A year passed and Marco didn´t see Ace again… until one day he was passing in front of a gift shop and saw that the employer was none other than the raven boy. Now he had a new tattoo of his name in the arm and a orange cowboy hat. He got inside and picked up the most expensive thing he could see. It was a teddy bear with a huge hearth that said happy birthday, he would give it to Izo on his birthday.

"Hello yoi" he said putting the bear in the counter. The freckled man lifted his head and smiled when he saw the blond. He grabbed the thing he had in his hands, said the price and received the cash before they uttered another word.

"Hello" finally answered Ace. "Sorry I didn´t get to our dinner date, there was some… family business that I need to take care of"

"Family business?"

"They were nothing serious, really, it was just… a surprise trip my father and grandfather planned to our homeland. It´s pretty… by our standarts, but the clime is very picky and the places to camp crappy. Well, it´s suppose to teach us some kind of lesson"

"Your homeland yoi? Aren´t you from here?"

"Yes, but my ancestors no. They came from some island in the middle of nowhere… not that I´m complaining, but it wasn´t the kind of place every person wanted to be in his vacation" told Ace, checking that there wasn´t any client waiting for his services.

"Well, your family history is very interesting and all, but…"

"Liar, it´s not interesting. The interesting details are reserved for those with the D. in their names" said the fire user in a flirty way. After learning in Raftel to control his powers, he discovered a lot about them. His experiments in combat with the combination of brutal force or weapon and fire made him an even more efficient killer.

"Oh, and can I hear them yoi?"

"Of course not, but I can tell you other interesting things about myself if you offer me another dinner in a restaurant with delicious food" Ace licked his lips. Yes, Ds need a lot of food to keep up with their extra speed metabolism.

"Consider it done yoi" answered Marco, sure of having done the best deal in his life. "Today after work?"

"I don´t know, do you have enough in you wallet to pay for me? Because I warn you, I eat a lot, and not exactly the cheapest things. I´m addicted to meat"

"I´m not scared, I have like fourteen brothers back at home, and don´t make me start about the orphanage the my family has, those kids are family too. I don´t think you can do anything they haven´t done before"

"The I´ve seen everything attitude, I like it" smiled Ace, like if he was accepting some kind of bet. "Let´s see how it goes, Marco Newgate"

"You didn´t forgot my name, yoi"

"Of course not"

-A year and a half later-

"So there is actually a being in the world that can stand you, you attitude and your mouth, no, Portgas-ya?" said Law with a shit eating grin that made Ace want to prepare him a fire sandwich. The older D didn´t stop grinning until a very flammable bow staff passed flying through the space where his head was before. Trafalgar attacked again with his nodachi and managed to send Ace right into the floor with a tut. "You are worried about something?"

"Yes, well… I think Marco is planning to propose…"

"Propose? Propose like in having serious relationship or propose as in… oh, dear" the silver eyed man smiled in a wicked way and sat down with his legs crossed. This was a golden opportunity. "And you think it´s too soon? Look, Portgas-ya, you two have been dating for over a year, that´s not excuse for…"

"It´s not that" said Ace, looking to the floor.

"Then what? You don´t know if you really love…"

"Can you stop that!" the fire used finally let everything out. "Jesus, for a cardiologist you don´t know anything about the hearth, Law" cols grey eyes stared at him and made him cower. He didn´t want to be the next rat that served as Trafalgar´s practice for using his powers. "Okay, the thing is that I´m worried about the reaction Ji-san and Dragon will have to me marrying someone outside the clan and…"

"Oh, the traditional fight for the bride with a crazy D, now I understand" smiled Law. "I´m eager to see that, maybe I should have everything ready to make an urgent operation… or an autopsy if the rich boy can´t take it"

"You know, I used to be surprised by you never having a boyfriend before, but I finally solved the mystery, you are far too creepy for one"

"Me? Creepy? And I had boyfriends, you know!"

"One night stands, Law. Besides that you are always on your own."

"I… I… I don´t need anything else from them!"

"Not even human contact?"

"Mind your own business!" screamed Law and left. He had work to do, after all, in a new hospital. General medicine wasn´t exactly his specialty, but was the only thing he can get after disappearing to go to Raftel. He was so deep in his thoughts that he never noticed someone walking in the opposite direction until they collided. The D lifted his head prepared to yell at the idiot when he noticed it was Eustass Kid. They stared at each other in amazement for a moment.

"Eustass-ya? It´s that really you?" asked the dark haired man.

"Apparently this is you, Trafalgar. How are you? Still stuck in the hole like I am?" asked the redhead, that was wearing a mono from the garage he worked in. Cleaning cars and changing oil wasn´t exactly the future he expected when he graduated in the first place in his class at mechanical engineering. But on the bright side, it appears that he wasn´t the only genius that didn´t have a chance.

"Lower, I´m afraid of, but I will get out of it…"

"Me too…" silence for a moment before both of them started to laugh. "Who are we kidding? We will stay stuck in this hole for the rest of our lives!"

