A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews and faves/follows! Here is our next prompt, sorry it was a little later than intended and hopefully this is what you were looking for.

The prompt: As today my birthday. It's a little bit cliché, I would like a real detailed Fic about Ace's birthday, that handle his issues! either when he was young with Luffy and Sabo, Dadan, Makino,deal with it being his mother's death anniversary, how to make it a happy day! Garp telling him about her/visiting her grave. Or While Ace in the Moby Dick, they try to throw a party for him, conversation with Marco about it. And some kinda celebration! Interaction with the crew. Maybe Luffy appearance! roseanne

Happy Belated Birthday, Roseanne!

Ripples in the Sea

Ace's Birthday - (Gen, Marco x Ace flavored)

It wasn't often Ace found himself avoiding a party. Ever since he'd grown to view the Whitebeard Pirates as his family, he'd never had a reason not to attend. There was never a shortage of alcohol - not that Ace had a particular fondness for it after the "Flaming Christmas Pants" incident - and the food was on a level all its own. Sometimes, Ace wandered if Thatch had started cooking all his favorite dishes just to entice him to be more social.

There was some truth to the worry that he was keeping to himself. He hadn't even been with the crew for a full year yet - but he honestly hadn't hidden from a party or a social gathering before.

Until now.

It honestly hadn't occurred to him before that becoming a division commander meant anything special for his birthday. He was used to a celebration at the start of each month for every crew member whose birthday fell in that month. The exceptions were the commanders - and of course, Whitebeard himself.

Until he'd actually arrived at the party, he hadn't realized it was different from the last several monthly celebrations. The decorations had seemed less neutral and more to his liking, and the entire menu had hosted nothing but his favorite foods, but he'd initially chalked that up to Thatch's whims and his own personal luck.

The giant cake with his name on it, however… that was anything but his luck.

He ducked his head and pulled his legs in closer at the sound of someone calling his name. He'd hoped everyone would be distracted enough - or at the very least, drunk enough - to overlook his absence. Thankfully, they only called his name a few more times before giving up and re-joining the festivities. As soon as the echoes of footsteps in the hall quieted again, he relaxed.

"Do you plan to hide in the infirmary until the party is over, yoi?"

Ace yelped, jumping. Reflexive flames danced along his arms and illuminated his cozy little hiding place until he flailed his way out. The supply closet he'd used as a safe place a few times when he'd still been trying to take Whitebeard's head smoked a little in the aftermath as he crashed to the floor and landed at Marco's feet.

The infirmary was dark - no one had been seriously injured lately and the party had drawn everyone to the deck - but Ace could still see the concern in Marco's eyes from his position on the ground.

"We already cut the cake. Do they really need me up there?" Ace asked, averting his eyes. Even without looking he knew Marco was offering him a hand, It took a moment before he accepted it and allowed Marco to pull him to his feet.

"The party is for you, yoi," Marco pointed out.

Ace shook Marco's hand off, extinguishing the remaining flames on his upper arms. "I don't feel like partying."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Ace hesitated, then shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

"Then you won't mind talking about it, yoi."

Ace sighed in defeat, but he couldn't even pretend to be annoyed. Not when he caught sight of Marco's playful grin.

"We're going to need a better hiding place, then," Ace relented.

Marco inclined his head, leading the way out of the infirmary and trusting Ace to follow. The path to Marco's room was surprisingly clear, and the only person who saw them happened to be drunk enough that he didn't seem to notice or care.

When they reached Marco's room, Ace pushed past him to jump onto the bed, plopping down like it was his own. A habit he'd picked up from Thatch. Marco sat on the desk with a wry smile, crossing one of his legs over the other in a casual manner.

"Do I have to coax it out of you, or are you going to start talking, yoi?" Marco asked after a few moments of Ace settling in and avoiding eye contact.

Ace sighed again, tucking his hands behind his head and getting comfortable. "It's just… the party. It was really nice of everyone to want to throw a party for me, but it's… not really a day I celebrate. At least, I didn't plan to celebrate it for a long time."

"Why not?" Marco asked, tilting his head to one side as he regarded Ace. Ace certainly wasn't the first person on the ship to not be thrilled about the prospect of a birthday party, but something about the way he said it told Marco that his reasons for it weren't typical at all.

"I only celebrated it for my little brother," Ace mumbled. "I didn't tell you about him, did I?" His expression softened. "He's three years younger than me. He ate up all the birthday hype when we were kids so he insisted we keep celebrating after-" he cut off, trying to disguise it as a cough. "After we celebrated his, I mean. Ugh… it all sounds so stupid when I try to say it out loud."

Marco raised an eyebrow - he was pretty sure that wasn't what Ace had been about to say, but he decided not to push it. He wanted Ace to open up to him, but he didn't want him to feel like he was being forced to.

