Ace

Ace made an overall decision to stay in Alabasta's port town before doing any investigation. He promised that he would wait for Luffy for a time period of two weeks, and he planned on keeping that promise. Besides, he would have to travel across the desert to get the real search going, and he didn't much like the thought of trekking across such a barren, desolate place alone.

The port town was a very nice place. Nanohana, it was called, which the locals told him meant "little flower". Ace was glad that he found the meaning. He thought that it added to the rich culture of the country nicely. There were people of all skin colors, shapes, and sizes, and Ace was no stranger to different kinds of people since traveling across the Grand Line meant that he had met pirates of all types. It was really still an enlightening experience, no matter where he was. The town itself had its own cultural aspects. Ace would wake up to hear the sounds of the hustle and bustle of the market outside and smell spices and Nanohana's signature perfume. Ace loved how lively it was.

He had been there for a at least a week and a half. There hadn't been much to investigate here, though he did ask around. He rather busied himself with enjoying the town. The markets were interesting, even if he was met with some sort of scam every few seconds: a man selling an apple of eternal life, a woman selling a love potion. There were voices of women bartering down prices, and the voices of the shopkeepers bartering them back up. There were interesting products lining the streets. Ace knew that he shouldn't waste money, but it wouldn't hurt to buy a few gifts for some of the guys back at the ship, right? He wouldn't spend too much.

For the commanders to share with Pops (there was no way he could have bought enough for the entire crew), he bought some Alabastian alcohol. He had sampled it, and it was actually quite delicious.

For Haruta, he bought a yo-yo, one he played with himself to pass the time. Thankfully, he didn't break it when trying to execute some tricks the children around town had shown him. They were pretty kind and welcoming.

For Izo, he bought a bottle of Nanohana's perfume. The scent was quite strong, pungent even, but the locals didn't seem to mind. Probably because they were constantly basked in the scent. It didn't smell terrible though.

For Thatch, he stared sadly at a set of spices before deciding to buy it, planning to leave it at whatever grave the crew had dug for him.

For Marco, he bought a light blue turban, one that was the same shade as the sash that we wore around his waist. Ace wasn't sure if the phoenix would ever use it, but maybe he would appreciate the gesture. Admittedly, Ace tried to stop himself from buying something for the man, but the color of the thing reminded him of Marco too much, and he suddenly found himself holding the colorful fabric and handing over the requested amount of beri without trying to barter. He cursed himself for his irrationality afterwards.

Damn, Marco. Making him buy a gift impulsively, though it was no one's fault but his own. Ace's anger still had not vanished. He should have bought gifts for everyone except him. That would show him, but they really had to start making amends if they were to continue to be commanders on the same ship. No matter whose fault it was, Ace had to take steps to move forward, even if he was still heartbroken, even if that rift never truly mended.

Ace had also been eating at some of the restaurants. He made sure to run before he could be identified, as always. The food was delicious (though the same could be said about all food for him). All the dishes had their own unique taste, bursting with flavor and spice that danced across his tongue. He wondered if he could find some recipes to bring back to the chefs on the Moby Dick.

Eating was the activity he was currently engaged in. Well he had been. Apparently he collapsed while eating again, which was nothing new. His narcolepsy just loved to screw him over, though it was rather funny sometimes like it was now. A crowd formed when the patrons of the restaurant overreacted to his so-called "death"; however, they dispersed quickly once they realized he was fine.

He dropped his fork, letting it clatter on the plate. "So," he started, speaking to the restaurant owner. He pulled out his brother's wanted poster from his bag. "I've been looking for this guy. A pirate that wears a straw hat."

"I'm surprised that you're bold enough to eat out in public," a voice grunted from the entrance of the restaurant, "Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Portgas D. Ace."

Ace didn't even have time to respond before the shocked patrons began firing rapid words, placing together the situation in front of them.

"Th-the Whitebeard pirates?"

"This idiot is one of Whitebeard's men?"

"Now that you mention it, that mark is definitely familiar..."

"There's no mistaking it! He's a Whitebeard!"

"What's a big-shot pirate like you doing in this part of the Grand Line?" the voice from earlier continued, ignoring the panicked yells of the civilians.

Ace turned around in his stool with a grin. "I'm looking," he said, "for my little brother." He recognized this man: Marine Captain Smoker of Loguetown. Why was he in the Grand Line of all places anyways? Hypocrite.

Smoker stepped further into the restaurant, a tense silence hanging in the air. No one touched their food. They remained frozen at the sight in front of him. Ace couldn't blame them. This was about to go to blows anyways.

"So? What do you want with me?" Ace asked mockingly, already knowing the answer to his question.

