Hello everyone, here is the next chapter
This is a compilation of different things
Hope you enjoy
Read and relax
They were heading towards a neutral island, a large one, one which they had been on before. It was a nice island and they hoped to restock a few things. But as they were discussing, Trevor spoke. "Before we move on. That island, are we going on it, or just the dock?" Whitebeard thought for a couple seconds, both to decide and try and figure out why that was a question, and if they would head further on the island. Usually it was Trevor who ventured further on the island. "Just the dock. We just need to restock a few things, and maybe stay for a night to relax. Any reason why you ask that? It is a neutral island if I remember. They do have the seastone tower on, but should be a nice island." Whitebeard had searched a bit around on the islands here, to be sure they didn't go too close to a marine island, or some island some other pirate crew controlled, especially someone they weren't on mutual grounds with. Trevor sighed. "That's good. It's a nice island, but the native language- which thankfully isn't spoken much on the dock since it's an often visited island- the entire language is a bad memory for Ace. Not just any word, any phrase, any game, but the language in itself." Ace wasn't here in the meeting room, having gotten an urgent call. The captain blinked. "The language? Why?" Trevor sighed as he moved his shoulders a bit. "Bunny has his own reasons, okay? This is a language we don't mess around with. And Ace can speak and understand it fluently, but not a language he chose to learn, but had to. Just, if you see, or hear, of a place, shop, bar, that speaks something aside from English- beside fishmen- don't go there. Don't give Ace a reason to go there, don't make Ace need to hear something he really tries to just forget. Nothing about the language is a good memory, so don't mention it even, don't ask, don't do anything that can make the language come up." Whitebeard nodded, and could see his commanders doing it as well, getting it really was a bad thing for Ace. Ace really had a lot of trauma and issues, and the more they traveled and was around Ace, the more they saw it. Ace was amazingly strong in every way there was, but the experiences had taken a toll. Ace was a kid that had a lot of issues and a lot that bothered him, making the captain wish Ace was more open with them, trusted them more. But it would take time. Ace had many reasons to not trust anyone, and they needed to show they were trustworthy.
They then headed towards the island and docked the next day, as they were on the island and evening came, they headed to a bar, Whitebeard joining as he wanted to be a bit off the ship with his children. Ace had even joined them, which was rare. Ace had joined them a couple times, and it had either gone by short as he needed to leave, or it hadn't gone by the best. He hoped this time would go by better. As they were outside, they soon found a bar that fit his size, and they headed there. They all then ordered a beer or a drink and started up some chatter, everyone seeming to enjoy themselves. It was after an hour, Whitebeard saw Ace's hand stop as it moved, before slowly moving down again, hand holding around the glass with his hand half shaking, the captain seeing Ace's face trying to keep a calm and passive look, but obviously had issues for some reason, eyes fixated on his glass. Something obviously bothered Ace suddenly, and he could see Trevor also figuring it out, but the silver-haired man seemed to get why as he sent a look to a table to their left, and as the captain sent a look that way, Whitebeard had a feeling why when he heard the two guys at the table speak, obviously speaking some language he had never heard, most likely being this island's native language that Ace couldn't handle well.
Whitebeard wasn't sure what to do to help, and could see Trevor felt the same, not sure if they should ask the couple of males to not speak, or to speak up themselves, or just leave. It seemed Trevor went for the first option as he moved to face the other two more, on his way to speak. But before Trevor got a syllable out, Whitebeard noticed a pair of hands moving to be over Ace's ears, Daisuke suddenly being behind Ace, obviously being close by, maybe even because they were at this island and he knew Ace could have some issues. "Deep breath, Ace." Said the older man calmly, keeping his hands over Ace's ears. Whitebeard could see Ace not reacting the first few seconds, before Ace closed his eyes and took a deep breath, seeming to calm down and get himself back under control. When Ace opened his eyes again, seeming better, Daisuke moved his hands away, one hand moving to be on his shoulder. "And just relax, ignore them, and be here." Ace nodded, and the words seemed to help Ace calm down. Daisuke then clapped Ace on his shoulder. "Good, now come, I need your help to check a thing." Ace nodded and stood up, heading after the older man, not going far as they went to one of the barworkers, speaking with him. As they were away, Trevor gave a breath. "Daisuke is so much better at handling everything. Not just work, but us, and know what to do. He probably had a meeting here, that happens." It was clear the older assassin knew what worked for Ace, and it was amazing to see. Marco looked at Trevor. "How did he know that would help, yoi?" Trevor shrugged. "He knows the limits with that language. Daisuke knows Ace better with some things, as well as having more experience with helping Ace, and others, with their issues. Daisuke is just amazing." Whitebeard nodded, the older assassin seemed to be experienced, especially in helping Ace, which was good. Ace needed that at times. He had a feeling Benn was the same, the two brothers were there for Ace.
