them," Jojo said, pulling out a piece of paper with all the necessities. How much of what was needed, and how different blood types tasted different to Luffy in the candies. Thatch took it from her and saw how thorough the list was.

There were even side notes, going into great detail about the best way to go about the problems that come up when boiling caramelized blood. How to make sure it doesn't damage the pot. Thatch thanked her and opened the bag of blood candy. They looked like regular strawberry hard candy. They didn't smell the best to Thatch, but he was a human, so maybe they smelled better to vampires.

Well, the vampires would be coming out soon, so they could try them out and see if it was worth it for Thatch to make some himself. "So, Jojo," Izo began. "I didn't know how strong you were. You held up under Red Hair's haki. Not just anyone can do that."

Jojo shrugged. "I was put through extensive military training as a child. It included haki," she added. "The marines never sounded like my kind of career, so I ran away and met Ace and the others and decided to sail with them after Ace and Sabo saved the island I was living on." The two pirates looked surprised, and Vista came over to listen to the story he heard from the table.

"They saved your island?" Izo asked in surprise.

"Yeah. It was in the East Blue, so there weren't too many fighters strong enough on the island. Sabo ended up staying on the little ship with Luffy, while Ace went inland and killed the tyrant pirate who had decided it would be his new kingdom. Ace and Sabo may seem selfish in some way, only seeming to care about Luffy, but that's not true," Jojo said. "They're all really good people."

Izo and Thatch smiled. "How old were they when you met them?" Thatch questioned.

"They were both almost 17," she answered. When they looked surprised at the age that they had defeated some strong enemy at, Jojo added, "They've been strong since they first started sailing. don't really know anything specific about their lives before taking to the sea, but I assume they exercised and trained a lot."

Thatch then served Jojo an early meal than when the Spades usually ate with Luffy, but Jojo was hungry. She talked with Thatch and Izo for awhile until she and the other commanders knew Luffy was up and everyone was coming. He was noisy in the hallway, laughing loudly.

When the three brothers entered the galley, they were swinging Luffy by his hands between the older two. Luffy was clearly enjoying it very much, giggling helplessly with a bright grin, showing his small teeth.

Sabo and Ace set him down and he ran to the bar counter and climbed up onto the chair. "Jojo!" he said loudly. "Where were you?" The woman ruffled Luffy's fluffy hair with a smile.

"I woke up before everyone and came to get some food. Thatch is gonna let the other vampires taste your yummy candies tonight. It's very nice that you're sharing with others," she praised. Luffy smiled. Jojo hadn't been able to spend too much time with Luffy and both older brothers back on their home ship, as the sleep schedule was much different. It was nice being able to spend some time with everyone at the same time.

"I hope they like them. They are yummy," Luffy said. "Jojo makes yummy food," he added. Thatch served all of the Spades once they were seated. They all dug in, and Jojo became a bit irritated that she hadn't been able to cook for her crew in awhile. It made her feel somewhat useless to be honest.

"Thatch, may I cook or help you cook their dinner?" she asked politely. Thatch smiled shyly and his face turned red, making Vista and Izo chuckle.

"Sure. I don't know what to make, though. I mean, together, or, well you could just cook the food if you want." Luffy then decided to comment on Thatch's clear behavior.

He took a big mouthful of the food and said, "Thatch face turns red with Jojo like Ace does with Marco." Everyone froze for a second, Luffy oblivious that what he had said would upset someone. That someone was Ace, whose face turned a brilliant red. He scowled, and looked extremely embarrassed. When he got up and fled the room, Luffy was shocked. "Where's Ace going?" he asked in worry. He stared at the place Ace left, before figuring that he wasn't going to come back.

Sabo sighed. "Ace needs some alone time." It clicked for Luffy that he had done something bad and upset Ace, though he didn't know what it was about about what he'd said. He started crying, which turned into wailing.

As Luffy hadn't been this upset since his powers manifested, something new happened. Hundreds of small furry animals of all sizes and appearances appeared in the room and all rushed towards Luffy, jumping on him and rubbing against him for comfort. The Spades and Izo and Vista were pushed away from the sheer amount of creatures coming to comfort Luffy. It didn't help, just alarmed everyone else in the room, which was full of humans and some vampires waking up at their own pace.