"Let me guess," Marco said with a grin. "Your little brother's the type of person who usually gets his way, even when he's not trying to, yoi?"

Ace snorted. "He always tries to get his way," he joked with a fond chuckle. "And I guess I let him. I'm his big brother, you know."

"And that is what big brothers do for their little brothers, yoi," Marco agreed with the wisdom of being an older brother himself. He smiled at Ace - just in those few brief sentences, Marco could see how much Ace loved this brother of his. "How long has it been since you last saw him?"

"A year," Ace answered with a smile, a softness in his eyes that he'd never shown to his new family. "Just about, anyway. I set sail when I turned seventeen - he saw me off."

"He didn't want to come with you?" Marco inquired. That look in his eyes - it intrigued Marco, and he found himself wanting to see it more often. If that meant talking about this little brother, then Marco gladly would.

"Oh, he did," Ace snorted. "But he's just a kid. He doesn't get to set sail until he turns seventeen too." He sat up, grinning over at Marco. "You'd love my little brother. It's impossible not to."

"Here's hoping I'll get a chance to meet him then, yoi," Marco said, returning Ace's grin with one of his own. Then his voice grew soft. "So why is it that you were willing to celebrate your birthday for his sake, but not your own?"

Ace's grin faded, but the fondness in his eyes remained. He pulled his legs up to sit cross-legged on the bed and leaned forward a little. "My birthday isn't exactly a good day for me. But birthday parties made Luffy happy. He and Sabo always-" he abruptly broke off, looking troubled. "Ah, sorry… Sabo was our other brother. It was his idea to celebrate Luffy's birthday even though we never celebrated our own, and after that… well, Luffy wanted us to have special days too. It made him happy thinking we felt as good as he did on his birthday. Honestly, though? We mostly felt happy seeing him happy. Does that sound stupid to you?" Ace gave a shy, boyish grin at the question, bringing his hand up to rest over his left arm.

Marco chuckled, shaking his head. "Not at all," he assured him. "Remember, I'm also an older brother, yoi." Even as he answered the question, though, he noted the change that had come over Ace. The fondness in him remained, but there was something more to it than that. He hadn't missed the way that Ace had cut himself off after mentioning Sabo - or the way he'd immediately switched to speaking about him in the past tense.

Ace nodded, but then his smile dimmed. "Anyway, my birthday was always about celebrating for Luffy," Ace murmured, looking to his lap. He hesitated, like there was something more to say, and for a moment his expression seemed so lost and uncertain. It passed before Marco had a chance to question him, and when he spoke again, it didn't seem to be about the same subject. The sadness lingered, but it wasn't as prominent. "Before I had that…" Ace lifted his head again. "Promise not to get all mushy or sympathetic?"

Marco looked at Ace, steadily meeting his gaze. "I promise," he said, even as his heart clenched briefly at the sadness that lingered in Ace's eyes.

"My mother died giving birth to me." Ace looked back to his lap, fidgeting. "I never knew her or anything, obviously, but she died so I could live. I never saw a point in celebrating that."

Marco's eyes widened, lips automatically parting to respond - and then he stopped, remembering the promise that he'd just made about not getting mushy or sympathetic. Even so, it showed in his eyes - he could stop himself from saying the words, but there was no hiding the emotion itself.

He took a deep breath. "So that's why you were okay with the idea of a group celebration for everyone, but not one just for yourself, yoi?"

"I'll get over it," Ace joked, forcing a small laugh and looking up. "I mean, it makes them happy, right? Thatch went to the trouble of making all the food I like and stuff… and I like the parties, I do! It's just…" he smiled at Marco, strained. "I forgot how to celebrate for me."

Marco's expression softened. "No need to rush it, yoi," he said. "No one's going to fault you for needing a little space - these parties always wind up getting crazy anyway."

"The last time I was this surprised by a party, I was eleven years old," Ace recalled, his smile becoming less strained. "I never told Sabo or Luffy what day my birthday was, but they asked Dadan. My gramps told her since she was the one stuck raising us." He chuckled wryly, shaking his head. "When I walked into the house that night, they'd put up decorations. Makino came up from the village to make food, and she'd even made me a cake. Everyone was celebrating me, and to be honest, I almost punched Sabo and ran because he didn't stop it from happening. But…" Ace gestured helplessly, and this time his smile reached his eyes. "Everyone was happy."

"And that made you happy," Marco observed. It showed in the way Ace's eyes shone, in the warm smile on his face - yet another expression that Marco would have liked to see Ace continue to wear. "So you continued celebrating together after that, yoi?"

Ace glanced away, smile fading again. "That was the only time we celebrated my birthday together."

