Fifth one-shot:
Strawberries
Synopsis:
Ace is a merman who is lost in the seas, away from the Fishman island. Marco is just relaxing alone on some random island, away on a mission.
Word count: 13600-ish
Enjoy reading!
XXX
He was lost.
Swimming through the deep waters, Ace sighed as he came to a halt. He was getting tired and it's been a long while. So long that he even crossed the Calm Belt, but he doesn't really know where he is right now. He can see that he's out of the Grand Line though, it's been a very long time since a random weather phenomenon happened suddenly without a warning whatsoever.
So yes, Ace is lost. And he doesn't know how to go back to the Grand Line. Of course he knows that he could just cross the Calm Belt again, but... He doesn't want to die. Yet. And going back to Calm Belt would be a death wish. He already doesn't know how in the hell he survived- all thanks to his ultimate luck, of course, but he doesn't think his luck can save him a second time. So, once again yes, he is lost. Very lost.
Ace hasn't seen any islands for a while now too, and those he saw were always habited. He didn't want the humans to know that a merman is out in the seas, lost and vulnerable. But if anyone saw Ace, he would of course fight back. Merfolk from Fishman island would always tell him that humans are bad and he should stay away from all of them, but he'd never forget the humans who saved him and gave him a real home, a family. Funny, isn't it? For a merman like him to call some humans his family. But that's what they are. They are his precious family, they'll always be.
Talking about them now, this part of the seas actually reminded him of his home. Well, his family's home. Ask a merman about his home and he'd immediately say it's of course the Fishman island and would send you a look of 'are you an idiot?'. But ask Ace about his home and he'd say it's his family. Wherever his family is, it's his home. And his family used to live i-
Ace suddenly came to a halt in the middle of the sea and looked up with wide, confused eyes. His abrupt stop made the fish near him scared and they swam away from him. But that wasn't his concern, no, he saw some kind of light coming from up. From the sea, no, the sky!
He decided he'd take a look at whatever that was, so cautiously he popped his head out from the water and looked up. There it was! The source of light, a- a bird?? The bird.. the bird is on fire! But it doesn't seem to mind that.. maybe he's lost too? Because that there looks like a bird from the New World. He's sure that he's not in the New World, it would have been so dangerous for him but in here there's no danger at all. Meaning the bird is lost. Poor him.
Shrugging, Ace went back in the water and let the bird go on his own, he wouldn't interfere with it even though it could be lost like him. He'd eventually get eaten by a sea king or something, even though he has only seen a few small ones around.
XXX
Ace swam for a while more and finally after what felt like years, he saw an uninhabited island. It was a beautiful island with a dense forest and it seemed to be uninhabited, at least he couldn't see or hear any humans around. He swam around the island a few times, it was small but it would be a nice place to rest. He had his bubble with him, which would allow him to go on the island and look for a cave or somewhere else he could hide in. The sea wouldn't be a wise choice since despite their smaller size, there are still sea kings around. And there could be ships in the area, if they saw him they'd immediately want to capture him. He wouldn't want that.
Going on the island with his bubble around his waist, he floated around and smiled at the small land animals he saw. They were cute. He couldn't find anywhere to hide, but he found this tall, huge rock. It looked like it had nice view up there so he wanted to check it out.
Ace was on his way to try and climb up, but.. something light fell on his head, he looked down. It was.. a.. uh, a red rock? No, no, that isn't a rock. Hmm.. He picked it up and the red.. thing.. had green grass on its head, he guessed. He sniffed it. Didn't smell like any usual rocks, but then again, usual rocks aren't red and green. It also had these small black dots.. huh.. maybe he could eat it??? Is it even something edible? Well.. only one way to find out. He'll take a bite- Slowly, Ace took the item to his mouth and took a bite, expecting something hard or really really bitter, but.. instead, he was met with this really sweet taste and soft texture. Huh.. this.. what is it?
He wanted more. More of the.. item.. he guessed this is a fruit. He knew about some common fruits, the two human children showed him some and he liked the apple, but.. but this is better! It's sweet, soft and sweet, he liked it! Maybe there was some bushes or tree up there that this grew on?
With stars in his eyes Ace started climbing up, but he stopped when he heard a noise.. kind of like a sigh, come from there. Wait.. wait, was someone there?! With that idea, silently Ace jumped down and floated to the water, jumping in and instantly swimming a bit away from the rock. This way, whoever was up there wouldn't see his bright red tail. Hopefully. He looked up and he saw some guy with blond hair looking down at the water, eyes searching everywhere possible but he didn't see Ace. Phew..
The blond human.. That guy couldn't be him. Sure, they both have blond hair and kinda look similar but this human isn't young like how he should be, unless something happened to him.
Hm? Who is Ace talking about? Ah...
It's Sabo, one of the humans he met. The other one's name is Luffy, and there was the old man Garp too. Sabo is a blond boy, had this sometimes shy but overall confident, soft and encouraging smile of his. Luffy.. Luffy is a ball of sunshine, really. He was smaller than Sabo, black hair and shining eyes. He had this overconfident, carefree, happygolucky and inhumanely big grin of his. And Garp.. Garp is a weird man, if he must say. He's old by now, probably even has a lot of whites replacing his black hair. He is Luffy's grandfather and had accepted both him and Sabo as his grandchildren, too. Garp is actually a loving person, but the way he shows his love is.. kind of aggressive? His fists of love say that, at least. But, he saved Ace many, many times. Garp, Sabo and Luffy.. they are the reason he hadn't still lost faith in humanity. Oh, did he mention Dadan and the bandits?! They were a weird bunch, but he loved them too!
Anygays. The guy eventually gave up and sat on the edge of the rock, -he really shouldn't call that a rock, it's almost like a small mountain but whatever we'll call it a rock anyway-, and there!! He had those red fruits!! And he was eating them, damnit! Ace wanted some too!
...He could steal them and jump back into the sea...
... Yep. He'll do that. Wish him luck!
But first, he needed to go back on the island from somewhere else, since the man would easily see him if he just swam out of the water and floated around with a big bright red tail. So he swam to the side a bit and went on the island again, going to the rock and climbing up from behind. He didn't mind the occasional small noises coming from up ahead, guessing it's just the human doing human things. Humans are weird, after all.
But... he couldn't ignore this one sound. The human had started whistling and suddenly, quite abruptly he stopped and 2 seconds later the human spoke,
"I know you're there." Ace froze. 'I know you're there'. Holy shit. HOW?! How did the human know he's here? Did he make some sound to give away his position? Or did the man saw him getting out of the water? Just how?!
His breath hitching, he looked up with shaky movements and he just saw the sky. The blond human wasn't looking down or anything, was he not worried that someone was sneaking up on him from behind? Not that Ace would have done anything bad, he just wanted to steal a few fruits and just leave. But really, what is the human going to do? Does he.. know that Ace is a merman???
"What do you need?" The human spoke after some minutes. Ace has been frozen the whole time, not even able to move down so he could jump back into the water and get the fuck out of there. Should he talk with the human? Maybe he could make it out alive..
"I-.. I-I don't want.. t-trouble." God, he has forgotten how hard it was to speak to humans. He cursed as his voice trembled- he wasn't able to hide the fear in his voice. The sheer fear, and the hidden hatred. The only two emotions he felt towards other humans. Not his family, no, he loves his family, but other humans? He hates them. He especially hates the humans in bubbles and white clothes. He hates them with all his being, but he's also so, so afraid of them.
"Is that so? Then, I won't hurt you, yoi. Are you okay? You kinda sound injured." Ace bit his lips. Not this trap, no, not that. He wouldn't fall for it. And did he really sound that injured? Oh wow. Even a human like that guy-...
Just what if this guy is like Sabo, Luffy and Garp? Well, if he's like Garp, then Ace wouldn't want to be around him much, but... still, that'd mean he doesn't mind merfolk, right.