Ace was gone for about an hour, before he returned, and he seemed fine. They then continued just being with each other, enjoying a night out, but as they were, the two behind them had gotten a third party, who spoke English, which had a problem it seemed like, and it had the first guy hum. "Should we help Cris?" The other guy shrugged. "You know what they say; Not my circus, not my monkey." Ace held his hands up. "I'm out." Then Ace left, and Trevor's head moved down. "And there's a phrase he can't handle." Whitebeard frowned. "Not my circus, not my monkey?" Trevor nodded. "It was used in deplorable situations around him." Whitebeard nodded. "What does it mean?" Trevor sighed. "Basically; not my problem. It's just those words combined Ace can't handle." Whitebeard nodded, same with his children. It must really be a bad memory for Ace to just have him leave like that. He noticed Marco standing up and heading after Ace, probably worried about the other. As Marco was gone, Trevor sighed. "Ace will be fine, he just needs to get away from this. He will probably stay on the boat for the rest of the stay here." Whitebeard nodded. He got it, but had hoped Ace could get a break from the boat too, enjoy a day off. He got Ace needed away from this, and he would check on the other later too, but he was sure Marco would manage.
-x-
Marco moved to Ace's door and opened it, finding Ace inside. Marco moved over and moved a hand to Ace's shoulder as Ace was looking at something on his desk, looking to be fine, but Marco wanted to make sure. "Hey, how are you feeling, Ace, yoi?" The first commander saw Ace nodding, but it quickly changed to shaking, before Ace turned around, moving his head to his shoulder, giving a shaky breath. Marco was a bit shocked, but quickly, and carefully, moved an arm to be around Ace, stroking his back as Marco moved backwards to sit on the bed, Ace sitting on his lap, head on his shoulder, giving a small sob. Marco moved his other hand to Ace's head and threading through his hair, bringing his head closer to Ace's. "It's okay, yoi. I have you." Ace gave a shaky breath before he gave another sob, moving a hand to hold on his vest, Marco carefully stroking Ace's back and using a hand to thread through his hair. "It's okay, yoi. I'm here; I have you." Marco didn't think this would have affected Ace this bad, but it had and Marco was glad he had checked on Ace.
Marco continued to give out words of comfort as he threaded his hand though Ace's hair, letting Ace get it out and just be there for him. The first commander was glad Ace had wanted the comfort, as it was Ace who had moved to him. It meant a lot to Marco. It took some time, but Ace gradually calmed down, just breathing heavily as he gathered himself completely, before Ace leaned back, a hand wiping his eyes to get rid of both tears and tear marks. As Ace seemed to have gathered himself, Marco moved a hand to his leg, using his thumb to stroke comfortingly. "How do you feel, yoi?" Ace nodded, hand still on his face. "Better." That was good. "What was the worst? Language or phrase, yoi?" Marco needed to ask, so he knew for later. Ace shook his head a bit as he took a somewhat shaky breath. "Phrase. Language had me on edge, but they were far away, not speaking to me." Marco nodded. "Would it have been worse if they spoke to you, yoi? Or was closer?" Ace nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah. ...I don't know which would have been worse, though." Marco got that. Trevor had said Ace didn't know the language since he wanted to, and had most likely learned it from bad situations, or maybe even learned it during an imprisonment. Marco moved his hand on Ace's leg. "Do you want to head out again? I get it if you don't, yoi." Ace sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I can later. We are going to be here for a day." They would, and he got it if Ace didn't want to go off the boat. But he hoped Ace could be with them.
He then stayed in Ace's room for a bit, before both of them headed out, just out to deck for now. He did notice Pops coming back after a few hours, as it was growing late, the clock closing in on midnight, and Pops should head to bed. They had a long day tomorrow as they would be setting sail and getting supplies. Ace stayed on the boat for the night, both of them heading to bed around 4am, and when Marco woke up, he was alone in bed, seeing the clock was just past 6am. He then headed out on deck, seeing Daisuke was there with Ace, speaking about regular things. Pops was still asleep most likely, which was good. He needed the sleep. As the day started fully around 8, when breakfast was, Paul and Claus came on the ship, looking bothered. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, Paul spoke. "Someone took Jens!" Marco blinked, before he frowned. "Who, yoi?" Paul shook his head, seeming out of breath. "I- I don't know! I think someone on the island. We happened to land in a fight- sorry Commander- and we lost and they took Jens!" Marco nodded, trying to figure out a way to solve this. So they headed to the meeting room to try and find a way, and the first was to ambush wherever they held Jens, which had Daisuke sigh. "You do that, they will shoot him right away. He's a prisoner. They don't care about him." That was true, and they had no idea what to do.