"Just let me arrest you quietly."

Yep. Exactly what he thought. "No thanks. I'll pass."

"Yeah. I figured," the Marine sighed. So good. They were on a level of understanding. Somewhat. "I busy trying to capture another pirate anyways. To be honest, I have no interest in you."

Ace shrugged. "Just look the other way then," he offered.

"Not gonna happen," Smoker growled. He pulled his fist back, allowing it to turn into smoke. "Not as long as I'm a Marine, and you're a pirate."

Ace chuckled. "How bland," he mused aloud, not addressing Smoker in particular. He raised his head, grin growing impossibly wider. "Let's have some fun."

And have some fun he would. He really needed a good fight.

But before he knew it, Smoker was flying at him, but it didn't look like he was throwing a punch. It looked more as if someone launched h-

Suddenly, Ace found himself blasted through the walls, several walls in fact. He blacked out for a few seconds, and when he woke up, he was buried under a pile of rubble.

Securing his hat on his head, he muttered to himself, "Who the hell did this?" He stood up, stamping back to the restaurant by following the telltale trail of holes in the walls of the buildings. "What's the big idea?!" He crossed the threshold a house and stopped. A family eating their meal stared at him in Ace, filling him with guilt.

'Whoops. That must've been unpleasant.' Ace bowed. "My humblest apologies for disturbing your meal."

He continued forward, determined to find the idiot who dared to slam him into the wall. "Who would even do something like that?!" he exclaimed, approaching the unintentional new entrance to Spice Bean.

And then Ace saw him sitting there. Of course it was that idiot, sitting there innocently and eating food. That was no surprise. Food was always on Luffy's brain.

"Lu!" He yelled happily. "Oi, Luf-"

Then he was slammed face first into the ground by Smoker.

"Strawhat!" Ace heard him shout.

Once again, he blacked out, and when he came to, Luffy was running away.

Ace sprinted after them, holding his hat on his head. "Oi! Wait up, Lu! It's me!"

When Ace finally caught up to them, he was forced to save Luffy's ass once again. "You may be smoke," he had said to Smoker, who had pursued Luffy relentlessly, "but I am fire."

Luffy grinned that stupidly wide grin when he saw him, but Ace insisted that he get away from the Marines saying that they would have time for reunions later. He only needed to distract Smoker, which wouldn't take long. A few fiery blows were exchanged before Ace used the cover from all the smoke generated to escape as he laughed. Smoker was probably cursing himself right now for letting both of them escape. Oh well, this was no longer Ace's problem. He hopped away on the rooftops, searching for signs of Luffy's signature Strawhat below.

When he found him, the idiot was lost in an alleyway, sitting atop a barrel.

"Sheesh!" Ace sighed. "I guess there was no point to letting you escape then." He should have expected this. Luffy probably got distracted by one thing or another and ended up separated from his crew. Whatever. This would give them some more time to catch up.

Luffy looked upward, grinning widely. "Ace!"

Ace jumped down from the roof, landing solidly on the ground. "It's been a while!" he smiled. It was hard to believe that Luffy was now seventeen and on his own journey. It felt like yesterday was when Luffy saw him off.

"You too, Ace!"

Immediately, they were arm wrestling, using the barrel Luffy had been sitting on moments before. They talked, reminiscing over little memories. Luffy had grown. His jaw was a little less round, and he had gotten slightly taller, but to Ace, he would always be the younger- youngest- brother. They ended up destroying the barrel (which was filled with water), neither of them the victor.

They wandered through the streets of Alabasta. Ace vaguely remembered being attacked by some bounty hunters, but they were so weak that they were practically irrelevant. They were persistent unfortunately, so Ace ended up having to shake them off as Luffy launched off to his ship. Ace had to get to his Striker anyways.

Once he had shaken the hunters off, he sailed after Luffy's ship. He pulled up alongside them, but no one noticed his presence. They all seemed to be focused on Luffy, whom Ace heard say, "I could totally beat him now though!"

Sure he could. Brat.

Ace looked up. Luffy was leaning on the rail right above his skiff.

Perfect.

He sprung up. "Just who are you going to beat?" he asked, landing on the railing. Luffy collapsed on the deck with a yelp. 'Just as planned.'

Luffy's crew, which was pretty small compared to Ace's own, stared at him incredulously. "Hey," he grinned. "Thanks for taking care of my little brother."