"W-who are y-you?" He asked, a bit less shaky but still cautious. He heard a low chuckle and movement, he was ready to jump down and flee but he didn't hear any more movement, what was the human doing?!
"My name's Marco. Mind telling me your name, yoi?" Marco the blond human asked. Ace didn't want to reply to Marco's question, but well.. It was only right to tell your name when they tell theirs too, so..
"... Ace.." He said after a while. Marco hummed and he heard movement again, making him cautious. He was kinda angry he couldn't see what the human was doing, but he also didn't want the human to see him. He heard the human take a bite of something, was that the.. fruit?? The red fruit? He wanted that!
Ace knows it's really stupid, but... He slowly raised himself up a bit and looked at the human. He was facing the ocean, a bag full of those fruits by his side. There! He wanted them! Marco didn't seem to see him, or react to anything. He was just watching the ocean and eating the fruits. Maybe.. Maybe Ace could somehow snatch some of the fruits? He hoped so.
Ace raised himself up more, making sure the human wouldn't be able to see his tail if he did look back. He only had his torso up, his tail being hidden behind the rock.
"... what's that?" He asked, not being able to help himself. Ace couldn't see Marco's reaction but he guesses that was a smile, or even a smirk, and a second later the blond human threw a few fruits in front of him without even looking back. These are probably poisonous, Ace thought. If not, then why would the human willingly give him food?
"These are strawberries, yoi. They are tasty, you can eat them if you want." He heard the man talk. Straw.. berries? Huh... that.. that means Marco is willing to give him food? That isn't poisonous? Because Marco was also eating them. He could try.. It's stupid, again, but Ace wanted to be able to trust some humans.
Well, that sounded more stupid than eating the food that a human gave him. Trusting a human? Whoa.
He slowly reached his arm out and grabbed one frui- strawberry, the strawberry. He took a bite and shut his eyes close, but there was no possible bitter taste of any kind of poison. It tasted the same as the last one, this was a normal fruit. It wasn't poisoned, and a human gave him this. He looked up from the fruit as he took the last bite, since it was a small fruit. The blond human was still looking out to the sea.
"Why..?" Ace asked, voice small and lips trembling. Why would the human do this? To a merman? Something different? He waited for an answer, but none came for about a minute. Then, he saw small movement and suddenly the human looked back at him, startling him to death. He yelled in horror and surprise, loosing his grip on the rocks and falling down with a thud. Paying no mind to that, Ace hurriedly went back in water and tried swimming away without looking back, but.. he had to.
He looked back. There was no one on the rocks, no one around it or anywhere in vision. Was the human hiding? Oh.. oh no, what if the human had a gun?! He then heard a noise, like a flapping wing, and looked up to see that same blue bird. Now looking closer at it, it really was on fire. But.. why was the bird looking at him?
He felt unnerved when the bird started flying down, directly at him. He didn't know what to do, it was a giant blue bird on fire and it was flying at him in an insane speed!!! What was he supposed to even do?!
Ace yelped in surprise when the bird grabbed him by his arms and flew up with him, completely revealing his tail to anyone around him, including that blond man. He was in range!! He could be hit! Is this bird helping the humans??
"O-Oi!!! LET ME DOWN!" Ace tried screaming at the bird, he wiggled in his hold, tried to hit the bird with his tail too but he was afraid of catching on fire. But.. the bird didn't really feel hot. There was no heat.. What was this bird about?? This is so confusing!
"Calm down, I won't hurt you, yoi." The bird talked. THE BIRD TALKED?! Ace's eyes widened when the realization hit him, it was not a bird. That 'yoi', that voice, it was the blond human from earlier, it was Marco. So.. the human ate a devil fruit? But wait. That means he doesn't know what the human will do to him! The case just got worse!
"LET ME DOWNNN!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, feeling stressed now that he saw Marco was taking him back to the island. He was stiffly dropped on the rocks, but since he couldn't had his bubble on and there was no time to put it around his waist, Ace had to crawl around, trying to get down from the rocks. But it was so high up and he was afraid of the fall. And with the absence of his bubble which kept his tail up to not harm it, his beautiful bright red tail was damaged and decorated with dark red blood.
The bird-human landed right in front of him and he saw him turn back into his human form, face showing boredom but eyes looking worried for some reason. Marco had put his hands up in an attempt to show he was no harm, but Ace didn't fell for that. He was sure that Marco was lying.
"I'm sorry for the hard landing, yoi. It was an accident, are you okay? It looks like your tail is bleeding, I want to help." Marco said. Ace narrowed his eyes and shook his head, he didn't want the human near him. He was trying hard to hide his shaking, but.. it just won't go away like nothing. There's a human, a stranger in front of him and he doesn't know if this man will try to cage him like others did.
"Okay, yoi, I won't get close. But can you still tell me if your wounds need any aid? I am a doctor, don't worry." It almost looked like Marco was talking to a wall because Ace was adamant about not answering him. A minute of silence later, the man just sighed and plopped down. He looked up and smiled at Ace who just glared.
Ace watched Marco's every movement as the man reached his hand out to the strawberries, taking a few and lightly tossing them to his direction. He looked at the strawberries, then Marco, then the strawberries, then Marco again and decided to take one, just to see if Marco would do anything. But no, the man just stood there and took a strawberry for himself, eating it. Ace took a bite from the one in his hand, all the while watching Marco. He then ate another strawberry, and then the last one, licking his lips and fingers. The strawberries are delicious.
"Want more?" He heard the human ask and he looked at him again, there were only two left and Marco had them in his hands. Ace knew he wouldn't give him the last strawberries, but he still nodded slowly. He did want the strawberries. But, to his surprise, Marco tossed the last strawberries to him. He just stared at him before taking the strawberries. Looking at them and taking one, he threw it at Marco.
"Sharing..." He muttered just loud enough for the human to hear and bit into his strawberry, seeing the human smile fondly from the corner of his eyes as he looked away.
"Thanks." Marco said and ate his share of the strawberry, feeling amused. He was very surprised when he first saw the merman in here of all places. At first Marco had thought the merman was an escapee, but he didn't have any shackles, nasty wounds or slave marks. But still, he could have been caught and brought here too.
"Ace, was it?" He asked just to make sure, and when he saw an unsure nod, he continued his words. "Why are you here, yoi? I believe you should actually be back in Fishman island, yes?" He watched as the merman went through a few emotions, name it be worry, fear, embarrassment or unsureness. He didn't rush the merman, he understood that it must be hard for Ace to talk to a human. Even more if he'd been tortured by any humans before. But, with a little bit of wait and giving him some time, Ace finally decided that he'd tell Marco. After all, the blond human seemed sincere and nice.. almost reminded him of Sabo, too, one of the reasons he wanted to talk to the human a bit more.
"I.. I'm lost." He said shyly, watching the blond to see if even a bit of ill emotion would occur from hearing that he was lost, and more importantly alone. But, the blond only had understatement seen on his face, even through the bored expression, the half closed and tired blue eyes of his.
"I see, that's not nice. Say what, I'm on a mission right now and after it's done, I'll go back to the Grand Line. I can help you go back to the Fishman island, yoi. It's a promise. Don't worry, I know a lot of fishmen and merfolk from there. I'm the first commander of the Whitebeard pirates." Marco explained, making sure to mention he's a part of the Whitebeards since he thought it'd maybe help Ace with trusting him. Ace eyed him again, more closely this time and after a few long minutes of being stared at (which still made him uncomfortable. While he's used to being stared at, since he's the first commander in the strongest pirate crew, this Ace stared really hard), Ace gave him the okay.
"Okay then. I'll follow you into the Grand Line." Smiling at Ace's words, Marco nodded and stood up. He glanced at Ace's tail, which made the mer a bit uncomfortable but he was just eyeing the wound. It was small, yes, but it'd still bleed if Ace swam and blood would make sea kings follow Ace around.
