Epilogue

Far into the future two kids were playing in a park on a bright, sunny day. A blonde male sat and watched this, watching as a very tall blonde man tripped up, his coat instantly catching fire while the brown haired girl next to him laughed, clapping her hands in her father's arms who merely shook his head, exasperated.

The girl's big brother, no, this time it was little brother, was chasing a red haired kid around the playground. One held a little white bear in his hands while another held a plastic tool box, the redhead immediately going to one of the swings, pointing at the rope and pulling out a toy saw while the dark haired boy frowned but gently placed his toy on the swing and watched as the redhead tried to saw at it.

He saw a little blonde with long, wild hair and wielding two toy swords following after another kid wearing a hat who approached the dark haired boy. The kid wearing a penguin, styled hat approached the dark haired boy, watching the redhead curiously.

He couldn't believe how quickly Law, Kid, Killer and Penguin had all met again.

"They grow up so fast." Marco remarked dryly before looking at the toddler's play area, smiling fondly at the sight before him.

The real reason he was here.

Another dark haired boy was sitting on a blanket, tugging at his whale toy while his father weakly tugged at it back, laughing when the toddler tried to smack his hand away, complaining with loud noises that didn't make any sense yet to him. Marco grinned at the sight of the strawberry blonde woman approaching, shaking her head as she tugged at her husband's ear who whined, turning away from the baby to help his wife sort out the food.

He blinked at the sight though of the little one wobbling to his feet however, staring right at a cake someone had set out on their picnic table. He chuckled when the little one began to walk along, making cooing noises which unfortunately didn't attract his parent's attention. Marco frowned at the sight because the table was on the concrete and realised that the little one might fall and hurt himself.

So with a sigh he dropped down from the tree and strode over to the toddler just as he heard his parents cry out in alarm. He scooped the child up who instantly blinked up at him with familiar grey eyes, cooing softly, making Marco smile at the sight before turning and heading for the baby's parents.

"Mah!" The little one reached out to him, looking curious but Marco pulled his head away, weary that the little one might try and yank his hair or something.

That has happened before after all.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it! He walked!" The father cried out, he was actually sobbing in sheer happiness. "My little baby's growing up so fast-"

"Roger! He nearly got himself hurt!" The red eyed woman snapped before turning to face him, looking relieved. "Thank you so much for catching him, Ace is such a little rascal at times!"

"It's alright ma'am." Marco said politely, carefully handing Ace back only to get little hands clinging to his jacket and big, watery eyes staring up at him. "Um, hey? You alright, Ace was it-yoi?"

"Nuu!" Little Ace shook his head, clinging even tighter. "Mah!"

Roger laughed. "Well, looks like Ace is making friends already Rouge."

"Come on Ace." Rouge cooed gently, coaxing the small bundle back into her arms who whined, reaching for him again. "How strange, he doesn't usually like strangers."

Well, they weren't really strangers to be fair. Ace even seemed to vaguely recognise him this time, though that would probably fade away as he grew older.

"Really?" Marco blinked, acting surprised. "He seems so friendly-yoi."

"Maybe walking gave him a confidence boost hunny." Roger smiled, looking pleased as he ruffled Ace's hair. "Ain't that right my little firecracker?"

Ace's watery eyes instantly disappeared as he giggled, obviously delighted with his father as he clapped his hands. Marco smiled at the sight, he had to suppress the overwhelming urge to hug his little brother and hold him tight. He might not let go otherwise.

He wanted Ace to be this happy forever.

"Well it was nice to meet you both-yoi." Marco smiled, he needed to go, before the two Vault Keepers got suspicious.

"Thank you again for catching Ace." Rouge said with a very familiar smile.

Ace really did take after his mother.

"Anytime." He nodded and walked away, his chest giving a painful twinge when he heard little Ace cry out again, sobbing.

"Ace! Shhh, it's okay. Why are you so sad?" He heard Rouge ask, sounding bewildered.

Marco smiled softly and couldn't help but mutter to himself. "It's alright Ace. You might not see me for a while but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for you. We'll play again soon, little brother."

And with that he took off into the sky. Ready to wait again.

The End

I had a few endings in mind but to me this one suited the best because it shows that the game is truly everlasting, that it will continue over and over again. There was one with Luffy, the Straw Hats and Ace approaching the doors and getting ready to go through but for me it wasn't satisfying enough so I went with this one instead :D I have to admit I decided very early on in the plot development that I wasn't going to show them finding One Piece because One Piece could be anything with the way Oda keeps us on our toes :P For all I know it could be a magical, golden squirrel able to grant people's wishes 0.o

Anyway I am so thankful to everyone who has read this series, it was great fun to write and I had an amazing time playing around with it :D I'm currently writing away on a Portgas D. Ace - Story Collection with all sorts of little stories inside for him in different universes so if you wanna check that out I would love to hear from ya there :3 I'm working on a superhero story right now for MarcoxAce with side romances too (I think it's gonna be LuffyxLaw this time instead of LuffyxNami and KidxLaw because I have so many jealous Ace moments to write up :D ) But anyway that wraps up this story, again thanks for reading!