Greetings were exchanged. Ace learned all their names: the swordsman Zoro, the navigator Nami, the liar Usopp, the chef Sanji, the doctor and reindeer Chopper, and Alabasta's princess Nefertari Vivi with her giant duck, Carue. They kept whispering about how polite he was! Oh, if only they knew what a brat he had been when he was younger! Honestly, he had probably been the worst brother out of the three until Makino's lessons fully sunk in. Boy, Luffy sure did pick up strange types, but he was definitely the strangest one of all.

"Hn?" Zoro grunted, turning towards the front of the ship (the Going Merry was its name).

"That's Baroque Works!" Vivi shouted worriedly. "Those are billions' ships!"

Ah. So they were Baroque Works. No wonder they talked of promotion earlier. Whatever. It's not like being in an organization would make them any harder to kill.

"I'll handle this, Luffy," Ace offered, holding the rest of them back with a raise of his hand. He jumped back down onto his Striker, igniting his feet. He felt thrill and exhilaration run through his veins. It had been a while since he took out many ships at once. His hands slipped into his shorts' pockets. This would be simple. Too simple. 'Just watch me, Luffy.' His flames grew ever stronger, increasing his momentum. This was it. One wrong move, and he would sink (and wouldn't that be embarrassing).

Ace leapt high in the air, soaring over every single one of the ships. He flipped again and again, fire swirling around himself in an unnecessary show of his power. He spotted the Striker below and praised his own split second calculation. It was a skill that took him years to master.

Alright! He landed perfectly into his stance, skiff traveling a few extra feet from the impact. He pulled his fist back and ignited while shouting out his signature move and very own title:

"Fire Fist!"

The ensuing fireball absolutely decimated all of the ships in its path, just like it was supposed to. It was so satisfying to see that again, the adrenaline rushing through his veins. His past months of investigation didn't include much fighting.

What was life without a little excitement?

Arriving back on the ship, he decided to look around first. The Going Merry was a caravel with with triangle sails. This allowed for a kind of maneuverability that the Moby Dick, a large battleship designed to hold all of Whitebeard's children, did not have. On the other hand, the Merry was small with very few rooms. There was the kitchen (which contained the ship's steering mechanism), the women's quarters, the men's quarters, the bathroom, and a few storerooms. It was strange being on a ship so much smaller than Whitebeard's flagship, but it was definitely a nice change of pace from his Striker.

Next (seeing that Lu was busy talking to the long-nosed sniper), Ace chose to sit in the kitchen and talk to a few of members of the crew. He would catch up with Luffy later. Right now, he wanted to know what Luffy's crew was like.

He decided to help Sanji out in the kitchen with food for their trek across the Alabastian desert. Nami and Vivi were in there too.

"So, Ace," Nami started. "How did you know that you would find Luffy out here?"

"Call it a brother's instinct," Ace answered mysteriously, packing in another rice ball.

"That means you guessed." Sanji shot.

"Pretty much, yeah," Ace shrugged.

Sanji rolled his one visible eye.

"Are you really only here to visit Luffy?" Vivi asked politely, deciding to change the subject. "It seems strange that you would come all this way."

It felt like time stopped for Ace. He felt his body run cold, but he couldn't quite figure out why. This reunion with his brother was supposed to be a happy time for him, a way to forget his troubles, that Thatch was dead, that Ace was chasing a traitor, that he had fought with Marco, at least for a little while. He would not bore them with his problems, worry them, or scare them.

But he had to answer. It would be fine as long as he didn't reveal the whole truth. "I'm on a... mission for Pops- Whitebeard." He rectified his speech, realizing that the three might not understand that he was talking about his captain. "I'm looking for someone. A crew member."

Okay. Maybe the hesitation was a little bit suspicious. It was partway a lie. Technically Pops never directly asked him, never asked at all really. In truth, he had gone against orders, but everything would be fine once he returned to the Moby Dick with Teach's head. Right? He noticed that Vivi raised an eyebrow at him (only slightly though). She didn't say anything, but judging from her look, Ace knew she would talk to him about his facade whenever she got a chance.

Gulping quietly (he was trying to be subtle), he finished another rice ball and turned away from the counter. "Nice talking with you guys!" he smiled. "I'm gonna talk to Luffy now if that's okay."

"Go ahead man," Sanji accepted. "You need to catch up anyways. You'll find him on the figurehead."

"Thanks. See ya' later!"

Ace walked out on deck and looked towards the sheep figurehead, spotting Luffy adorned with his straw hat- the Straw hat- right away. He grinned, jumping over the rail from the kitchen and sprinting across the deck. "Hey, Lu!" he called.

Luffy grinned back and jumped down from the figurehead. "Ace! Isn't my crew awesome?"