"U-uhmm, where are we again??" Ace asked as Marco wasn't talking, just.. staring at his small, bleeding wound. Marco was brought back to the world from his thoughts and gave a small 'oh' before answering.
"We're currently at an unnamed island in East Blue." Ace's eyes widened at that, he'd gone to the East Blue?! How???? Oh well.. seems he swam so fucking far away.
"Well yoi, it can't be helped now. But don't worry, I'll make sure to help you, just.. before that, can I see that wound? I want to at least stop the bleeding, it might attract sea kings to you, yoi." Marco said with a bit of worry in his voice, pointing to his tail. He looked down and then back at Marco before nodding, letting the man approach him. Marco was very gentle with his tail, his touch felt like feathers dancing on his tail. It was kind of nice.. Despite being a pirate, Marco's skin was very smooth and even soft. His hands seemed the softest hands he had ever seen on a human. Even that nice woman he had seen back on Dawn island- Makino, didn't have hands this soft. Was it maybe a power of the fruit Marco ate? Or the man just looked after himself better than any human he had seen? Either way, his skin is beautiful.
Ace watched closely as Marco examined his wound, feeling a little uncomfortable when the man narrowed his eyes. Marco raised his hands up and then looked at him, smiling,
"I'm going to use my powers, okay? My fire helps me heal wounds a bit, enough for the bleeding to stop. I promise it won't hurt." Marco said. He still hadn't activated his devil fruit powers, this 'fire' he talked about.. was it the fire he saw on Marco's bird form? The fire that didn't feel hot? He nodded, but he was still scared.
Marco nodded as well and lit his hands on fire, though not too big. It just danced inside his palms, two small fires. Ace bit back the urge to flinch as Marco's fiery hands approached the injury on his tail. But, again, it didn't feel hot at all. He gasped when he saw and felt the injury close on its own slowly, being supported by Marco's fire. That's crazy! So cool!! Marco can heal injuries!!!
As Ace watched the wound close in awe, Marco chuckled quietly. The merman looked cute like this. He looked like a kid who got his favorite gift on christmas. Similar to how Haruta looked when Vista gave her the best sword he got on christmas. Or when pops let Thatch have his own corner in the kitchen all for him only on Thatch's birthday, back when the crew wasn't too big. Marco smiled remembering the fond memories.
He was taken away from the chain of memories as he saw the wound fully disappear, leaving no marks behind. Though, it'd take a bit for the scales to fully thicken as it looked thin right now compared to others around it. He put away his fire and looked up, seeing Ace was staring and gave him a smile. Ace mumbled out a 'thank you' before he looked down at the bottom, where the sea is.
"If you need to rest yoi, I don't have any problem with staying longer here." Marco told him in a reassuring tone and Ace nodded.
"That'd be nice. I have been swimming for a long time.." He said, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile. Marco laughed and said it was okay, and he'd protect him while he slept if it was necessary. Ace stared at him again, and then thanked him before taking out his bubble. He put the bubble around his waist, helping him to keep balance and most importantly keep his tail up. Ace then pointed below to the beach.
"I'll rest by the shore, tail in water and body on sand." Marco nodded. That sounds nice, though it's not something for Marco since he's a devil fruit user. He helped Ace get down safely and let the merman rest while going inside the forest to find some more strawberries, making sure to keep his observation haki flaring so he can sense if Ace gets in danger. He promised the merman and he'd keep his promise. Marco was going to take the bright tailed mer back to his home safely.
XXX
Waking up after a good sleep, Ace looked around to realize that night has already fallen and Marco was asleep on the sand, laying near him but away from the water's reach. He also noticed some strawberries next to Marco, innocently layed around on the sand. There were at least more than 20 in that pile. They all looked fresh and tasty too, meaning it was one hour ago at most that Marco came back with strawberries and slept. He smiled, the man was really nice and considerate.
Yawning quietly and stretching his limbs, Ace floated up with the help of his bubble and made his way to the strawberry pile, starting to eat a few. He was on his fifth strawberry when the blond man groaned and then yawned, waking up. Marco sat up and looked over at him with a smile.
"Rested well, yoi?" He asked, and since Ace's mouth was full he gave a quick approving hum while chewing and threw another strawberry in his mouth. Marco mentally found it cute. The merman is quite cute.
He had his hair up in a small bun behind his head, fully revealing his bright red ears- uh.. well.. ear fins! Yes, those were called ear fins. He had a beautiful body, not going to lie. Marco wondered if his beauty could outrun Boa Hancock's. But since Marco is very much gay, in his opinion Ace is more beautiful. He has a bright red tail, his fluke. It was like a strawberry color, too. Well, almost. Marco was sure it looked more bright in the water, must be the effects of being a mer. And, god, those eyes.. Those obsidian orbs that stared into one's soul.. and what about the freckles spred around the merman's cheeks? Marco could spend a whole day counting them again and again non-stop.
Snapping back to reality with the question from a very beautiful merman, the question being about when they'd leave, Marco answered perfectly normal and hid his blush by looking to the sea.
"We can leave right now, yoi. I need to go to an island, it should be close now. We'll go this way," He pointed to the west. "and continue in this direction. Should lead us to the island, yoi. My job is quick, I just need to warn someone. My whole presence would be already enough, but still. Gotta give them the word from pops." Ace nodded as he talked, giving a hum here and there but he stopped to stare at him for a moment after his last word.
"Pops?" The mer asked and Marco nodded, smiling at the word. Pops, they called their captain. The strongest man in the world, who is a father to all of them.
"Yeah, pops. He's the captain of our pirate crew, but we call him father." He said, confusing the mer even more. Why would his crew call him father? What's the reason behind that?
"Why do you call him father?" Ace asked. He really wanted to know how someone could call a man he isn't blood related to 'father'. Though.. It could be similar to his case with Sabo, Luffy and Garp.. They aren't blood related, but the two young humans called him 'brother'. They aren't blood related, but the old marine called him 'grandson'.
"Because he calls us his sons and daughters, yoi. To the rest of the world, we are all just outcasts. It makes us happy! It's just a word,but it makes us happy." Marco finished explaining with a smile on his face. Ace slowly nodded, understatement seen in his eyes. He knew how that was. To be an outcast to the whole world and then to be accepted by someone, someone who'd promise they wouldn't betray and keep that promise.
"Okay then. Let's go." Ace said and Marco nodded, standing up and patting the sand off of his clothes. Ace started floating towards the sea and laid down there, taking his bubble off. He dived in the water and swam a bit away, where he could move around more freely and he was still in hearing range of the blond. He looked at Marco.
"You are going to fly, right? If you don't fly too fast, I can follow you wherever you go." He said, and the man nodded. He agreed to that and he said that he was already planning on flying slower than his normal pace. He transformed into his phoenix form and flapped his wings, jumping up to fly. Looking down, he saw Ace staring at him and with a jerk of his head he pointed to the way he'd be flying. Ace gave a stiff nod and he dived back in water, swimming close to the surface so both could see each other. From up in the sky, Marco could see Ace's bright red tail shining in the endless blues. From inside the sea, Ace could see Marco's blue flames blazing in the endless swarm of milky clouds and baby blue sky.
XXX
Ace swam, following the bird on fire (a.k.a Marco the Phoenix) closely behind. He was still uncomfortable swimming this close to the surface of the sea, but he wouldn't have been able to follow Marco if he was deeper in the water. And Marco wouldn't have been able to see him too.
After a few hours, he saw an island up ahead. To a bit right of the island there was a pirate ship stationed. It looked bigger than the normal ones, maybe could hold up to 150 men in it. He saw Marco come to a halt so he stopped too, popping his head out of the water to stare at the man in phoenix form. Marco lowered himself enough to not touch the water below and enough for Ace to hear him.