"Lu, it's okay, Lu," Sabo said, trying to get to him through the animals, who were particularly solid at the moment. Sabo got close enough and snatched Luffy up from his chair, carrying him off to where Ace had ran to. The animals followed after Sabo, sounding angry that he took Luffy away from them. Luffy's creations had usually just been happy, but it seemed they were so detailed that they had emotions. Not just live puppets that moved around.

"C'mon Lu, it's okay, I'm gonna take you to Ace," Sabo said, trying not to step on the bunnies and mice that were underfoot, slowing him down before he was knocked to the ground by a puppy jumping on his back. It was causing quite a commotion. Deuce ran past them to get to Ace faster, since Sabo wouldn't be taking Luffy anywhere. Damn, Ace! He'll be even more upset knowing he was the reason for Luffy's breakdown.

-x-

Ace sprinted out of the galley, face red and absolutely humiliated. He knew Sabo had already noticed the blushing, but he didn't know Luffy had. He knew that Luffy didn't mean to upset Ace, but he had said it in front of other commanders, and Thatch was one of them. What if they told Marco, and Marco thought he was disgusting and stopped spending time with Luffy?

For some reason, that sounded really bad to him. He did like Marco and how nice he was to Luffy, so having him ignore them would upset him and Luffy. He had already run far enough to not hear the commotion Luffy was making. He sprinted down the hall, pushing past pirates, humans and vampires alike, out to the deck.

Ace was not happy about who he saw outside, right next to the door. Marco. What bad timing. "Ace? Whoa, what's wrong?" the phoenix asked. Ace didn't make eye contact, and just said, "It's nothing," and quickly walked past him. Marco looked worried, but felt going after him would be a problem. But then Deuce sprinted past him and onto the deck, shouting for Ace to stop.

Ace was at the railing, for the first time bummed he was on a ship and couldn't run away for too long. Deuce approached from behind. "Ace, Luffy didn't mean to upset you. You know he didn't."

Ace glared at the dark horizon, the sea reflecting the starry sky. "I know that," he said in a hard voice. "I'm just embarrassed."

Deuce sighed and walked next to him. "Why don't you go see Luffy? He'll make you feel better. And he's very upset and his powers are going all over the place. I think there is no more transparency about the cause of all the strange happenings." Ace looked up in shock, suddenly feeling terribly ashamed and worried. To make things worse, he then collapsed unconscious.

Marco hadn't gone back inside and could hear when Ace and Deuce said clearly, even though he wasn't trying. Then, Ace collapsed. Must have been a sleep-attack triggered by strong emotions. Marco ran over and tried to get Ace to wake up. "Marco, maybe you shouldn't be the one to be here when he wakes up," Deuce said politely, not knowing Marco already knew Ace's feelings.

"Then you stay with him, I'll go get Sabo and Luffy," Marco said. He could hear Luffy crying and the commotion around him. He would just worry Luffy more, but Ace should wake up to his beloved brothers.

Luffy was curled in a ball, crying and surrounded by cute and fluffy creatures. Marco stepped through them, surprised by how solid these ones felt, and crouched in front of Luffy. "Luffy, Ace fell asleep. I think he'd want to see you when he wakes up." Luffy sniffled.

"Ace i-is mad a-at me," Luffy cried. The little animals reached their time limit and disappeared. Sabo moved it to pick the boy up, his face puffy and blotchy red. Marco gave looks to the pirates that had gathered to watch whatever was making so much noise, and then they promptly left the vicinity.

"C'mon, let's go help Ace. I don't think he's mad at you, Luffy," Sabo said. Marco clearly wanted to know what had happened, but Sabo didn't tell him anything, just swiftly walked outside to Ace with a still crying Luffy.

When they saw Deuce cradling Ace's head in his lap, completely passed out, Luffy jumped out of Sabo's arms and ran forward. He shook Ace to wake him up, but the sleep attack was still in effect. Sabo arrived and held Ace's hand. Poor Ace will now be both embarrassed about the Marco incident, and now passing out.