"They're certainly something," Ace chuckled. He hadn't learned too much about everyone yet, but so far, he could tell that Vivi had the mannerisms of a princess (well she was one), Sanji loved women (he absolutely fawned over Nami and Vivi), and Nami obsessed over money (she asked him about the treasure he found on Whitebeard's crew, eyes full of beri).

"What's your crew like? They must be super cool if they can make you happy!"

"Oi!" Ace barked. He had no idea where Luffy had gotten the idea that few people could make him happy! "I wasn't that much of a stiff." His voice softened. "But they are super cool," he grinned, nudging Luffy's elbow. It was true that they were all super cool except for maybe the stupid turkey right now.

He told Luffy about Izo, how Ace had thought he was a woman at first glance. Luffy laughed at him of course (but he would probably think the same thing if he was in Ace's shoes). Ace told him about how the man was obsessed with appearances, getting upset when Ace looked sloppier than usual. He told Luffy about how the man was a total gossip and "love expert" (he had given Ace advice on quite a few things regarding the subject).

He told Luffy about Haruta, how the pirate was an interesting, non-binary prankster (he had to explain the concept of non-binary first, but Luffy didn't seem to completely get it). Ace told him about how Haruta set a stink bomb in the vents of their ship once, and he helped. He told Luffy about how Haruta was small but loud, and was usually the deliverer of Izo's gossip to the rest of the crew (secrets could not be kept long on the Moby Dick).

He told Luffy about Thatch, how he was (had been) an amazing cook. Luffy was excited about trying his food one day. Ace stayed silent on that matter. He told him how Thatch was a huge pervert and how he kind of reminded him of Sanji (though much less gentlemanly). Ace told Luffy about how, despite this perversion towards every single attractive woman the man met, Thatch was definitely in love with Izo.

He told Luffy about all of the commanders, his division, his own adventures too. Of course he told Luffy about Pops, how he accepted Ace even after over a hundred assassination attempts. About how the man drank alcohol out of a giant cup that Ace could fit in. About how he still loved Ace despite him being that man's son (Luffy had been particularly happy for Ace when this was brought up).

Somehow, Ace found himself talking about Marco last. Marco was a stupid, flaming blue chicken. Marco was bossy, a workaholic. Marco had funny blond pineapple hair, gorgeous blue eyes, and a beautiful tattoo that spread across his amazingly, toned abs. Marco... Marco... Marco...

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed. "Ace is in love!"

Ace's eyes shot open. He hadn't even realized that he closed them, envisioning Marco before him. He raised his hand to quickly wipe the drool from the corner of his mouth. How preposterous! To think that Luffy- Luffy of all people- would know anything about love! A blush broke out across his face. "I-it's not like that!" Ace stuttered.

But despite Ace's protest, Luffy continued to chant. "Ace is in love! Ace is in love!"

"Stop that!"

But somehow, he couldn't deny it. He couldn't tell Luffy that he was wrong. Ace hated how Marco was such a stiff and how he lied to him, but Ace loved Marco's strength, and how he knew how to comfort him. Ace loved Marco. He truly loved him. Even after what had happened.

"I'm right. Aren't I?" Luffy asked, bright-eyed.

Ace was silent for a moment. His silence was telling. He need not give an answer, but he opened his mouth anyways. "Yeah," he muttered. "I love... him." God! This was so embarrassing! He couldn't even bring himself to say Marco's name now that love had been introduced into their conversation! What was wrong with him? He was supposed to be mad at Marco! 'Keep it together, Ace!'

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed again, quieter this time. "That's good. Ace is always worried about people not loving him. This Marco guy must really love you back to make you this happy."

"He doesn't love me back," Ace hurried out.

Luffy frowned. "Why not?"

"Listen, Luffy," Ace started. He looked down. "Love isn't always so simple. It's never simple actually."

"I thought the love expert was the girly guy you told me about."

"Yeah, Izo is pretty good with that stuff, but that's not what I'm trying to say. I may love Marco, but that doesn't mean he's obligated to love me back." Ace felt like choking on his own words. As much as he wished that the opposite was the case, his statement rung true. Marco had no obligations towards him. Why would he? Marco had no reason to love him back. That's why, in that bar that night... Marco had-

"What's an oplicat-shin? Can I eat it?" Luffy asked innocently, eyes shining at possibility of food.

Ace, wide-eyed, sighed in exasperation. Explaining love to Luffy was like trying to fit a square block into a circular hole! Hopeless! Meaningless! It would never ever work out no matter how hard you tried! "Obligation, Luffy. And, no. You can't eat it."

The rubber boy shrugged. "Whatever. But I think that this Marco guy does like you back."

"Like and love are completely different things."