"I'll go to that island, yoi. You stay hidden around here, I'll head back from this way. If things get heated, I'll fight them but you don't need to interfere. Just stay out of trouble, alright?" The mer nodded and once Marco started flying towards the island after another look, he went back in the water and a little below, slowly swimming towards the island to at least see what was going on.
XXX
Landing on his feet and deforming his wings into human arms, (having transformed into his human form excluding the wings to fly mid air), Marco's tired, half lidded eyes looked around. While looking extremely bored, his gaze was rather stern. He was right in the middle of what seemed to be an early party the pirate crew was having. The pirates around him looked startled and scared, knowing who he is. Some had dropped the food and booze they had in their hands, eyes wide and mouthes open.
"C-c-c-commander Marco!!!" One of them managed to sputter out and he glared at the poor man, scaring the shit out of him (literally). He looked around, not seeing the man in question that he needed to talk to- a.k.a the crew's captain.
"Good job figuring it out, yoi. Now, where is your dear captain? I have a few words for him." He said, still looking around for the said captain. One of the men stood up on shaky legs and while his whole body was shaking, the man shot a surprisingly firm glare at him. Not only the captain, it seems the whole crew has got some balls.
"W-why would we tell y-you?! H-he's our captain!" He said, making (some of) the crew scream a fearful 'yeah!'. Marco stared around one more time at the crew and an evil grin creeped its way on his face. He chuckled and cracked his knuckles, Marco will enjoy beating these guys to unconscious.
Some men screamed in fear and some started running away, a very small amount of them drawing their weapons to fight. Running would have been smarter for their case, but they probably thought outnumbering him would be an advantage for them. Not that Marco is underestimating his enemy, no, it's just... these guys wouldn't even do as much as a scratch on him. The fight would end in approximately 5 minutes.
There were a total of 11 men around Marco, all had various sized swords and some even had guns as their weapon. Marco smirked, sensing the first attack before it even came and effortlessly dodged the blade, sending a harsh kick to the pirate's abdomen. The pirate fell to the ground groaning in pain, clutching his stomach. Second and third attacks came from two more swordsmen and, at an insanely speed, Marco kicked those guys too. His feet kicked hard, but he didn't even have his talons on.. for now.
The attacks continued and just like he had guessed, in 5 minutes the fight was very much over with 10 men clutching their various body parts. The left 1 man out of the 11 had run away sometime during the short fight. Marco sighed, shaking his head. They weren't even worth his time, but he did what was needed in the situation. Sensing a new aura, someone more powerful than these scums, he looked at the way he felt it from. Ah, the ship. The captain must be in the ship, then.
Arms forming into wings, Marco flew towards the ship and landed on the wood in front of what looked like a fancy cabin. The door creaked open and revealed a man in his late forties, looking scared but grumpy at the same time (he didn't know how). Marco recognized the man as the captain his pops told him to warn: captain Kanno, was his name. He had troubled a small ship of their, the Moby 8, and left right after that. Moby 8 mostly has their doctors and nurses stationed in, they always stay somewhere safe or in their protected islands but this time, despite their flag flying up in the sky proudly, some ignorant crew had managed to trouble Moby 8. But they didn't do much, they only aggravated them, no one was damaged or anything. The crew was just.. mildly annoying and frustrating. Pops wanted him to check in case they were planning something against them.
"Good morning, yoi. Slept well? Because you won't even be able to sleep if you're planning anything." Marco spat, his voice calm but eyes glaring daggers at the man. He hasn't done anything bad yet, it was kind of misappropriation on their behalf. The man in front of him trembled under his gaze.
"I-I promise w-we weren't planning a-anything!" Marco looked at the man's soul through his eyes and smirked.
"You wouldn't live another minute if I find out you're planning something, yoi." Marco said and before the man was able to talk through his trembling body, he turned into his phoenix form and flew away.
After flying a bit away from the ship, he saw a head pop out of the water and caught a glimpse of bright red in the water. Ace. With the jerk of his head he basically told Ace to swim what way. There was another island around here which wasn't too far, they could go there. It was also the fastest way since the island was on the way to the Grand Line. Though.. Marco still didn't know if they should go through the Calm Belt or somehow get through the Twin Mountains. Hmmm.. if the merman lets him, he could carry him to safely get into the Grand Line. But there was the possibility of being seen..
XXX
They reached the island and stopped so Ace could rest a bit. Marco used to swim before he ate his devil fruit, so he knew that it's tiring to swim. Though, he believes there's a great difference between humans and merfolk when it comes to swimming... it still should be tiring to swim for a long time. And Ace had been swimming for God knows how long to reach the East Blue all the way from Fishman island.
"Alright, yoi. You rest a bit and I'll look around the island. It should be uninhabited, but it's still better to check everything out. Ace nodded as he made himself comfortable on the sand, his tail in the shallow water. Marco first looked around their surroundings, making sure there was no one nearby. He then went to check the other side of the island, going through a small forest.
Having extended his observation haki to feel Ace's aura better and be sure that he's safe, Marco was taken aback when he felt another person nearby. His arms were transformed into wings as he jumped up, flapping his wings to fly. Flying up high he could see some kind of a camp near the shore, fortunately far away from where Ace is resting. He decided to not cause trouble and let whoever that was be, he'd see what to do later on. Seeing nothing else that's suspicious on the island other than the small camp, he decided to go back to Ace and wait. If the other human or humans decided to attack them, he'd counterattack of course. But there's no need for unnecessary blood.
XXX
Been a couple of hours since Ace went to sleep, Marco had gone into the forest again to collect strawberries he saw and since the human was still far away and seeming to be asleep or something, he took his time to collect a lot of them. Ace seemed to like strawberries a lot and for whatever reason, Marco enjoyed seeing Ace's brighter-than-the-sun smile.
It was a few moments later that Ace woke up, mumbling in his sleep. Marco's phoenix powers let him hear one word from the mumbling, the rest was completely incoherent. 'Lu'. He didn't know what it meant, but it did sound like a name or nickname. Seems Ace has family.. or a really close friend. Which, means... he might not be able to convince Ace to come with him to the Moby Dick...
He has been wanting that. To be with Ace longer, to see more of Ace and to.. to love him. He doesn't know why. He doesn't understand the reason behind it, he just knows that he wants to love Ace. He wants to be close to the merman, to hold him, to touch him, to feel him, to tell him.. Tell him his desires, how he had come to love Ace so much in so little time.. By simply watching him. Observing him. Feeling the tingling sensation inside his stomach bubble up, his need to get closer to the merman and.. and that growing, odd feeling his Phoenix started giving..
To put it short, yes, Marco is apparently in love.
"Did you rest well, yoi?" He asked as Ace yawned. The mer gave a sleepy nod and yawned again. He must be so tired. It's been a long time since Ace was home, so of course the mer is tired. On that note... he does have a question he wanted to ask Ace.
"Hey, Ace?" Hearing an affirmative hum, the human continued. "Why did you get this far away from Fishman island? Shouldn't you.. stay close there and be in contact with other mers?" The raven head smiled sheepishly and chuckled, saying that's kinda true.
"Well... Originally, I just wanted to get away from.. some misunderstandings which took place in the Fishman island, but ehm... I kinda lost track of time and how far I had swam, thus, resulting in me getting lost." Marco laughed, met with Ace's glare but he couldn't help it. It was funny how a mer could get lost in the sea.
"Hmph." Ace crossed his arms and looked away from Marco with puffed cheeks. -Cute-
"Hahaha, it's okay, Ace yoi. I'll help you get back anyway." Marco reassured the mer but the raven head wouldn't look his way. He shook his head and grabbed a few strawberries, walking towards the merman. He sat in front of the uncooperative merman and shoved a strawberry into his mouth, putting the rest in Ace's hand. Ace said something but it was muffled so he just ignored it and went back to his original spot, laughing. Ace pouted while eating his strawberries.