Aggie 68 had told the brothers that strong emotions would trigger sleep attacks, so Sabo assumed Ace had felt guilty over making Luffy upset. Not that the boy would blame Ace for it. Luffy put his face in Ace's when he started to stir and finally woke up to see Luffy, face puffy and bright red, cheeks still wet.

He sat up slowly and hugged Luffy tightly, hating that he was the one to upset his precious brother. "I'm sorry Ace! I didn't mean to make you mad!" Luffy cried. Ace rubbed his back and cradled him in his arms.

"I'm not mad at you. You didn't mean to make me upset and I shouldn't have left you like that. I'm the one who should be sorry. And now everyone knows too. It's all my fault, I'm so sorry," Ace said desperately, feeling his own tears in his eyes. He hated himself for making Luffy cry and think that Ace didn't like him anymore.

"I won't say anything about Thatch or Marco again," Luffy swore, but that wasn't what Ace wanted. He didn't want Luffy to avoid Marco and Thatch at all.

"How about we just don't say anything about me blushing? We can talk about Thatch and Marco about other things if you want," Ace said, slowly calming both he and Luffy down. "I promise I'm not angry with you, and I'm sorry I ran off."

"'Kay," Luffy whispered, hugging Ace so tight that it would have been uncomfortable if Ace wasn't a logia. "Am I in trouble?" Luffy asked quietly.

"Why do you ask that?" Sabo asked, wondering why Luffy would feel he was in trouble after Ace just made up with him. Luffy looked down in shame.

"Everyone saw my power. I made lots of stuff, but I didn't mean to," Luffy explained quietly. Like saying it quietly will make it so it never happened. Sabo gently ran his hand through Luffy's hair.

"They were going to find out soon, anyways. Maybe them knowing will be good? They won't be afraid or think the ship is haunted anymore. But Luffy, you went out of control, but none of your creations harmed anyone. I think that should be the main focus. Even when you weren't in control, all you wanted was for something to comfort you," Sabo said. "And if people are upset, well, they'll be upset and we can't do anything about that." Sabo made sure to be open and honest about the whole thing. Lying or trying to lessen the impact of what happened would probably just make things worse in the long run.

"It'll be okay, Lu. The captain is fine with it, and he makes the decisions around here. Besides, I think he really likes us. don't worry," Sabo insisted.

-x-

"What the hell happened?" Marco demanded of Izo and Thatch, who were in between laughing and frowning. "Why were Ace and Luffy so upset?" His two brothers slyly grinned at him. Something happened between Ace and Luffy, both of them were clearly upset, so why were Thatch and Izo grinning like idiots?

Thatch chuckled as he got a glass of blood for Marco and the vampires who were coming to dinner. He put out the pitchers for each type of blood and the glass cups for them to use. Thatch waited for the others to disperse before saying, "It appears Ace has feelings for someone and Luffy is more observant than he appears," Thatch said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at Marco, who frowned at him. So, it was about Ace's crush on him. He felt bad that he ended up being the one Ace probably wanted to see least.

"Go into detail, please," Marco asked Izo, turning away from Thatch's shit eating grin.

"Well, Thatch was being an obvious idiot who's in love, and Luffy compared Thatch's blush for Jojo to Ace's blush for you. Ace fled the scene and Luffy felt he had upset his brother badly. He started crying and his powers seemed to go out of control a bit, and hundreds of fluffy animals just glopmed him." Marco sighed. Of all of the people he didn't want to know about Ace's feelings, it was these two.

"Hey, wait," Thatch suddenly said. "That's why everyone laughed in the meeting! Ace did something fun-" Marco cut him off, smacking his hand in front of Thatch's mouth with force.

Marco glared at him darkly, a look he rarely ever wore, and especially at his family. "Do not make this worse for him," he grumbled threateningly. "He doesn't need others to give him shit over something he can't control." Thatch and Izo looked shocked, but both nodded. They didn't want to hurt Ace or embarrass him more than he clearly already was.

The phoenix left the two stunned pirate commanders and made a beeline for Pops, snatching a handful of blood candies from the glass bowl on the counter that was full of them. Marco didn't need to tell the captain what had happened, as he heard Marco's conversation easily. Marco popped one of the candies into his mouth as he sat across from the man. They weren't that bad, actually. A bit too sweet for his taste, but he could see why a child would enjoy them.