"What?"

"Nothing. Anyways, what would you know?" Ace questioned, still disbelieving that his brother would claim to know more than him about love. "You haven't even met Marco."

"But he really wanted you on their crew. Right? Like, way more than the others."

Okay. He may have mentioned something about that. Marco had spent every day with him before he had joined the crew. In that time, he talked with him, given him blankets to sleep with, bandaged his wounds, and showed him tricks with fire. One of the only things Marco hadn't provided was food and drink (that was Thatch's job). Marco nurtured him (in way that didn't make him feel condescended to) and buttered him up until he was ready. And then, Marco was the one who was finally able to get him to join the crew.

"Why do you call him father?"

"Because he calls us his sons."

Marco's words had brought Ace to tears, and finally convinced him that there was somewhere he belonged.

That's why Ace fell in love with Marco's nurturing and kind words, but that wasn't all. Marco was strong too. He had this dominating air about him. The way that he had tossed Ace on the bed and just taken him-

"You're blushing!" Luffy grinned, getting in real close. "You're thinking about him!"

"Sh-shut up!"

"Shishishi!"

Of course he had been thinking about Marco, and in the most inappropriate way possible too. Luffy didn't need to know that. He was too innocent for that sort of stuff, and the thought of trying to explain it made him shudder.

"I think you should talk to him, Ace," Luffy mused. "You're being too negative!"

"And you're being too positive." As always. "But sure," Ace gave in, "I'll see what I can do."

Ace needed to talk to Marco anyways. He already knew his answer though. Marco didn't love him back, at least in the way that Ace loved him. Still, they had to make amends, or else things would be too awkward when he started living on the ship again.

Ace had to be professional, and move on.

The Strawhat pirates were growing on Ace. It hardly took any time at all, but they were definitely growing on him. Each of them was unique in their own way. Ace had never met anyone like them. For some reason, it reminded him of the eccentricity of his own family and crew. He had never met anyone like any of his brothers and sisters back on the Moby Dick either, despite the large number of siblings (1613 now not including Whitebeard himself).

That was the thing about being a pirate. Many pirate crews were the same old story: "I will get a mountain of money" something along those lines, or "I will conquer Whitebeard!" (though he used to be that way). Those crews were arrogant, and a lot of their members were the same bigots and drunks. Closely knit crew like this one were different. These patchwork families were places anyone could feel like they belonged.

And Ace felt like he belonged here.

Now, the Strawhats would never, ever replace the family he had with Pops. Repeat. Never, ever. Still, there was no shame in considering multiple people family. He still considered Dadan and the bandits family of course (in a strange way though). Ace was pretty sure that Luffy considered his own crew family too, so it was natural for Ace to sort of "adopt" them unofficially. Maybe they would be interested in joining up with Pops? Nah. Scratch that. Luffy was too stubborn on his dead set dream to ever follow another man. Ace would respect that choice. Still, there was no harm in getting them to meet. Right? He grinned, thinking at the huge party that would break out.

He had really grown close to them. There was plenty of time for him to get to know each and every one of them during their monotonous and long trek across the desolate Alabastian desert.

However, Vivi was a different matter though.

Ace knew that she was looking to talk to him privately because of what she heard earlier. He was surprised at how easily she noticed his hesitation. He was curious at how she immediately showed concern. Still, he to avoid getting into a private talk with her, lest he reveal his true intentions.

Vivi filled him in on the true events going on inside Alabasta. Ace always knew Crocodile was shady. He was a Warlord after all. A pirate that handed their status over to the government was definitely up to something. Just thinking about the title made Ace reminisce back to his early days as a pirate. The government actually offered him a Warlord position. Ace of all people. The thought was ridiculous. He refused with a big "fuck you" of course.

Thankfully, he had avoided talking to Vivi privately, but such things were inevitable of course, especially on a night like this. Ace couldn't sleep, so he chose to sit outside the tents, staring up at the stars.

"Are you okay?" he heard Vivi ask hesitantly. She exited her tent, heading over to sit next to Ace.

"Couldn't sleep," he shrugged. "You've been trying to get me alone. Haven't you?"

"You're smarter than you look."

"Gee thanks."

They sat in silence for a few moments, Ace poking at the campfire. "Isn't there something you wanted to say to me?"

"Alright then," she said. Vivi shifted onto her knees, folding her hands in her lap almost diplomatically. Made sense. She was the princess of this county after all. "It's kinda obvious that you're not being completely honest with us, you know."

Ace remained silent.

"I know we haven't known each other for long, but we're friends," she continued. "You're brother's even here, but you're so on edge."