XXX
It's been four days since Marco met Ace. They have been on the seas constantly, jumping from one island to another, staying at least 5 minutes before continuing their journey again. Days went like that, they'd stop for longer to eat food and sleep for a few hours at night. In no time, they were just in front of the Reverse Mountains. Marco lowered himself a bit to get in hearing range of Ace but still manage to stay out of the water's reaching points. Ace also popped his head out of the water and stared up at the big flying bird on fire, a.k.a our beautiful Phoenix.
"I recommend me carrying you to the other side, yoi. What do you think?" Marco yelled in the loudness of the waves, looking at Ace. The merman was unsure at first, taking a few long glances around. But in the end he sighed and complied, nodding.
Marco grabbed Ace by his arms with his talons, of course being careful with the merman, and flew high up in the air. Soon enough they were even higher than the mountain itself, Marco aiming to be this high so it'll make it hard for others to see them. He crossed the mountain and looked down at Ace, seeing the mer actually enjoy flying this time. Ace had a huge grin on his face and starry eyes, watching how fast they flew in awe. He chuckled lightly.
"Are you fine going like this for a while, Ace?" He asked and felt the merman look up at him, so he sent a quick glance before looking in front of him.
"Mmm... Sure, this is fun!!" The merman laughed and Marco chimed in, his own laugh in sync with Ace's. The bird brain thought for a moment before asking another question.
"Would you like to be on my back instead of me carrying you like this, yoi? It'll hurt your arms after a while and there's less chance that someone will see you if you hide your tail behind my feathers." Ace gasped at that, he liked the idea! So with a couple more stars being added in his eyes, he said a very enthusiastic 'yes!!!' and Marco chuckled at the mer. He quickly changed their way to the closest island so Ace can get on his back, if they tried mid air the merman would fall in the water for sure.
Only 10 minutes after they reached the island and Marco pulled them down, gently pushing Ace on the sand below and letting go of the merman's arms, the Phoenix gracefully landed right in front of the freckled mer. He trotted towards Ace and sat down, offering his back to the bright tailed merman. Ace shot him a bright grin and put his delicate hands on Marco's bird body, awing at how the fire didn't hurt him. Well.. the feathers? Marco did call them feathers.
Meh, whatever. Ace pulled himself up onto Phoenix's back, mindful to not actually hurt the bird- er, Marco, and propped himself comfortably once up. His tail fortunately wasn't on the way of the bir- slip of tongue, sorry.. His tail wasn't on Marco's way and the fire kind of hid it. Ace was surprised seeing Phoenix's fire dance around him, the fire didn't do this when Marco grabbed him by his arms. But now.. it seemed to almost wanna just cover him, like.. in a protective way? Or is this how Phoenix's fire just reacts to carrying someone? Either way, Ace found it cute.
After saying yes to Marco's question of if he's alright, Marco slowly took off and made his way up in the air, continuing to fly towards the Sabaody Archipelago. They talked the whole way there, and it was fun to be out in the air for this long again. But this time it was different, this time he was flying. Flying with Marco.. All alone.. Just the two of them.. In the middle of a beautiful night...
Should he kiss Marco now?... Uuhhhh...
ANYGAYS. In the end, he didn't kiss Marco, because he would not fall for his intrusive thoughts.
XXX
Marco never really questioned his observation haki, ever. He was always sure that what he felt is the truth, and it always turned out to be the truth too. But he knew that his family were so far away in the New World, so when he felt the increasingly getting stronger aura of his pops, he squinted his bird eyes. Was that pops or just an ally carrying his vivre card?
The latter thought was soon thrown down into the sea as he started feeling auras of his dear brothers and sisters, smiling fondly at himself. They apparently left the New World and decided to run around the Paradise. Maybe they were going on a vacation and were going to pick Marco on the way too. He looked up at Ace, the merman had fallen asleep on his back at some point and the Phoenix would occasionally give a soft coo at the light snoring Ace sometimes gave.
Such a shame he has to wake the merman up to ask if it'd be okay to travel on the ship. He was sure that pops and some of his siblings who knew observation haki better had already sensed him coming and were preparing. Hell, he could practically hear Thatch yelling and running around to prepare "a seed festival for the birdy". Marco swears to pops that he would have already killed Thatch if not for the bread head's sibling-protection. He can't kill his siblings, can he?
Yeah, yeah. Anyways, on his way to actually wake up the mer, he got himself in a mental fight with the Phoenix. Apparently the bird wanted him to not wake up Ace and just continue flying, completely ignore his family, and to go on a safe island to eternally live his life with the merman. To put it short, Phoenix has started thinking of Ace as his 'baby', or better put, his 'eternal mate'. Stupid bird. Who does he think Marco is?! He's the birb's master, dammit.
After a million sighs and eye-rolls he gave at the birb, Phoenix -in a bird way- gasped and gave a defeated, half intentional coo. Marco smirked. This was his win. Of course, Marco wanted Ace to continue sleeping too -He was too cute, dammit!-, but he had to go to his family to inform them of where he'd go. And maybe while they are on the ship... he could even convince Ace to stay some more!!
"Ace?" He called, a little bit louder than his usual calm tone so the merman would wake. But he didn't, so Marco called Ace again. "Ace, yoi. Wake up." He heard a low groan and called Ace's name again, seeing from the corner of his eyes that Ace was waking up.
"Mmm... whaa's 'rong?" He heard the merman mumble, thanks to the Phoenix. Otherwise his voice would have been too low for someone else to hear.
"I see my ship, it's right in front of us. On the ship is my family, and I want to inform them where I'd be going. I thought they were in New World before finding out they're actually here, yoi. Would that be a problem?" In his sleepy state, Ace still understood what Marco was saying. But he was hesitant about that. Maybe Marco could just dump him in the water and continue his journey with his family like he mostly wants to do and Ace could find his way around the sea? Okay, scratch that, this is still the Grand Line and he doesn't know his way around. Other than around the Fishman island, but that doesn't count.
On the other hand.. He knew the Whitebeard pirates. He knew who they were, the only humans some of his fellow merfolk trusted. Better phrased, Whitebeard was one of the only humans out there that their king trusted and accepted help by the Yonko. And he had heard that Jinbei, a friend fishman who became a Warlord, is quite close with this crew. So, the other part of him wanted to trust these pirates. More than that he wanted to trust Marco, and they were Marco's family after all.
"Okay." Came the reply with a bright smile after a long pause, which actually scared Marco. But the confident (even though there was fear under that) made Marco smile. The Phoenix gave a thrill and swiftly, but mindful of the teen, dived down towards the Moby Dick. His home. Once in his hearing range he could hear how his family was excited to see him. He could see pops standing tall and proud amongst his siblings, a few nurses ushering him to go and sit back down. He chuckled at the image.
The Phoenix gracefully landed on the deck, confusing his family as to why their first commander didn't turn back into his human form. Then they realized something. The first mate wasn't alone, someone's hands were wrapped around the Phoenix's neck and a head suddenly came into their view, having been hiding behind the bird. A teen, given from how young the man looked. Marco brought home a freckled teen. Thatch gasped at that, was he a potential new little brother?!
"Birdy! Welcome back!!" Thatch shouted at Marco before questioning the teen, shouts of welcomes from their siblings following Thatch's. Marco cooed fondly at them all, making a sound when he saw Whitebeard come towards them.
"My dear brother.. Who is that?" Izou was the one to ask that awaited question, and he looked back at Ace to wait for an approval before introducing him to the crew. Once getting the okay, Marco looked back at his family, this time pops being close enough to hear and actually see that the person Marco brought.. is a merman..