Whitebeard took the offered candy and tried it himself. Other vampires in the room were talking about how good the candies tasted, and Marco could hear Thatch gushing about how amazing Jojo was to come up with the idea of blood candies. God, he was so smitten with the female cook. And Jojo seemed to find it amusing and wasn't mean about it.

He wished he could be the same for Ace, but Thatch was unashamed with his adoration of Jojo. If Ace had similar feelings for Marco, he clearly wasn't happy about it. Marco didn't want to make things awkward, but he wanted to make sure that Ace didn't think Marco thought he was disgusting.

Maybe Marco would talk to him in private.

-x-

Ace didn't go back inside the galley that night, not even for dinner. Luffy and Deuce had gone to the kitchen to get everyone's food. They used it as practice with Luffy's power by having puppies with plates balanced on their backs to make their way back to their room. Jojo was a bit disappointed she couldn't cook their dinner that night, but she didn't want to pressure Ace to go eat in the galley where there were people who knew about his issue.

So, the Spades ate in their room, lounging around and talking about things other than Luffy's powers, or Ace's narcolepsy symptoms they'd seemed to have forgotten about. Things turned quiet when Ace took a much needed nap during dinner. Luffy pat his head and said, "No bad dreams," like he had a couple nights ago. It worked then, and Ace should sleep happy.

When he woke up, the plates were all back in the kitchen, and they were all lying in their beds relaxing. The sun was coming up soon, and everyone was telling Luffy a story. It used to happen more, but as they had entered more dangerous waters, there was never the time everyone could stay up at the same time.

Luffy was three the last time they did the group story. Sabo would start the narration and pass the story to the next person, who added their own little part so a massive story from everyone's imagination began. It was something the brothers missed doing. Luffy was on his back, eyes drooping slowly as he listened. He had his thumb in his mouth with his giraffe stuffed animal in the crook of his elbow.

Once the sun rose, Luffy drifted to sleep. The others were all ready to sleep, but Ace said, "I'm sorry if I mess everything up for everybody. Maybe Marco won't want us here anymore now that they know about my stupid blushing." He sounded so pathetic and defeated, ashamed of something he couldn't help.

Sabo sighed and flicked his brother's forehead head. "Marco isn't a jerk, Ace. He's not gonna want us all gone just cause you think he's cute or something. I mean, Thatch has total crush on Jojo and everyone is cool with it."

Ace pouted. "Still… I don't want to ruin things again." The last part was very quiet, and they all knew he was speaking about what happened before they set sail. There were references to whatever happened sometimes when Ace was at his most insecure, but it was never gone into detail, and the Spades knew better than to ask.

"You won't, Ace," Sabo insisted. No one said anything more as Ace curled on his side, not particularly tired as he'd just napped. Sabo and the others quickly fell to sleep. Ace did his best to fall asleep, even trying counting sheep, which was stupid in his opinion.

After an hour of being unable to fall asleep, he got up and left quietly. He made sure to leave a note on his pillow. Saying he went to the bathroom, when he was actually going to go to Marco and apologize.

"Where's Marco?" Ace asked a random person from the second division.

"Probably in his room working on paperwork," the man said. Ace thanked him politely and went in the direction he was gestured to. He worried he was in the wrong place, or it wasn't right for him, a non-crewmember, to be in this area, but no one turned him away. Thankfully, he didn't run into Thatch, Izo or Vista, who had been there for the initial incident.

He knocked on a semi-open door that he heard the scratching of pen on paper. "Come in," Marco's voice called. Ace wasn't comfortable going in, suddenly feeling very alone and worried. He just widened the door gap a little. When no one entered, Marco looked up in surprise to see Ace.

"Hey, Ace, What's up? Didn't you go to bed?" the pirate asked lightly. Ace looked down, kicking the toe of his boot into the wood floor.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," Ace mumbled. Marco stood up and set his glasses down, opening the door and gesturing Ace inside. The teen was glad that it wasn't Marco's bedroom, but an office of some sort. It wasn't very tidy, papers all over the table. It looked incredibly boring.

"What's up?" Marco asked, sitting on a chair on one side of the desk while Ace sat in the lounge chair near the now closed door.