Pops, who had just come out, looked at Daisuke. "What do you think, Daisuke?" The man hummed. "Easy," Started Daisuke, "We're going to send someone in undercover, and give us a way in." That was a good idea, but they didn't have any to go undercover, making him sigh. "And how would we do that? We can't just go inside, yoi. High security, and no one speaks the language." Daisuke hummed. "Yes we do. Ace is going in as a doctor, and then let us in." Marco didn't think that to be a good decision, especially seeing how Ace had reacted earlier, the older assassin must know about that. Ace seemed shocked himself, looking at Daisuke alarmed. "No, Daisuke, I can't." Daisuke didn't seem to care, moving to hand some pieces of clothing to Ace from a bag. "Yes you can." Ace shook his head, looking aghast and appalled. "No, we need to speak about this!" Daisuke moved to the door, holding it up. "We just did. Go." When Ace didn't react, just standing stunned and dumbfounded, Daisuke moved a hand to the open door. "Go!" Ace just stood still, trying to speak, before he just gave a loud and upset "Arh!" Before heading out the door and taking the clothes on.
As Ace was out, Trevor whistled at Daisuke. "I am glad I'm not you. Is Ace going to be fine?" Daisuke gave a half shrug. "Probably. It's just words." Mika didn't seem to buy it as she shook her head. "Nope, it's not. A doctor? Out here? They will know something is up. They will know and it won't be kind." Marco had to agree with that, and before he could voice that, Daisuke continued. "Ace will manage. He is one of the best for a reason, he can handle tough situations." Trevor blinked. "I'm still worried." Daisuke shook his head. "Don't be, I will join him." Trevor nodded. "Makes it a bit better. Will he even manage to speak?" Daisuke nodded, moving to take some more clothes out, quickly putting them over his clothes. It covered his entire from, just his eyes showing. Ace then came in the door, clothes on, giving a look to Daisuke as he crossed his hands. "I hate you." Daisuke chuckled. "I know. Let's head on." Ace sighed, and he headed away with Daisuke, heading to the building where they had taken Jens. They kept their distance, but so they could watch what was going on still. Ace then knocked on the door, before it opened and another person stood with the same clothes as Ace and Daisuke, Ace seeming to be speaking, before they were let inside, and Marco hoped this would go fine.
It was calm for a few minutes, before sounds like gunshots were heard, before people seemed to be running out of the building, a few tripping as they tried to get away. That might be good, the enemy was retracting. It took some more minutes, but two people soon came out with Paul, and it was clear it was Ace and Daisuke. They then headed over to them, Jens being a bit beaten up, but fine. Daisuke then told how it had gone, how they needed a doctor to check on Jens, since he was injured and therefore let Ace and himself inside to check on Jens, before their leader found out about it and caught on, and a fight had started. But they had already found Jens by then, so it went fine. As Jens was fine, Ace gave a huff, looking at Daisuke. "I'm still mad at you." Daisuke chuckled. "I know, but you're fine." Ace gave another huff. "Still." Ace then headed away, and as he was gone, Trevor whistled. "It worked." Daisuke nodded. "I knew it would. Ace can handle it." Marco was still worried for Ace, and headed after Ace, going into his room. When he did, he blinked at what he saw. Ace had taken the clothes off, standing with a bare chest, a tweezer in hand and obviously checking a bullet wound out, using the tweezers to take the bullet out. "You got hurt, yoi?" Ace shrugged. "Just a minor wound." Marco blinked. "A minor bullet wound? I don't think that exists." Ace chuckled. "It does. It will be fine as soon as we're away from this island." Marco sighed. "Are you sure you shouldn't head to Bay?" Ace nodded, moving to place a plaster over the wound. "I am. Just, let it go." Marco sighed again. "Okay. But if I see it's not fine, or you are in pain, I will personally get you to Bay." Ace nodded. "That's fine." Marco then moved over to Ace, hand moving to his shoulder. "Aside from that. How are you?" Ace sighed. "Okay. It went by fine." Marco nodded. "I am glad it did. I was worried about you, you reacted so bad the last time." Ace took a breath. "Different mentality. I can handle it a bit better in work mode." Marco nodded, that made sense. He was still glad Ace was fine.
They then stayed on the island for a few more hours, before they left after getting their supplies. Ace was still fine and when they were away from the island, Marco asked to see how the wound was doing, and it had healed well. Which was good. As long as Ace was fine, things were good.
It was the next week that Ace approached him, giving a sigh, looking at him. "I thought about what you said a month ago, that I should maybe visit those I saved, and I think I maybe should. Would you join me?" Marco nodded. "I can. I will always stand by your side, yoi." Ace gave a smile to him. "How about we do it tomorrow? Shouldn't take more than an hour I hope." Marco nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Let me just notify Pops before we leave, yoi." Ace nodded. "That's fine." They then headed to bed, and when they woke up, Pops was still asleep, or Marco hoped he was asleep, and told Jens they would be gone for an hour, maybe two, which would go by fine. He wasn't due for his duties for 3 hours, as it was barely past 7 in the morning. They then headed to an island, Ace saying it was an island they often used for victims, a place to stay until they were better, some stayed for the rest of their lives. Marco wasn't surprised they had an island like that, Ace had probably helped make it. When they got to the island, Ace told the workers here knew who he was, even before the whole Adam thing. Many still didn't believe Ace was the Ace of Spades, which he understood since Ace was so young.