"Ahem, everyone, meet Ace, yoi. He is a merman and he was lost, I'm currently helping him go back to Sabaody. We saw you on the way there so I decided I'd tell you about it so it doesn't seem like I ignored you, yoi." His family nodded slowly, gasping when they heard the teen was a merman. A merman?! Whoa. Marco kidnapp- er, is currently helping a merman. A very handsome, young merman at that. Look at that beauty!! So good looking!
"Marco! You kidnapped a handsome merman?! How could you!!" Seems the brainless idiot spoke, giving Marco a huge headache. He sighed and faced his chef brother.
"No, Thatch, I didn't. And I won't, yoi." He said in a dangerous tone, sending Thatch a glare but the chef didn't mind it at all. He huffed and crossed his arms in front of him, muttering something under his breath. Ace was looking at everyone and everything with scared eyes, but when Whitebeard came in his vision he got this urge to jump into the water and swim away as far as possible. The man was huge!! And so scary!
"Gurararara. I understand, my son." Whitebeard then turned to look at Ace after acknowledging what Marco said. "You are welcome to stay on the Moby Ship as long as you wish, you two must be tired by now so it's only okay that you rest before continuing on. But, if you wish, I'm sure no one would have any problems with going back to the Fishman island. It has been a while since our last visit there." At this, Ace perked up. He looked at Whitebeard in the eye, having not made any eye contact with any of the humans until now, and searched. Searched for anything that'd make him go, but all he found was pure comfort in those eyes. They oddly gave comfort to him, and he didn't understand it one bit.
"I..." 'I want to trust humans.' "I-if it wouldn't be a burden..." 'I want to trust you!' "... I'd like to rest here..." Ace couldn't say it. No. He couldn't bring himself to say those words, say that he wanted to trust Whitebeard. Cause those eyes... those eyes held everything he needed, he could see it. He could feel it.
"Gurarara, of course you can stay! Men, go on with your duties, let your brother and our guest rest!" The pirates on deck started leaving one by one and only a few were left around their guest, them being Whitebeard, Marco, Thatch, Izo and Namur. Ace looked at all of them and finally his eyes landed on Namur... A.. fishman?
"Huh?" The confused sound escaped his lips, making the others laugh a bit. Namur smiled widely and waved at him, walking closer.
"Hey there, glad to have a mer on board for a change! My name's Namur, I'm a shark fishman. I'm also the 8th commander of the Whitebeard pirates." The now enthusiastic fishman commander introduced himself happily, confusing his brothers and pops with his enthusiasm. He was usually grumpy, happy but grumpy. He only was like this when he met a fellow fishman or merfolk. Whitebeard smiled. Namur would enjoy Ace's company, so would himself.
"O-oh! I heard about you! You're the one who left to be a pirate then joined a big crew!!" Ace said happily and Namur nodded, pointing up at Whitebeard.
"Meet Whitebeard, our captain and dear pops." Namur said with a smile in his tone and Ace looked at the giant man, shyly waving at the Yonko. Said Yonko laughed and waved back at him.
"I'm going to sleep a bit longer, yoi." Marco mumbled and went somewhere, probably his room, leaving Ace to get to know his family. Maybe it'd change the merman's mind and he'd stay. (Marco silently wishes Ace would stay)
"Come on, do you have those bubbles with ya? I wanna show you around! And maybe we could even go for a swim later!" Namur hurried the mer as Ace put on his bubble with a laugh, already liking Namur. It was nice to have someone like you in a completely unfamiliar place. Once the bubble was around his waist, he started floating above the deck. The fishman excitedly took his hand and started dragging him around, pointing to things and telling him what they are, pointing to humans and telling him who they are. Ace just laughed the whole trip. He.. for some reason, he felt safe here..
XXX
"Ehm.. Marco?" Izo knocked on the door leading to his brother's room, having had questions he wanted to ask Marco. Most of them being about the merman he brought on board. Hearing shuffles from inside and a mumbled 'come in', Izo let himself in.
Marco's room was, as always, pretty neat. He saw the blond commander laying on his bed and made his way to his brother, sitting on the bed mindful to not sit on Marco's leg or arm. He looked down at Marco and then looked up at the ceiling, thinking through his thoughts before asking. He knew Marco wouldn't answer some of his questions. But, that didn't matter.
"Why did you bring that mer here?" He asked the first question. Marco moved his head to look at him and sent Izo a look of 'you dumb, yoi?'.
"Because I was helping him go back to his home, yoi, and I didn't want everyone thinking I ignored all of you." Izo hummed at that. He knew that wasn't the only reason as to why Marco brought Ace here, but he'll find out. He will. No secrets can make it away from him, especially if it included his dear (favorite) siblings. He's already engaged in some kind of a game with Thatch, to find out what the chef is hiding but he's quite good at it. Izo will eventually find out. Today or another day. This way or another way.
"Hmm... You could've just left right after telling us that, though you chose to stay." Izo raised one of his eyebrows and looked expectantly at his older brother, waiting for the blond's answer.
"I was tired." Marco said. But no. Izo wouldn't eat that lie. Marco needed to do better when it came to lying to Izo. The kimono wearer smiled.
"Oh? The mighty Marco the Phoenix gets tired of just flapping wings? Last time I checked, you could go off without any sleep for a few days." Marco groaned as Izo laughed at his brother, happy with that reaction. But still, there was more to this situation and he would find out. He sent a 'well?' look to Marco and the blond looked he wouldn't take any steps back.
"Like I said, I was tired yoi. Don't believe it, don't care." Izo huffed. So this is how it's gonna be. Marco's going to play hard with this one, huh? But no worries. Izo will find out. He always does.
"Alrighty then. Why don't you tell pops what happened at your alone mission instead of moping around? Pops was waiting for your return. Said he wanted to see his oldest son, hahah! You're so old even the old man is calling you old, hahaha!" Izo burst into laughs as he said thise last sentences, not minding the glare from his brother. Marco huffed and sat up, going out his room and dragging Izo along with him.
He went to the galley with Izo, the beautiful man laughing all the way there. Marco's eyws searched through the galley then the bsck kitchen, and seeing what he was searching for, a pompadoured idiot, he went towards that said idiot. Thatch was prepping for dinner and man, did he miss Thatch's delicious food.
"Thatch!" He called for the man and Thatch turned around, face liting up when he saw Marco and Izo. Oh God. Izo is so fucking beautiful when he laughs like that. And.. what is he laughing at? It seems so funny.
"Take this idiot with you, yoi. I'm going to report to pops." Marco said and shoved Izo inside the kitchen, right at Thatch. Izo eventually stopped laughing and turned to look at Thatch, told him something and then they proceeded to burst into laughs. Marco just shook his head and left for the Captain's quarters, where their old man would be.
XXX
Hearing a light knock on his door, Whitebeard looked up from the book he was reading and smiled. Marco. The door opened and yep, it's Marco who came inside.
"Hello, my son. Come in, tell me how everything went." He said as he put away his book, which looks like it's a miniature book in his hands but really, the book is normal sized. Whitebeard is just big. Marco nodded with a smile as he went to sit by his captain, making himself comfortable. He looked up and smiled again.
"I start missing home right after leaving, yoi. I should go on missions more, it gets harder when I'm away for a long time. Though, Ace made it better for me, I wasn't all alone the way here." Whitebeard smiled as his son talked. Marco was known for being the mother hen of their family, always worrying for his siblings. It was understandable that he missed them.
"It's good that you're back, son. Some of your siblings were losing it without you, gurararara!" Marco laughed, he could imagine Thatch and Haruta coming up with ideas to roast him again now that he's back. Vista would duel him like no tomorrow. Curiel would come to him for medical information. Izou would continue with their long night talks. Haru and Caru brothers would put eggs inside his room as a prank (he already knows it's them doing that and not Thatch or Haruta, the two have been doing that since joining the crew and finding out about Marco's powers). His division would tell him to start prank wars against 4th division because of everything Thatch did. He kinda likes that idea. 2nd division would look up to him and ask if a division commander would be assigned to them, almost every morning.