"I'm sorry."

"Wha- for what?" Marco asked, clearly not knowing what Ace was talking about.

"I don't wanna make you uncomfortable. I bet Izo and Thatch already told you about my little episode. I-" Ace mumbled, pulling on his shorts restlessly. Marco give him an understanding smile, and decided to be honest.

"I already knew about how you felt," Marco confessed. "I didn't say anything because it's clear you don't like feeling like that. It doesn't bother me, or gross me out, Ace. And we're not kicking you guys off because you think I'm nice looking or something." Ace's mouth was wide open.

"How did you know?!" he demanded, embarrassed, but also glad he didn't need to confess. Marco smiled at him in amusement.

"Vampires have good senses of smell. Every time you blush, you release pheromones. I've known since the beginning." Ace looked angry for a second before he deflated. "I know you've never really been near full vampires, so you're not used to our 'allure'," Marco explained.

Ace scoffed irritably. "Well, it's not just because you look good. You're nice, and you didn't judge Luffy or any of us when you didn't know what Luffy was. And you let us stay on your ship when we needed it, we didn't even ask. You just offered." Marco smiled at him kindly.

"Not all humans are liars, and not all vampires are monsters," Marco said simply. "You guys are nice people, and deserve to have others be kind and generous to you. Our crew values good people and those with family bonds. You're crew are good people and have family bonds. You all fit in well, and to be honest, Luffy's unpredictability is refreshing for us older vampires. Keeps us on our toes. You are all welcome to stay, even permanently if you choose to."

Ace looked uncertain and then lowered his gaze to the floor. "You wouldn't want me here," he said quietly, though of course Marco could hear. "Not after what I did."

"No one would hold your past against you," Marco said emphatically. "The past is the past. To be honest, I've done some pretty terrible things, but this crew, this family, doesn't hold anyone's past against them. I promise. And please don't feel uncomfortable around me now. Now that you know I know, things won't be so weird."

"Okay…"

Marco smiled and stood up. "Why don't you go to bed now?" he asked as he walked over to the teen. Ace nodded slowly. Marco walked him back to the room, having a feeling Ace would get lost since he hadn't been in this part of the ship before.

-x-

The teen was quiet and didn't say "goodnight" before entering the room. Marco stayed by the door, listening to see if Ace went to bed, and he did. Fairly quickly, a new voice's snore started up.

He walked back to his office, ready to do paperwork and sure he wouldn't be distracted now that he and Ace had everything out in the open. Ace's feelings were quiet innocent. Marco was nice to him, and he wasn't used to someone being nice and even nicer to the most precious thing in his life: Luffy. Izo and Haruta could speculate all they want. That Ace wanted some intimate-ness, but he was just relieved someone liked him as a person, and knew something bad had happened with him but did not hold him accountable for whatever it was.

He did pass Thatch in the hall, and told him he'd better keep his nose out of Ace's business and feelings. He even warned the man that he and Pops would not be happy if he or Izo spread around the news to the other commanders or even the other pirates in general. Thatch knew to take Marco's threat seriously. He wouldn't pester Ace about it, and he said so.

"I can't promise you Izo won't, though," Thatch warned.

Marco sighed at this, knowing that was the truth. Izo had tried matchmaking with the crew many times before. He'd been successful with nurse Tami and a third-division member, so he then claimed he could work magic. Usually it ended up in various shenanigans that Thatch usually took part in.

Though it was annoying sometimes, everyone knew it was in good fun. It wouldn't be for Ace, though. Most of the crew were strangers to him, and he was closed off and seemed to have trust issues that Marco believed stemmed from his childhood. After all, his crew mates were very trustworthy.

"Next time you see him, give him my message," the phoenix instructed. "I'm going to go do some more paperwork and then go to bed. I've been awake too long. I trust you and the others can handle the ship while I nap for a few hours."

"Sure, buddy," Thatch said and wandered away, muttering about how Jojo might be impressed if he succeeded in making his own blood candies the first try. The general population of vampires on the ship had enjoyed the candy. It was something they could eat that wasn't just plain old blood. The taste got boring after awhile, one of the things vampires could universally grumble about.