They then met a worker, Marco sure it was a worker as she was dressed in white. She then said everyone was doing fine and healing well. A few had required surgery, all for different reasons, but they were healing well. She then asked if Ace wanted to meet some of them, which Ace nodded to, also introducing him to the woman, a Myrrine, before they headed inside a house, seeming to be a sort of hospital. They then headed through some hallways, before they got to a large room, like a living room as it had tables around and couches. Marco noticed a few sitting around, also seeing 3 of them had no limbs, and it had Marco feeling a bit with Ace. Having a normal life would be impossible. But they seemed happy, speaking with others. Myrrine then followed them to one of the ones without limbs, going over to the woman with a smile. "Sylvia, there's a couple here to check on you. They know your saviour, Ace of Spades, and want to see how you are." The woman, Sylvia, smiled. "Oh. I would love to give him my gratitude. I can't thank him enough for getting me out, same with the others." Ace smiled. "I will be sure to forward the message. How are you healing?" Sylvia hummed. "I am healing just fine. Feels good to not crawl everywhere, I'm okay with being carried. It feels better and more dignified." That had Ace smile a more honest smile. "Makes me glad to hear. We've been worried about you and how you've adapted." Sylvia nodded. "Anything is better than crawling, and needing to eat like a dog. We feel dignified and actually human." Ace nodded. "That's good. I will be sure to forward the message." Sylvia nodded. "I would be thankful if you could. I can't thank him enough." Ace smiled a bit more with that. "I am sure he will be happy to hear it. We'll leave you alone, you seem to be taken care off." Sylvia nodded. "We are, have a good day." Ace nodded. "Same to you." They then went over to another person, having a small chat and it went the same as the other, finding out the person felt happy and well, better than what they had in a long time, that she felt human. They then spoke to a third person, who seemed just as happy. She did say it was hard at times, but things were going well for them. As they had spoken, they headed out of the room, speaking a bit more with Myrrine before they left, Ace seeming in a better mood.
As they were heading away, Ace leaned a bit on him. "You were right, they are happy." Marco nodded, arm moving over Ace's shoulders. "But you needed to see it, yoi. I get it. I hope it helped." Ace nodded. "It did, it really did." It had Marco glad, knowing Ace got some closure. It did for himself too. He felt better himself after seeing they were happy. They then headed to the boat and continued their day.
-x-
Haruta sat in the galley with most, speaking about normal things, and as Paul said a joke, she looked over at Mika. "Mika, you're not allowed to joke about things, why?" Mika chuckled. "Because my humor is dark." Haruta blinked. "How dark? Can you do some jokes?" Mika hummed. "Can I do that?" She asked as she looked at Ace, who hummed himself. "Probably. They asked." Mika got a smile with that. "Good, let's start easy. A fun joke; What's the best part about dead baby jokes?" Haruta frowned. "Nothing?" Mika shook her head. "They never get old." Haruta looked wordless. "What?" Trevor chuckled. "That was good. Horrible, but good." Mika chuckled. "Oh, I'm starting easy." Haruta blinked. "It- you do worse?" Mika nodded. "I have really dark humor, the reason I am banned from joking at times." Haruta nodded. "I am curious about that." Ace hummed. "You're going to regret that." Haruta sent a look at Ace, and before she could speak, Mika did. "What's the difference between a man and an onion?" Haruta shrugged. "Don't know." Mika chuckled. "I don't cry when I cut up men." Haruta blinked, before she half nodded. "I can see that. It's you." Mika nodded. "True, how about this; What's the difference between a human and a pizza?" Haruta shook her head, having no idea. Mika chuckled. "The cooking time." Haruta blinked. "What?" Mika shrugged. "How about; Why don't cannibals eat clowns?They taste funny." Haruta just blinked, and Mika gave a small chuckle. "Oh! This one I like; What's the difference between a shotgun and a cock?" Ace moved his hand to bang on the table. "No! You are not to finish that one! I will punch you!" Haruta felt a bit shocked by that, wondering what it was to have Ace not want to hear it, and she moved to take a sip of her drink, and as she did, Mika leaned over to her, whispering in her ear. "Kids don't cry when a shotgun goes off in their mouth." Haruta spit out her drink. Mika said what? That was not okay, and she got why Ace didn't want to hear it. "I heard that." Said Ace, and Mika held her hands up. "Didn't mean for that." Ace rolled his eyes. "You can do jokes when I'm not here. I'm not handling this. You've done enough jokes for today." Mika nodded. "Fine, I will stop for now." Haruta was still a bit curious, but glad it was over for now. Those jokes were awful.