Okay. Maybe Marco misses them too much. But how could he not? They are literally his family, people he has been living with for his whole life. Of course he'll miss them. Anyways. He started telling Whitebeard about his journey, which lasted about one hour and then he left to eat some of Thatch's delicious food.
XXX
'What's with all that noise?' The blond commander thought as he walked on the deck, on his way to the galley. For some reason, the galley was really noisy. Normally it wouldn't be this noisy at this time of the day, but today everything seemed lively. He opened the double doors that led to the galley and went inside. Most of the commanders, some frok division 8, 4 and 1 were here in the galley. They were all around the commanders' table, listening and looking at something. In the middle of all, sat Ace with a bright smile on his face though a little uncomfortable.
"Commander Marco! Didn't know you were such a romantic for merfolk!" Marco felt his anger bubble up when someone from his division talked. Upon that sentence, the merman in question looked up at him and smiled brighter than anything. Marco felt his heart do a small flip there. He smiled, not losing his cool, and went to sit by the excited merman (also praying off Thatch's hands from the merman and throwing him on the floor, but he isn't important rn)
"You enjoying it on the ship, yoi?" He asked Ace as he one by one slapped his siblings' hands off of the merman. Ace is his. They should know.
"Yeaa!! Your siblings are so cool, Marco, look at what- ehm... Sach? Sach made for me! Sorry, still not good with names..." He chuckled when Ace shoved the food on his face, ruffling the merman's hair. Ace gave a giggle and went back to eating. While he ate... Marco shot a quick look at everybody around them and threw some glares. The crowd disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving out the commanders and Ace behind. Ace looked up for a second, gave a small shrug and went back to eating. Marco smiled.
"Oh my God, MARCO." Izo shouted at his ear. God. Does he have to be so loud? He looked up with a look of 'wtf?' and saw Izo grinning like a madman. Oh right. Izo loves helping their siblings with love problems. And right now, Marco's sure that Izo sees him as a potential man in love who needs help. Izo's help.
"Shut it, yoi." He quickly glared at the kimono wearing man and turned back to look at a very confused mer. With a soft smile, he sat besides the mer and put his hand around Ace's waist, earning a very shy giggle and blush.
"Hmm... it's good that you like Thatch's cooking, Ace. How about you ask him to make something special for you? I'm sure Thatch will love to do that, yoi." Giving the idea, he smirked at the chef before him and didn't let his amusement show anymore. Ace gasped and with a giant grin, he looked over at Thatch.
"Can you make food with strawberries?!" The mer asked, maybe too excited, but whatever. Ace is happy, so it's okay. Thatch puffed his chest and smirked.
"This handsome chef can cook anything you want!" The commanders around them laughed at Thatch and Haruta even went to smack the fourth commander's back cackling when Thatch cursed at her.
"I want strawberry food!" Ace exclaimed and Thatch nodded, running off while muttering somethings. Marco looked up again and shooed the rest of the commanders away, mouthing 'paper work' to those who didn't want to leave. Works like a charm. He'd like to have some alone time with the mer right now instead of just napping. He also asked one of the chefs for some food, which came really fast.
XXX
"What's this?"
"Strawberry cake. I noticed you love sweets, and what's better than a sweet sweet cake decorated with strawberries?" The merman was right now looking at a very delicious strawberry cake, looking hungry even though he just ate... a lot. This time though, Ace was sitting on Marco's lap and Thatch noticed Marco fighting for his dear life under there with barely visible blush tingling on his cheeks. He held in his laugh or else the fourth division commander would die to a flaming blue bird.
As he was minding his brother's almost death, he failed to notice that Ace has already started eating. Thatch's thoughts were disturbed by some happy mer sounds and he smiled. The bright red tailed mer seemed to love the cake. Thatch made a mental note about that in case Ace stayed on board. And by how Marco looks at Ace... Thatch is sure Ace will stay.
XXX
It was already night time, though they didn't know how fast the time flew. Ace was still in the galley with Marco, and this time Namur was here too. Ace and Namur were talking about some sea things, Marco was just trying to survive under Ace. This position made him want to just grab Ace and kiss him passionately.
Marco finally gave up once Namur left saying it was his duty to night watch today. The blond man pulled Ace close, one hand under the mer's back and the other under his tail, carrying Ace in princess style. Ace made some confused and maybe scared noises but Marco just ignored it and walked to his room.
Once inside he gently laid Ace on his bed and.. stared.
"Ehm... M-Marco?" Ace asked after a minute and the blond in question smiled, a really really gentle smile.
"How can you be so beautiful, yoi?" The blond pirate said as he gently caressed Ace's cheek with his right hand. Ace blushed and looked away, but the way his ear fins excitedly moved up and down gave everything away. Ace liked Marco.
"Hmm... Ace. Look at me." The mer slowly raised his head up and looked at Marco. Marco smiled as he cupped Ace's cheeks with his soft hands, eyes staring longingly at the mer's lips. Ace gulped as he raised his hand up to hold Marco's clothes, pulling him close and slowly raising himself up to be close to Marco.
Marco's eyes left his lips and found his eyes, his eyes which were watching him all the time. They stared into each other's eyes for the longest minutes, slowly pulling each other close. Marco's left hand went behind Ace's head's back and the other still on Ace's cheeks, softly brushing the soft, pink lips and moving around the blushed cheek. He pulled Ace close once again. Ace pulled Marco close once again. They both closed their eyes, going for it. Going for the ki-
"Commander Marco!!" Someone interrupted their sweet moment at the sweetest moment when he was about to taste the sweetest fucking mer.
"FUCK." Marco couldn't help but curse as Ace quickly pulled back and looked away. He went to his door and opened it to see Rody. A member of the 2nd division.
"Rody, yoi. You're so close to being dead right now, so you better tell me what the fuck you want before I throw you overboard. And this better be important, yoi, or else..." He threatened the man (Marco couldn't help it, the idiot interrupted his kiss with Ace!!) Rody gave raised his hands and took a few steps back.
"Whoa there, commander! Please don't hurt me! Just wanted to tell you that we'll be in Sabaody by tomorrow night. The navigator team told me to tell you." The idiot walked away as he said that and Marco had to hold himself off from landing a nice kick to the man's head. He turned and went back to his sweet mer, locking the door.
"Marco..." The mer called and he smiled as he hugged Ace, sitting on the bed and moving Ace on him so they could be close. Ace was still blushing and Marco found it cute.
"Wanna continue, yoi?" He asked and the mer slowly nodded after a minute, making him smile. He pulled Ace close by his waist and moved close to the mer.
As Marco's face came closer to his, Ace's heart started beating faster and faster with each passing moment. He wanted to close his eyes but he couldn't, hr couldn't get them off of the beautiful blues in front of him. He couldn't stop looking at Marco's eyes. Or lips. Both were so mesmerizing. Ace wanted to feel Marco. He wanted to taste Marco. He wanted Marco to- to be his..
Getting closer and closer to the mer, Marco smelt the salty flavor of the ocean. It really suit Ace. And then there was the faint smell of a strawberry the mer loved so much. There were the beautiful obsidian orbs staring into his, there were the softest pink lips wanting attention from his. So he gave Ace what he wanted. And what Marco himself needed.
His lips met Ace's, caressing them softly. Ace was stiff at first but soon enough he melted into the kiss, responding back to Marco's every move. Marco pulled Ace closer, if possible, moving one hand to Ace's head and one still around Ace's waist. Ace's hands were caressing his back, soft touches here and there making it harder for him to stop before doing something he may regret later.
But the kiss... The kiss was the greatest thing that happened to him that month after Ace..