"Was it really that obvious?" He chuckled hollowly. "Lu is supposed to be the bad liar."

She didn't answer.

"I'm after a traitor," he answered truthfully this time, staring coldly into the flames. "He did something unforgivable. I had to go after him, no matter what." Though his pursuit wasn't going well so far.

"You lost someone."

"How did you know?"

"There's that look in your eyes," she explained. "It's pretty common these days."

"You can say that again."

She frowned. He was being so casual about it. Why did insist on acting so strong when he was obviously upset? Well, she might as well try and pry further. "So... Were you close?"

He seemed hesitant to respond, but eventually he opened his mouth, expression dark. "His name was Thatch," he answered. "Whitebeard's crew is family. He was... He was one of the first ones to really accept me. God. I can't believe he's gone. I- I could have done something."

"It's not your fault." Vivi laid a hand on his arm reassuringly. "It must be hard. I..." she started, own expression dark. "I remember when I-"

"Don't say anything." Ace interrupted. "I don't want you to hurt to."

She smiled. "Thank you. You're a good friend. And brother too," she added.

"Thanks."

They continued sitting like that, watching the stars and poking at the fire.

"There's still something that's bothering you. Isn't there?" Vivi voiced, breaking the silence.

He stared at her incredulously.

"I heard you talking to Luffy. About that guy."

He nodded, looking back to the flames. Of course she would think that if she was listening to them speak. Ace had intended for it to be a private conversation, but there was no use reprimanding her for it now. "Well, I guess you already know all about him if you were listening then."

She shrugged, but continued her earlier line of thought. "You always seem so confident, but when you were talking about him, you seemed kinda sad."

Of course she would think that was strange. "Marco is..." Ace trailed off. "I love him, but... It didn't work out."

"Why not?"

Oh well. He had to come clean sometime. Ace smiled bitterly. "He doesn't love me back. He didn't even say it to my face."

Vivi grabbed his hand forcing Ace to look back. "Then how do you know that?" she interrogated. "You still have hope!"

"I confessed to him," he admitted bluntly.

"W-what?"

"That night I..."

Ace smiled, holding his hat to his head as the Striker propelled him closer to the ant-sized Moby Dick that sat on the horizon. After a good long week of dodging Marines after his assigned mission, he was finally able to return home. Maybe he could get a little rest, but he wouldn't mind it if Marco made him do something else... Oh well. He would decide that once he arrived.

He was spotted before he was close enough to rope himself up to the ship. A cheer rang out from the ship, and Ace grinned at the crew members gathering at the side. He waved, choosing not to shout anything back. There would be plenty of time for greetings once he was actually on deck, which he reached with a powerful jump.

"Ace buddy! What took you so long?" Thatch asked, patting him on the back as he carefully roped his Striker to the ship (they would put it into safer storage later).

"I had some... trouble with the Marines." No way was he going to say anything about his shitty gramps coming after him. He shuddered as the thought of it passed briefly through his mind.

Still, the answer was pretty suspicious, causing Thatch to raise an eyebrow. "You couldn't handle it?"

"Trust me."

"Whatever." He shrugged, brushing the vague answer out of his thoughts. "Anyways, we knew you'd make it back safe, bud, but you still made us worry."

"Though we weren't as worried as a certain

someone," Izo suddenly piped, approaching them with a smooth walk.

Thatch rolled his eyes at Izo's comment. "You know how he gets. But I think he might've just been horny."

"That's disgusting."

"Yeah, yeah."

Ace almost laughed. He had missed the banter of his family, but he had other matters to attend to. "Speaking of that," he started, "where is Marco? I want to- erm- surprise him."

It was quite obvious as to what he was implying, and for some reason, Izo gave him the most disappointed look. "How much longer must you play this game?" he sighed, but, as if he knew Ace didn't understand what he was saying, he answered. "Marco went to the bar in town."

"Thanks, Izo!" Ace grinned. Wasting no time, he bounded down the gangplank. He couldn't wait to see Marco again. They had a lot of "catching-up" to do.

It didn't take long to find the bar. It was a simple, two-story building with a dangling sign depicting a bottle of alcohol. Ace was surprised to learn that Marco was drinking in the middle of the day, but a little drinking might help with their "fun". Excitement surged through his body, especially through his lower regions. He longed for Marco's touch, and he was pretty sure Marco longed for his.

But when he walked through the bar doors, all of those thoughts vanished.

Without a doubt, Marco was sitting at the bar with a drink, and there was a woman hanging off of his arm. His hand was too low on her hip, and her lips were pressed against his neck.