-x-
It was a couple weeks later, after they had docked at an island they controlled, that they docked at a neutral island they hadn't been on in a while, and the times they had, they had barely stayed a day as the island had their own things they did and their own religion. But now their ship needed some repair after being in a battle the previous day. It would only be one more day, but it was longer than they ever had stayed. They would try and use the time to their benefit and also try and have some fun. As they were docked, they quickly got a shipwright to look at their ship and gather the supplies they needed to start the work. They were helpful and that was good.
As their ship was being repaired, they decided to check the island more out. It was a sizable island. They found some taverns, but none that was large enough for the captain, but it was fine, they wouldn't stay here for long. After they had checked the island some, Whitebeard headed back to his boat, to overlook the work and just be with his children that was on the boat. Many were off the boat too, enjoying the island. But as evening was nearing, he heard shouting from the docks, and when he looked, he saw a bunch of his children running the best they could while they were carrying something large. They seemed to be in a panic, and that was never good. But when they were closer, now on the boarding plank, a few going to help them with whatever they were carrying, he soon saw it was a body, a trail of blood behind them. They were carrying a bleeding body. Whitebeard quickly stood up and headed over, finding out it was Paul who was being carried having been shot at by a sniper and he was in a bad shape as the bullet went close to his heart. They quickly got Paul to the infirmary, where Bay had gotten the whiff that someone was coming and was ready, or as ready as she could be. They were quickly thrown out of the infirmary so Bay could concentrate.
After that it was silent. Whitebeard had asked what had happened, and was told they were walking around on the island, being in an open field with some hills, when Paul had suddenly been shot and had fallen down, before they got Paul back to the boat. Whitebeard hoped Bay would manage, she was an amazing doctor. It was three hours later Bay emerged from the infirmary, giving a breath as she saw all of them looking at her. "I'm sorry, Paul didn't make it. Time of death was 9:39." Whitebeard closed his eyes, he had hoped for anything but that. Bay then took a breath. "The bullet grazed his heart, but we couldn't stop the bleeding fast enough, but we managed to relieve him of his pain, so he got a painless death." That was at least something, he didn't want his children to be in pain. But, he had just lost a son. No father should bury his child.
Everyone started to speak at the same time, asking if Bay was sure, which she said she was. There had been no hope, the only way would have been if she had been there the moment he had been shot, and even then he might still have died. It was a hard pill to swallow, to know he had just lost a child. Everyone was upset about it, a few outright sobbing, the ones who were the closest to Paul. Whitebeard needed to be here for his children. He tried his best to comfort his children, everyone trying the same, to comfort each other. It wasn't long before more came from the island and everyone was sad to hear the news that someone had died, they had lost a family member.
It was a bit later that Ace returned with Mika and Trevor, and when they did, Ace frowned as he looked around, obviously seeing something was wrong. "What has happened?" Whitebeard took a breath. "Paul died. Someone shot him." Ace nodded, getting an understanding look. "What's the plan now?" Asked Ace, and Whitebeard wasn't sure. "We don't know what to do." Ace sighed. "There is only one thing we can do," Started Ace. "All those who can use a bow and arrow, will use one with a fire arrow, and we'll give him an honorable and right pirate death." That was true, that was the only thing they could do. No father should bury their child, but there was no other choice.
They then had a right pirate funeral, the best they could. The island let them do their own thing, understanding they had their own traditions. The island seemed to be understanding. When it was over, there was a somber air on the boat, no one wanting to do much of anything. Everyone was harboring a somber look, a few out right crying. Paul was liked by many throughout each division, always having been a people person. He didn't deserve this.
As things were somber, Trevor looked at Mika. "No jokes? You usually joke about the wrong things." Joke, now? Why would Mika do that? Mika shrugged. "I learned to not joke about deaths from Ace. I joked about Azuruko's and Ace really sucker punched me. So I don't joke about deaths around Ace." Trevor nodded. "Makes sense." It was then that Whitebeard remembered it. Mika had told a joke before that shook them, and Daisuke had said Mika was the worst with dark jokes, so not egg her on. And he was glad Mika didn't crack a joke about this, they weren't used to that. He just hoped things would go fine.
-x-
Marco knocked on Ace's door, waking in when he heard a come in, seeing Ace sitting by his desk, giving a breath when he walked in. "I was sure it was another one who needed to talk. They have been coming the entire night." It was barely past 6 in the morning now. Marco nodded. "Same here, yoi. Everyone liked Paul." Ace nodded. "I noticed. I liked him myself, he was kind." Marco nodded. Paul was. It would be like something was missing now onwards, Paul was everywhere at times, bringing a happy air with himself. Paul was someone who would be missed greatly. Marco took a breath. "I should probably be in my room, in case someone else comes and wants to talk." Ace nodded. "Probably. Thanks for dropping by." Marco shook his head, moving over and giving a quick kiss to Ace, before he left back to his room, being available in case someone needed it. Which was good as it wasn't long before someone dropped by, needing to talk about this. It was good they came by, better than sitting alone with these feelings.