The two continued kissing and didn't stop until Ace became tired, the clock passing midnight already, and Marco decided to stop (for now) and let the tired mer sleep with a small 'I love you, goodnight' kiss.
XXX
"Hm? What was that, yoi?" Marco asked as his mer said something, but his voice was so low couldn't hear it even with Phoenix's improved hearing. The mer took a breath and this time more confidently, said,
"I wanna stay with you." Marco's eyes widened as a bright smile appeared on his face. He put the paperwork in his hands away and instead used his hands to hug Ace close. (you can also imagine Marco sniffing Ace each time they're close, Ace smells like strawberries with how much he eats them xD)
"I'd be so happy, Ace. I love you." Marco said and gave Ace a small kiss, the merman blushing and kissing him back. They both smiled and held each other close for a while.
"I'd have made you stay here anyway if you wanted to leave, yoi." Marco then said and Ace gave a surprised laugh at that. He liked this side of Marco. But more than that, he liked how sweet Marco was. How much the blond loved him. How much he cared about him. And how much he himself loved Marco...
"I love you~" Ace giggled and tightened his arms around Marco. The blond hummed and placed a kiss on his shoulder and caressed his bare back. Since he's a merman, Ace doesn't even think about wearing a shirt or anything. Don't even think about pants, how would he wear them?
"Want to tell this to pops?" Marco asked him and the mer nodded without hesitating. Marco's 'pops', Whitebeard.. he's a good man, even their king (the giant jamon merman) had talked about the half-giant man, saying he's a good human and all. So Ace nodded, he was happy with telling Whitebeard about this and.. and maybe, join the family for reals too...
XXX
Marco stood in front of the giant door with Ace in his arms, carrying him princess style. They were both grinning like madmen and Marco was sure that if someone saw them grinning like this in the middle of the night, they'd trip and run to the infirmary in fear. (Infirmary being one of the safest yet deadliest places in the Moby Dick)
While being nighttime, the small light emitting from captain's room gave away that pops was awake, thus, the reason they're here. It's best to talk with pops when he's alone anyway. And what better than an alone night to spend with your son and your son's boyfriend?
Ace knocked on the door since Marco's hands were busy carrying him and they waited for an answer. Not even a minute later they heard a muffled 'come in' and Ace opened the door, again because Marco is carrying him.
"Good evening, pops." Marco greeted as he went inside and saw pops smiling at them.
"Evening, Marco's pops." Ace also greeted with a grin making the other two laugh. Whitebeard welcomed them in and Marco sat Ace down (being honest he didn't want to, but whatever)
"What is it, my son?" Whitebeard asked Marco, seeing questions in his eyes and happiness in his face. He could guess what was happening but wanted them to confirm it.
"Ace has something to tell you, yoi." Marco said with a smile and they both looked over at him. Ace first blushed out of embarrassment of both of them looking at him but he got over it fairly quickly. He gulped as he looked up at Whitebeard from where he was sitting on the smaller chair compared to Whitebeard's own.
"I ehm... I wanna stay here.. with everyone.." Ace managed to say but as he was looking down, he couldn't see Whitebeard's reaction. Whitebeard had a huge smile in his face as he moved to hug his newest son, also his oldest son's lover. He could see it in their eyes that the two loved each other, no matter whatever their race may be. No matter whatever their gender may be. Love doesn't look at those criterias, no, love doesn't even have any criterias. Love is love.
"You're very welcome here, my son." He told as he hugged the merman, Ace smiling and hugging him back. Yeah. He liked it here. He liked it better than the Fishman island.
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Ace has been living on Moby Dick for a few months now. He has gotten used to everything by this time and everyone had gotten used to a merman being on board, following Marco around at almost all times. And when not with Marco, the merman would either be with Whitebeard, Thatch or Izo. (Although it still makes Marco jealous)
But right now, Ace is following Marco as the blond commander does his chores around the enormous ship. Ace, being all smiley, would giggle whenever he caught Marco glancing at him. Marco would chuckle and go back to his work, perfectly balancing his attention between work and Ace. It was fascinating to others, but then again, they knew that Phoenix helped Marco a lot with these too.
"Hihihi, you ran around a lot today, Mar!" The soft giggles of a very happy Ace could be heard in mostly random places around the ship, the mer still following Marco. It was easier for Ace to follow Marco with his bubble around his waist. It was a real life saver. And sometimes when the mer is grumpy, Marco would carry him around but only sometimes. Also the mer spends a lot of time in the lowest floor of their ship since he can reach the sea from there, including the bigger bathrooms for when Ace wanted to be in water and the weather wasn't suitable or there were sea kings around.
"Yeah, yoi. Gotta get these out of the way so I can spend tomorrow with you, my love." Marco said as he kissed Ace and some on the deck looked away, thinking the two are too cheesy. Some, which included Izo, thought that they were the cutest couple. In the whole world. You might agree with that.
"Aww, look at themmm!!!" Izo waved his fan over his blushing cheeks and sent a longing smile. "Where's my love?" The kimono wearing man turned to look around and stomped over to the galley, searching for a certain chef.
"I love you~ Marr~"
"Aight this is getting too cheesy, everyone back to your business!" Someone from the 3rd division said as he shooed away all the people watching their respected first commander and the commander's lover continuing their usual lovey-dovey acts. They were both ignoring everyone else thsn themselves as of now so it's best to leave them alone in case things get heated... which thankfully didn't, but it looked like it's close to that.
XXX
"To our precious duo!!!"
"To the best couple out there!!!"
"To commander Marco and Ace's special day!"
Cheers were heard from the enormous beach as almost every whitebeard pirate was out on the beach, enjoying a fine day and a fine celebration. Their commander and fellow merman member had officially married, marking today as a special day. They were all celebrating their first married couple on board (since Toki wasn't an official crew member).
Whitebeard was seated right next to the duo, rest of the commanders scattered around near them. They were on a protected island and even had some allies joining them in with the party. Bigger the crowd, better the entertainment. As everyone celebrated, Marco and Ace were watching them with huge smiles and small tears in eyes.
"I can't believe it's been 3 years now... I even got to see my brothers, this is the best week of my life!!" Ace said as he wiled away some tears. He was already emotional from seeing Luffy and Sabo again after so long, and then Marco does this... He could cry for a whole day. But he wouldn't. Ace will divide his tears into a few days so he can cry longer. Marco laughed and hugged him.
"Hahah, yeah. It's the best week of our lives.. And from now on, we will be husbands, yoi." The blond kissed him and he kissed back instantly, hugging Marco. Marco hugged him back and pulled him onto his lap to kiss some more.
"Okay love birds, we know how much y'all wanna kiss but! It's time for ya to cut your cake!!" Their chef brother interrupted them and (surprisingly not getting angry) they laughed, stopping mid kiss. The couple looked over at the giant cake, almost as big as Jozu, completely decorated with chocolates and chocolate coated strawberries. Ace gave a small chuckle and they were given a big knife to cut the cake with.
Cutting into the cake, they gave each other a small bite of the cake and Marco went to take a single strawberry off of the cake, offering it to Ace. The merman smiled and ate it, grinning.
"You're my sweet strawberry, yoi." Marco said as he went to kiss Ace, and everyone cheered for them, even pops. Overall it was a nice day.. they lived happily after that until fate separated them...
XXX
Another fanart was included in this, but.. ehm.. yea, you know it. If you want to see the fanart, you can view it on Wattpad! My Wattpad account is also 'bakachwaan', you can find this story there.
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Thanks for reading!!
Sorry this came so, so late, lol. Was tryna finish it earlier, but this is the best I got. I'm continuing the other two stories (yea I got 2 more), so far I can say that I know what I'm doing but.. don't trust me, it might take long too
Thanks for your patience!!! Stay safe and lots of loveee