He sprinted back to the ship, heart pounding with ache every single step he took. He couldn't let anyone see him like this, especially Marco on the off chance that he actually realized Ace was there. He collapsed in a heap once in his room, shaky gasps leaving him as he tried to hold back tears. Maybe he was overreacting, jumping to conclusions, but Marco's hand too low on that women's hip combined with her lips pressing against his neck confirmed his fears.

Why? Why did Marco make him feel this way? All they had together was sex (and brotherhood, but such a thing wasn't important in their situation). Ace had no reason to feel betrayed. He didn't belong to Ace. Not that beautiful fire, or those lazy eyes, or that pineapple hair, or his caring personality, or... or...

Oh gods.

He was in love. He was absolutely, utterly in love with Marco.

They had been sleeping together all this time, and Ace didn't even know it himself. He wanted Marco fully: all of him, and he wanted to give all of himself to Marco too.

Surely, there must be something he could say to get the man to be truly his.

"I love you, Marco!"

"Is that so? Why don't you show me then?"

"He just brushed it off to have sex with me." Vivi seemed to blush at the mention of the intimate activity, but that hardly mattered now. He continued his explanation. "I was mad at him, but I was also devastated. It's stupid, I know."

Vivi shook her head. "It's not. Don't invalidate your own feelings."

"Thanks, I guess. But it doesn't really matter all that much. Now does it?."

"It still bothering you, though," she noted quietly.

"It's just that…" Ace sighed. "I can't bring myself to hate him. I just feel so weak because of it." It sucked. He wanted to break away from Marco completely so they could go back to being just brothers, but he couldn't. His heart wouldn't allow it. God, he was stupid.

"Love is not weakness, Ace!" Vivi exclaimed. He turned his head to look at her once more, eyes widening in shock at her declaration. "If we never have any love for anything," she continued, "how would we expect to have any strength?"

"What would you know?" Ace hated how harsh his voice sounded as he growled.

"Luffy loves his dream, so he fights! You love your family, so you fight!" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I love my country, so I fight."

Damn it. He screwed up. He said that he didn't want Vivi to hurt, but now her own hidden pain appeared behind her eyes. The guilt swam in his stomach. After all, it was his fault for bringing it up in the first place. "I'm sorry," he whispered back. "I didn't mean to-"

"Don't apologize, Ace," she insisted. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I-"

"If you really want to make it up to me, then promise me something."

Ace sat back up, determined.

"Talk to him."

He blinked at Vivi, trying to process what she just said. "What?" he finally asked.

"Talk to him, Ace!" She looked straight into his eyes. "He must feel something if you were at least together! You can do it!"

Ace wasn't even sure what to say now. Vivi's personality had taken a complete one-eighty, catching him far too off guard. He opened his mouth to try and say something, hoping words would come to him. "But I-"

"Just listen to her, idiot."

Ace and Vivi froze, realizing that their conversation was no longer a private one. Nami stood in front of her tent, smirking with her arms crossed.

"Nami! Did we wake you?" Vivi asked concernedly.

Nami shook her head, joining them at the campfire. "I've been listening the whole time, you know."

Ace blushed, the redhead laughing at his uncharacteristic action. He couldn't help it though! He just spilled out all of these feelings he kept inside him. "You gonna blackmail me now?" he muttered.

"Now why would I do that?" she asked, feigning innocence. Ace rolled his eyes while Vivi sighed in exasperation.

"And here I thought you were a ladies' man," she mused, giggling to herself. "Looks like I was wrong!"

"Nami..." Vivi groaned.

"Got a problem with it?"

"Not really, no," Nami shrugged. Ace released a relieved breath. Who knows what she could have done with that information? "I think it's perfectly fine." She winked at Vivi. "Don't worry. I'll see his promise through for you."

"Oi, Nami..." Ace growled. "I never promised her anything!"

"Yet."

"Hold up! I-"

"God!" Nami rolled her eyes. "Stop protesting! We just want you to be happy."

Ace blushed. What was that? They wanted him to be happy? Wasn't he the oldest one here? Shouldn't he be concerned about them? He didn't need to be happy if it meant facing Marco's lies again, if it meant going back and saying that again when he already knew his feelings wouldn't be returned. "What's the point?" he wondered aloud.

"You need closure at the least," Nami stated simply. "If you're happiness means moving on, then you have to tell him that you know he doesn't love you, that you know he cheated on you. From the way you talked about him-"

"You were listening to that too?"

"- I'd think that he was a nice guy," she concluded, brushing past his protest. "And since you seem pretty rational yourself, I'll trust your judgment. He'll talk. If he's the one actually keeping you away from your crew, how would you expect to go back if you don't confront him about it?"