Marco looked at Ace for a moment, opening his mouth to speak and then hesitating. This was the first time that Ace had ever opened up to him about his life before the Moby Dick, and he didn't want to push him beyond his boundaries - but at the same time, he wanted Ace to know that he could talk to him. He thought about it for a moment, and then took a leap. "Do you want to talk about it, yoi?" Marco asked softly.

"It's been a really long time since anyone asked me that," Ace chuckled, turning back to Marco. He seemed to internally debate on whether or not to speak about it - about something so private he hadn't even told the Spade Pirates - but he felt comfortable, and Marco wasn't pushing him. He was just listening, genuinely and without judgment. "Sabo died a few months later. He was murdered. We became brothers as a trio, but all of the sudden it was just me and Luffy. I was his only big brother. I was never as good at it as Sabo was, but we made it work. I still did my damndest to make Luffy's birthday a special day, so he assumed we were doing the same for me… and I didn't have the heart to deter him. So we celebrated every year after that."

Marco felt a rush of undeniable compassion towards Ace as he spoke of his brothers, both the one who was still alive and the one that he'd lost. He'd had no idea that Ace had held something like that in his past, and his heart went out to him for it.

He didn't say anything about Sabo, though. Ace had only mentioned him in passing, and Marco didn't want to open up old wounds - at least not any more than he already had. "So after you left, you really didn't plan on celebrating your birthday again, yoi?"

"Nope," Ace shrugged. "No real point." He fidgeted, then jumped up, dusting his shorts off and shooting Marco a sideways look. "But I guess there's a point now, huh?" His lips curved into a cocky grin. "I mean, if everyone else wants to celebrate, that makes it worth it again."

Marco chuckled, flashing Ace a grin. "All right, if that's the way you want to look at it, yoi," he said. He slipped off of the edge of the desk, standing up and looking at Ace. "But you know - you're worth celebrating, too, Ace."

He turned before he had the chance to see the look that would inevitably appear on Ace's face at his words, a small smile forming as he headed from the room.

"Marco…" Ace trailed off, his eyes wide. A rush of warmth slid over him - something he hadn't truly felt since his last birthday with Luffy - and then his smile was returning. He lunged forward, hurrying to catch up with Marco. It was still strange, still a little scary, but he was determined to try and enjoy his birthday. Maybe he couldn't see the worth Marco was talking about, and maybe he wasn't sure about the idea of people loving him the way his brothers had… but one day of pretending couldn't hurt.

Unable to help himself, he leapt onto Marco's back the second he was close enough, laughing. "Well, since it's my birthday, maybe you should give me a piggyback ride back to the party."

Marco had been expecting Ace to follow him, but he hadn't expected Ace to tackle him like that. He didn't stumble, though, taking Ace's weight on his back without any difficulty. He looked over his shoulder, grinning broadly as he let out a laugh. "Well, I guess I could do that," he teased. "It being your birthday and all."

"You really do need to meet my little brother," Ace told him, smiling broadly and wrapping his arms around Marco's neck. "After he sets out, I want everyone to meet him. Everyone's going to love him."

"Looking forward to it," Marco said, feeling a rush of warmth at Ace's smile. "In fact, I can't think of anything I'd like to do more than meet Ace's little brother, yoi."

Ace laughed again, letting his head rest on top of Marco's. It was so easy to imagine, showing Luffy off to his new family and watching them succumb one by one. Especially Thatch. One bite of food and Luffy would lose his mind fawning over Thatch - and in turn, Thatch would lose his mind preening over the praise. He imagined Luffy bouncing all around Whitebeard and marveling over how big he was, or trying to break through Jozu's diamond defense, or even playing with Rakuyo's crazy sentient ball and chain flail.

He hoped it would come true someday - and maybe on someone's birthday, so Luffy could experience the kind of grand party the Whitebeard Pirates like to indulge in.

"Oi!" Ace called when they reached the deck.

The chorus of cheers and people calling his name made his stomach flip with happiness and uncertainty, but he kept smiling.

"Ace!" Haruta came running, jumping right onto Marco's chest so that the First Division Commander was sandwiched between the two of them. Both ignored Marco's heavy, exasperated sigh. "We thought you ran off!"

"Who, me?" Ace teased. "No way!"

"Yes, you," Thatch scolded with a playful smile, stumbling over with a rosy blush and a mug of beer in one hand. "C'mon, Ace! It's a party!"

Ace looked at Thatch's inviting expression, at Haruta's bright look over Marco's shoulder - and at the faces of all his brothers and sisters. They were smiling, laughing, waiting for him to join them, and the last of his tension drained away.

"Yeah," Ace agreed, smiling wider. It was a party, and it was for him this time - and for the first time in a long time, that idea seemed okay.

A/N: Thank you for reading!