"Then screw the world!" Trafalgar got up and dusted his clothes. Kid did the same and picked up the parts he let fall. "Do you want to come with me to a bar after my turn at the hospital? We can talk about our respective holes with some alcohol and… maybe something else will happen?"

"I will be there"

-That day later-

Ace and Marco went out, happy that they were together. Earlier that day the blond showed the ring to his family, with Izo squealing like a little girl. The rest of them encourage him, eager to have a new little brother. After the dinner the couple went to the mansion where he finally asked the question in front of his family… only for the other to make an unsure face.

"I… love you and want to say yes, but… there is a tradition on my family that can be a little bit…" Ace tried to explain. He sighed when noticed that it wasn´t clear to them. "My family is made of fighters since centuries ago and we have never admitted into it a candidate that didn´t fit for the job. So for my father or grandfather to accept this engagement, even if I say yes, you need to fight with one of them and… survive"

"Well, it doesn´t seem that bad, I can deal with that yoi" said Marco very sure. After all he was trained since he was young in martial arts.

"You don´t know what you are talking about"

"I do, really I have some experience in fights" promised the blond. "And if you don´t believe me, why don´t you show me your family´s fighting style? I can ease your worried showing you how good am I in martial arts"

"You asked for it" answered Ace. Izo gave him new training clothes and both of them got into a ring the Newgate family had to train. The raven took his position, striking without the other noticing and introducing him to the floor. "I told you we were tough"

"Tough, not terrible yoi. Okay, let´s go again" the blond lifted and was immediately sent to the floor again, courtesy of Ace´s right hook. In the end of the night, he had a bunch of bruises that not even his healing abilities could cure at fast speed and a bruised ego, but happy because Ace said yes to his proposition. Now the only thing he has to do was win that stupid match against a user of the Will of D.

"Just forget strength and move to the tactics" tried to help Tatch. "Ace was far too fast for you to catch him, but you can evade him…"

"I know yoi!"

-A week later-

"You are distracted" Dragon stated the obvious while he spared with Ace, his bow staff hitting the fire user straight in the head. He can sense his mind in other things. "Are you going to tell me or do I have to beat it out of you? Remember what happened the last time…"

"It´s nothing, really" answered the younger. He got down from the arena and grabbed his towel from his backpack… only for a little box to fell out of it and land on the floor. Dragon got out of the fighting place and grabbed the thing, opening it and finding an engagement ring. "I… errrrr… I can explain."

"Apparently there is no need" the anarchist put the box back in it´s place. "I can tell your answer was yes. Is he ready for the match against me?"

"Can we… not to make this match for once? I mean, many didn´t survived in the past and I would like my fiancé to make it alive to the altar"

"Sorry, but no. We need to make sure he is worth of you" now Ace was terrified, those words meant that Dragon was going to use all of his tricks to scare the blond away, as if it was some kind of crazy proof. And maybe he would invite Garp into the planning.

"He is more than worthy, I am sure"

"Then there is no problem"

"Of course it is! There have been deaths in that ritual and…!"

"Ace, there is nothing to be worried about, this is not ancient times… and if you have paid more attention, yon to the history class you would know that only those that are not sincere died in this ritual" Dragon smiled. "Don´t worry, he is going to be alright"

"I hope so…" the younger raven retires and walked through the streets heading towards the manor. When he passed in front of a bar he looked inside and found Trafalgar drinking and laughing with a big redhead in a dirty mono. It was by no means an elegant bar, but at least he should have used something better for a date. "Wait… is Trafalgar D. Water Law, Mr. one night stand, on a date with someone?" he thought better and got inside. "Maybe he is just flirting before going to bed with him."

"I don´t think so" said a masked person by his side. "That doctor and the captain have been in there for an hour and have been seen each other for quite some time for being a one night stand"

"Who the hell are you?"

"Killer, nice to meet you"

"Portgas D. Ace" they shook hands and returned their eyes to the scene. "So… you said that Law and that redhead there have been seeing each other for some time?"

"A week to be exact" answered the blond. "I think we have seen each other be… I remember now! He was the one that talked to the Captain the day Star Labs exploded! Kid said that they were old classmates, I think in college…"

"College? That guy is a doctor?"

"No, he is an engineer, but he shared some classes with medical students in the first years. Apparently they knew each other from there… and because they were both gifted students in their own ways" Ace took a look again at his cousin and the pale dude, laughing with each other. He has to say, he has never seen Law so happy before, not since what happened to Rocinante. He looked at the clock… shit, he was late.

"I have to go, but… tell me if something happens between those two, here is my phone number" and he went away, running towards his boyfriend. Inside the local, Law and Kid were having fun with each other. They haven´t been this good since a lot of time ago, when they were successful and at the top of the world.

"Hey, would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow? I know a good place" said Kid.

"Are you asking me out, Eustass-ya?" answered Law in a flirtatious way.

"NO! Of course not, I… well, yes but… do you want to get out or not?"

"I will love to, thanks"