When the person left an hour later, Marco headed out to breakfast, many already being out. He was sure most didn't sleep that night, everyone needing to talk to each other and just be there to comfort each other. He was sure the next few days would be somber ones, everyone just being down about what had happened. They had just lost a family member.
He did hear Quinn had been helping console people too, but with her being a behavioural psychologists, she would be good with people. He was glad they had Quinn as well.
-x-
Whitebeard sat in the galley as breakfast was, everyone being silent and blue, which was understandable. He had gotten visits throughout the night, stopping around 4 am when Bay said it was enough and he needed to sleep and took over those who needed to talk. As breakfast was coming to an end, Izou stood up. "We can't just sit around! We need to find out who did this and get justice!" Everyone cheered to that, agreeing. They should, Whitebeard felt the same. So they headed towards where it had happened, being a large group. But when they got there, it looked like it would be impossible as it was a huge open field with the odd hill. The person could have stood anywhere. Thatch was the first to voice this. "He could have stood everywhere! We can't find him like this!" This would be hard, Thatch was right in that. "No," Started Ace, who had joined them, pointing to a small hill with a bush. "He was standing there." How did Ace know that? "How can you be so sure?" Asked the captain, and Ace hummed. "Because it's where I would have stood." That made sense, and he hoped it would lead somewhere. Ace was the first to move, and when he was close to the bush, he moved down and took an empty shell from a gun up. "He was here. Easy to get away, and he can hide behind the bush." Ace looked down at the empty shell. "He used a sniper with a silencer it looks like. It's a special bullet used, so it should be easy to find the guy." Ace then looked at the ground. "He was kneeling on one leg, meaning he isn't too tall, as he would have had both legs down." Ace moved a hand to a bush, taking some hair off. "Orange hair, short. Rough, most likely a man." Ace then looked at the ground again. "He seemed to have limped off." Ace then looked at them. "So, we're looking for a half short man with orange short hair and a limp, who has a sniper with a silencer and special bullets. Should be easy." That was amazing, they could hopefully find the guy now, having so many leads.
"Wow," Started Izou. "That was amazing. We need to head to town!" They should, but before they could start walking, Ace held a hand up. "No, wait. Something is off. No person who knows what they are doing would never leave so many clues. I don't think this is a regular guy, or a regular sniper. We should be careful of accusing anyone, even if we're right. This is either a fool, or someone high up. Let's hope for a fool. I don't want to anger the priest or locals here." Ace was right, they needed to be careful. "Okay, you are in the lead here, Ace." Ace nodded, seeming glad he got the lead. "Let me do a quick check on everyone here that is high up, and I'll come back when I have." Whitebeard nodded and Ace left the ship. He then kept his children on the boat for now, waiting for Ace's return. He didn't want anyone to do anything rash. Ace was gone for almost 3 hours, his children growing restless, but Ace finally returned.
When he walked on the ship, Ace sighed, a hand going to his face. "I think I know who did it." It had all of them looking at Ace in anticipation, hoping the person wasn't dead so they could take their revenge. "Who?" Asked Thatch, making Ace sigh again. "One of the high priest's. I don't know which yet, as they are in their clothes and masks, but I will find out. Do not do anything until I am sure. I need to check a few things. But don't believe the high priests, one of them might be a bad one." Whitebeard nodded, he would do that. He wouldn't and was sure his children wouldn't either. They all trusted Ace and his judgement.
They decided the best place to be was close to the ruler, as Ace would need to deal with him as well if one of the high priests were a bad one. When they arrived there, the ruler offered his regards for their loss, hoping they would find the perpetrator. As they were in the building, they tried to say one of the high priests was a bad one, but the ruler wouldn't believe them, and they didn't try more, not wanting to anger the ruler. It took two hours before news that one of the high priests was dead reached them, making the ruler annoyed and mad, sending out search parties to find the perpetrator. Whitebeard had a feeling this might be Ace's doing, but he could only wait and hope for the best. He hoped Ace would be fine as well, he knew those on this island could fight well. It was half an hour later the doors opened as Ace came inside, his steps going in fast strides. As he was inside, he threw something to the ground, being the mask to one of the high priests, making the ruler frown in anger. "What is this!? You dare attack one of my priests?!" Ace moved up so he was just a few inches from the ruler's face. "Your priest was working with the hidden cult! He was running you from the inside!" Before the ruler could speak, Ace moved to grab a parchment, showing it at the ruler. "You read this and try to tell me he was your priest, your disciple. You were his." Then Ace left, not waiting for a response, heading out the door and banging it close behind himself. As Ace was gone, the ruler looked at the parchment, before showing it to his follower, a look of anger coming to his face as he looked at his disciples. "Is this true!? Did anyone here know what he was doing?!" It was silent for a while, some looking at each other, before a small hand was held up. "He killed my family and threatened me to not tell." Said a small child, and as she had spoken, more hands soon joined with words of threats, murder, and torture. It was clear the ruler believed this as he got a remorseful look as he looked at them. "I am sorry for not believing you, and give my apologies to your commander. Now, I need to fix this mistake, fix what this man has done." They nodded, they got that, and headed out of the building, heading back to the boat.