"Nami, calm down."

"You're our friend Ace, but you have a family with your crew. You can't avoid Marco by staying here forever."

That was ridiculous! Of course he wasn't going to stay here! He was going to return to the Moby as soon as he cut Teach's head off! But still... Nami had a point. As much as he loved Marco, he couldn't stay with him if the tension still remained between them, especially since they fought before he left.

"Fine. I'll talk to him."

Vivi's face positively brightened, shining like the Alabastian sun. Nami's smirk returned in a show of her satisfaction.

"But one condition," Ace interjected. The girls' expression turned to ones of confusion. "I'm staying with you guys for awhile." The idea had just popped into his head, but he felt that it would help out everyone in the long run. After all, the trail here had been deader than the one in Drum, and he had no idea where to head next. It wouldn't hurt, would it?

Then again, maybe he was just running away. Maybe he really was a coward.

"Oi, idiot!" Nami barked. "I just told you that you couldn't stay here forever!"

"I won't, but this is my payment for your hospitality. I'll help you out," he offered.

"Luffy doesn't want you to hold his hand, you know."

"I'm not going to hold his hand. Just let me take care of the small fry. I believe in my little brother too. And besides," he turned to Vivi with a grin, "we can't have you worrying about me when you're worrying about your country. Now can we?"

It looked as if the princess was about to cry, though he and Nami could tell they were tears of barely restrained joy. "Thank you, Ace. Thank you."

"You know Nami, I'm surprised you're not trying to charge me money for this."

"Wrong! That'll be a 10,000 beri counseling charge!"

"Eeehh?!"

True to his word, Ace stayed with the crew until the very end, much to Luffy's appreciative surprise. Alabasta's final battle was long and arduous, but Ace got out of it unscathed. He couldn't speak for the others though. They were pretty banged up, especially Luffy. Ace was pretty worried when he found out that Luffy had been poisoned, but he was still breathing, which meant that he was alive. Luffy would spring back like the rubber boy he was. No matter how long it would take, Ace would believe in him.

It was strange when they were invited to stay in the palace, but it was the only place they could stay safe from the Marines lurking around. It was nothing that Ace himself couldn't handle though. The crew was thankful for the protection nonetheless. They needed to recuperate before setting off. Ace had never been a place so grand. His pirate instincts were telling him to steal some of the trinkets lying around, but that would be extremely impolite. For one, Vivi was a friend, and secondly, this was still a recovering nation. They didn't need some pirate stealing things from their Royal Palace (he hoped Nami would resist as well).

And of course Luffy was thinking about food when he awoke, claiming that he missed fifteen meals. If Ace ate five times a day on the Moby Dick, Marco would have killed him for using up all the food stores! There were too many on Whitebeard's crew to provide that much for one person, and though Ace still ate a lot, Luffy undoubtedly had the bigger appetite. Thankfully, they would be feasting, which was a nice change of pace considering that, despite the fact that they were given a chance to explore the capital, Ace kept himself cooped up inside the palace.

The Alabastian food was much more flavorful when prepared by the Royal Chefs, Ace noted. The feast was lively. Luffy was being a goofball as always, and he was definitely rubbing off on the others too. People were putting sticks up their noses. Food was flying everywhere. The atmosphere was so infectious that even the guards couldn't help but laugh.

Having fun with Luffy's crew was an entirely out of this world experience. How would it feel when he had to leave and finally confront what he had been dreading?

The crew arrived near the coast at the promised time, but Ace immediately knew Vivi was not coming with them. She was clearly standing her ground, Carue at her side. She spoke her farewell from the bottom of her heart, but none of them spoke back. Instead, they proudly but silently displayed the mark of their friendship as they sailed away. Ace vowed that he would carry out his own promise no matter what. As her friend, he owed her that much.

Though he wasn't dealing with losing her as badly as the others were.

"We miss her!" the majority of the Strawhats groaned. The only exception to this was Zoro (Ace didn't count anyways).

He rolled his eyes. "Quit your whining! If you really wanted her here, then you should've just kidnapped her and brought her along with us!"

"Monster!"

"Idiot!"

"Moss-head."

"Three Sword Style."

Ace snickered. There was that world-class idiocy he so loved.

"Oi, Luffy," Usopp piped. "That's not even an insult."

"Four Sword Style."

Ace outright laughed this time. Even after a near-death and possibly traumatic experience, Luffy's mindset was untouchable.

And then a woman spoke, but it was not Nami. "Good job out there. At least we're out to sea."

When the Strawhat pirates saw their stowaway, they practically exploded in surprise.