When they got back on the boat, they met with Ace, who seemed to be his calm self. "How did you find out it was him?" Ace hummed. "Found a slave of his, hidden behind a fake wall in his house. The rest just fell into place. It was not planned to take the kill away from you, but this was the easiest outcome, we don't want to start a war with this island." Whitebeard nodded. "It is fine, I am glad he is at least dead. We got our justice." They had, and that was all that mattered. He didn't mind Ace being the one to kill this man, who obviously was into bad things. He was glad the ruler wasn't mad at them, as that would be bad. But things had solved themselves in that manner. Ace knew what he was doing. "Was it a hard fight?" Ace snorted. "Not a fight at all. Many who use guns can't fight for shit. And he's a priest, he uses his status. Easy kill." That was good. And he could understand that many who used guns were bad fighters, usually hiding behind a gun. He knew many of his children who used guns weren't the best at hand to hand, but they were trying their best. He then told all his children the man who had killed Paul was dead, Ace had taken justice, and it had everyone cheer. They had gotten the justice they were after. The man was dead.
The next weeks were calm, everyone getting through this hard time, before things gradually got back to normal. It was a hard road, as it felt as if something was missing, but they were getting better, they were handling the loss. Everyone was dealing with it their own way, and it was going well, or as well as it could go. Things were going fine.
-x-
Marco stood out on deck, waiting for Ace to return, he had been gone for a while, he was due to either return today or tomorrow, and he hoped for today. So three hours later, he gave a breath as Ace appeared out on deck, which was good. He had been gone for 5 days now. "How did it go, son?" Asked Pops, and Ace hummed. "Fine, it went fine." That was good. Things were calm after that, and after an hour, he saw Ace blinking, looking a little pale. "Ace?" Ace blinked again. "I think I'm going to pass out." Marco blinked, moving over to Ace. "What?" Ace nodded. "Yeah, definitely passing out." As Ace finished the last syllable, he fell forward, Marco barely managing to catch him. Marco felt worried as he lowered Ace to the ground. "Ace!" Trevor hummed. "Nah, if he can give a warning, he is fine. Just tired." Marco nodded, still feeling worried. "Why- how does he know?" Trevor hummed again. "Ask Shanks, he made it happen so he can do it." Marco nodded, he could accept that. "So he is fine, yoi?" Trevor nodded. "Yeah, this happens now and then. I'm not worried when he can give a warning." Marco nodded. He still felt worried, but a bit better. "Oh," Started Trevor. "You should bring him to your bed rather than the infirmary. Ace wouldn't like the infirmary." Marco nodded. He wanted to bring Ace to the infirmary, but at the same time, he trusted Trevor, so he nodded. He would bring Ace to his room instead. So Marco moved to lift Ace and headed to his room, seeing the others worried too, but they all trusted Trevor.
When he got to his room, he placed Ace down in his bed, Marco moving to sit down on the bed, waiting for Ace to wake up. If he was still unconscious in two hours, he would bring Ace to the infirmary. Better to be safe than sorry. It was an hour later that Ace let out a breath, before he stretched a bit as he opened his eyes. As Ace was awake, Marco looked at the other. "How are you feeling, yoi?" Ace hummed. "Fine, I just needed a bit of sleep. Glad you didn't bring me to the infirmary." Marco chuckled. "I wanted to, but Trevor said no, yoi." Ace nodded. "Makes sense." Marco nodded himself. "How do you do it, yoi? How do you know you will fall?" Ace hummed. "Shanks once yelled at me for falling without saying I will, so I learned the signs I will fall. Benn was mad when he found out Shanks yelled because of that." Marco chuckled, he could see that. "I can imagine." Ace chuckled. "How did everyone take it?" Marco hummed. "Fine, they trust Trevor." Ace nodded. "That's good. It's just going unconscious for a small bit." Marco hummed. "I don't think that's 'just', yoi." Ace hummed himself. "I call it just 'just'. Because it is just that. Sleep fixes it." Marco nodded. "I was still worried." Ace hummed. "If I had just fallen without saying anything, wouldn't that have made you more worried?" Marco thought that over, before he nodded with a sigh. "You are right, that would have been worse." Ace nodded. "I know. I know what I'm doing. I should have headed for bed when I returned, but I thought I could manage a couple hours more." Marco nodded, that made sense. "Do you want to relax some more?" Ace hummed. "I'm fine, I just needed an hour." Marco nodded, he was glad Ace was fine, and he had been asleep for an hour, which was normal for Ace. He still hoped Ace would sleep a bit when night came, even if it was an hour. He would bring it up with Ace later.
The day went by fine, Ace being himself, and everyone was glad to see Ace fine. When evening came and he was in his room with Ace, Marco moved to kiss Ace, Ace kissing back and their hands started to roam each other bodies, he was about to move over to the bed when he decided to try something and as they paused their kissing for some real air, Marco moved his head closer to Ace's cheek and licked up it. But as he did, Ace gave a startled breath, before he kneed him in the stomach, hard. It made him stumble a bit backwards, not expecting it, hands moving to hold around his stomach. "Oh no," He heard Ace say. "Marco, are you okay?" Marco nodded, and was about to speak when a groan came out instead. It actually hurt really bad, he wanted to fall down to the ground, Ace must have hit a sore point, probably trying to do that too. Ace knew where to hit to make it hurt. He felt a hand move to his shoulder, moving to see Ace having moved close, looking worried at him. "I'm sorry, Marco." Marco shook his head, feeling the pain ebbing away. He wondered how long this would have hurt if he wasn't a phoenix. "Okay," Marco managed to get out with a small groan. "I'm okay." Ace nodded, hand moving to his back. "Just breathe through it. Take a deep breath." Marco was sure that would hurt a lot, but at the same time, he trusted Ace, so he took a deep breath, and amazingly, it helped. As he felt better, the pain barely there, he stood up straight, looking at Ace, who had a remorseful look. "I'm sorry I did that. You shocked me." Marco shook his head. "No, I shouldn't have done that, yoi." He probably shouldn't have when he actually thought about it. He had heard about bad people licking their victims in the face, some even doing it to taste their victims tears. He really should have used a second to think. Ace gave a guilty look. "Maybe yes. But I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that to you."
Marco shook his head, feeling back to normal. "It's okay, it was I who acted wrong, yoi. I should have thought that through. I didn't. But that did hurt." Ace gave a weak chuckle. "Most fall down to the ground in pain and cry. You didn't. I guess it is because of your phoenix. It usually incapacitates people." Marco nodded. "I felt that. I am sure if I wasn't a phoenix, I would be down for the count." Ace gave a small chuckle. "I'm glad you aren't. I would have felt so bad if you were. You want to continue this?" Marco blinked. Ace wanted to continue? "Are you sure, yoi?" He would have understood it if Ace didn't want to continue, doing something that might bring up bad memories was usually a mood breaker. Ace nodded. "We can move on." Marco blinked, before he shook his head. "No, I don't think we should, yoi." He didn't want to force this upon Ace. He knew Ace could stand up for himself, but he felt as if they shouldn't continue. Ace sighed. "Don't stop because I reacted." Marco shook his head, moving his hands to Ace's. "No, it's not that, or not just that. Something just tells me to stop, yoi." Ace nodded. "Okay, we can stop." Marco then moved to sit down on the bed, patting the space beside himself, Ace sitting down with a breath, moving to fall down on his back. "Is this going to turn into one of those talks?" Marco hummed, moving to lie down on his back himself. "Maybe. Why did it have you react like that, yoi?" Ace sighed, moving his hands to his face. "I don't know. No one has licked me in the face before." Marco blinked, moving to lie on his side, facing Ace. "Really?" Ace nodded. "Really. A few have tried, but they usually lost their tongue to my teeth. I think one half managed, but that's it." Marco blinked. "I'm glad you didn't bite off my tongue." Ace gave a chuckle, hands moving away from his face. "Wasn't close enough. I took the easier way." Ace turned to look at him. "I am still sorry." Marco shook his head. "No, it's fine. It's on me. It doesn't hurt anymore, yoi." Ace nodded. "Good. Do we need to talk more about this?" Marco hummed, before he shook his head. "If you don't want to, we won't, yoi." Ace nodded. "I don't want to. I've said enough I feel like." Marco wanted to speak a bit more about this, but Ace clearly didn't, so he would let it go. Marco then gave a chuckle. "I'm glad you didn't break my face this time, yoi." It had Ace chuckle too. "What hurt the most? This or that?" Marco hummed. "I think this. This was a pain I have never felt." Ace nodded. "That I see. I'm really sorry about this." Marco shook his head. "Don't be. It happens."
And that's the chapter hope you enjoyed
This was a bit of different things and I hope it come together well and the flow was good
This story is also not finished. I know it is marked finished, but that is since the main part I had planned is over and now it is just the rest as well as ideas that I have. We still have some loose ends, like the wedding and other things
Also, come check out the one shot series to this story! It contains one shots of missing scenes, past events, and alternative scenarios, etc.
If you have any scenes you would like to see, don't be afraid to leave a comment, or send a PM
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