Hello everyone, here is the next chapter!

This was really fun to write, and I hope you will enjoy it as well

Read and relax

Marco walked around with a small group on the island they were on. They had docked earlier today, to restock, and to enjoy themselves a night before they headed on tomorrow. Ace had also shown up earlier to check on his brothers, and was probably on the boat or in town. It was late and they were looking for somewhere to party. The group was composed of a few commanders and some others from different divisions. This also included Thatch, who was sort of the group leader to find a place to party. They did end up following someone who looked ready for a party, and that led them to a large house a bit away, where the person they were following went inside after speaking to a bouncer, and it looked like a party was happening. He could hear some music coming from the building.

They then went up to head inside, and the bouncer stopped them and asked if they were on the list, which had Thatch blink and ask which list. That had the bouncer show a list he had, and that they needed to be on it to get inside, and they were not allowed inside since they were not on it. So, they then headed to see if there might be a way inside, Thatch seeming really set on getting inside, but they found no way inside.

Marco watched as everyone argued on how to try and get in, but with each idea, there was a reason as to why it wouldn't work. They had tried a few windows and doors, and each was locked. They were on the side of the building now so the bouncer didn't see them. He got why they wanted inside and it sounded interesting, but it was clear there was no way inside without being on the list. As they were still trying to find a way in, Sabo came by and asked what they were doing, and when Thatch said they were trying to get inside, but they didn't know how, Sabo looked confused. "Just have Ace let you inside." They all blinked. "Is he on the list?" Sabo blinked. "List?" Thatch nodded. "Yeah! You need to be on the list to get in! And apparently only invited ones are on it." Sabo nodded. "Oh. Then he's probably not on the list." Thatch moved his hand. "Then how would he get us inside then?! You need to be on the list!" Sabo blinked, before he just pointed at the building and Thatch turned and his jaw instantly dropped.

The others looked and their jaws either dropped or looked shocked. And when Marco looked, he blinked as he was shocked as well. In a large window, was clearly Ace, dancing to the music. Thatch stuttered. "H-h-how!" Sabo hummed. "This is Ace." That was a valid point. Ace then noticed them looking at him and he waved to them, before he pointed towards a door, before Ace disappeared out of the window frame, before the door opened a few seconds later, Ace letting them in.

As they were inside, Thatch looked at Ace. "How?!" Ace blinked. "How what?" Thatch moved his hands. "How did you get in?! Were you on the list?!" Ace shook his head. "No. I just snuck inside." Thatch blinked. "Please teach me." Ace blinked. "Okay then. Choose: Party here and now, or learn to sneak?" Thatch blinked and actually seemed to think it over, before he nodded. "Party." Ace nodded. "I can give a few tips tomorrow. Now, let's party!" Ace then walked towards a set of large doors, somewhat dancing as he walked, and they followed. When Ace opened the doors, the music got way louder and it was a huge room filled with people dancing and having fun. Thatch instantly ran and joined, same with most, beside him and Sabo, who were a bit to the side.

Marco looked at Sabo. "Don't you want to party, yoi? Have some fun." Sabo hummed. "I am. I like to see others enjoy themselves." Marco agreed with that. He was about to respond when a hand grabbed Sabo's as Ace dragged him to the floor, before they started to dance, Sabo smiling, same with Ace. When Sabo motioned for him to join, Marco thought 'why not' and joined them, dancing with them. They then had a lot of fun, and even though Marco was sure this would be a wild party, something about it was also very nice and not too much, as parties usually were for him. He was genuinely having fun.

It lasted for a while, he wasn't sure on how many hours, before they decided to leave as the party was dying down. When they left, they headed out the main entrance, where the bouncer was giving a goodbye to everyone, and when he saw them, he looked shocked to see them coming from the inside. But there wasn't much he could do, they were leaving anyhow. He looked shocked at them as they left, mouth open. This was fun.

When they were outside, Thatch asked what to do now, and Ace hummed as he looked at Sabo. "We should head back at least. You need to sleep a bit as well." Sabo chuckled. "I like how you decide I need to sleep." Ace chuckled. "Yep, come on. Luffy probably misses us too." That was probably true, and they headed towards the boat. As they were out of earshot, Thatch whistled. "That was amazing! Best party ever! Thank God for Ace!" The others agreed as that had been very nice, and even Marco agreed, which was rare as he usually didn't like parties.

They then went a bit around, but didn't find a place to stay and it was getting late, so they headed back to the boat to sleep. And the next day, Ace did give a few tips to Thatch on how to get into places, and Thatch took it all in, and Ace ended with that while it was easy to tell how to do this, doing it was another thing. Stealth took time to learn, and Ace said this wouldn't be achieved right away and would take time, which Thatch got. Then Ace left after a bit, before the days went on.

-x-

Whitebeard sat out on deck, enjoying a good day. After a bit, Thatch came out on deck and looked at Sabo and Luffy. "That other plushie Marco has, the squid one, who is that supposed to be?" Sabo gave a small hum. "Secret." Thatch blinked. "Why secret? And why is birdy so utterly protective over it?" Sabo shrugged. "It is his. You don't like it when people touch your stuff, do you?" Thatch blinked. "Well, no. And Marco doesn't usually either, but he usually just says 'no'. He threatened to take my entire arm if I so much as touched it. And that was like the only warning I got. Usually he starts with no, he went full blown 'I will do bodily harm' right away." Whitebeard blinked. That was a bit unusual for Marco. It was as Thatch said, the threats got more serious if they continued to test him or mess with him. Not straight at bodily harm. And even then, bodily harm was rarely used as a threat by Marco, he usually used punishment like kitchen duty or cleaning the deck. Whitebeard would try and speak with Marco about this when he had Marco in private.

The day then went on, and things were fine. Luffy was usually running around and having fun, Sabo was more attentive and didn't run around, as well as asking a lot of questions about stuff, mostly how to keep the ship in good shape and all that. The next week, they docked at a neutral island, just to restock a few things. They docked as it was still early and not that many were out yet.

As Whitebeard sat out on deck, enjoying the morning. He would take a trip on the island a bit later. But as he was enjoying the good day, Trevor came onto the boat, and he blinked. Why was he here? Sabo blinked as well as he was out. "Trevor?" Trevor nodded. "Yeah. Was here and wanted to say hi. Bunny is over by the Eastern building. Work thing." That did make sense, but he had no idea assassins were here, and by the fact they had their own building, he had a feeling this wasn't a new development. Sabo hummed. "Can we say hi?" Trevor nodded. "Sure, probably. Should be done. Just waiting for the one who's gonna take over. I've been shopping for the last hour." Sounded good, and he decided he could join as well, as well as a few others. Marco was away on the island, saying he needed to check something. Before they left, Trevor looked at Sabo. "What about Lu?" Sabo hummed. "Asleep. He can come later." Trevor nodded. "Okay."

They then headed off, him and a few commanders, which included Izou, Thatch, Rakuyo, and Namur. He knew Ace would never hurt them on purpose, but he knew most were still wary of him still. They then walked to the building which was about 20 minutes away, and when they got there, it looked like a lookout, which made sense. The place was probably here to watch over the island and that was best done with a high place, and this seemed perfect. They then headed inside, and it was filled with books and maps on counters, as well as many notes. It was how he had expected it to be.

As they got inside, Trevor looked around. "Bunny!" Yelled Trevor, and he heard some shifting from down some stairs, and Trevor headed that way as he also heard it. "Bunny!" Ace spoke up quickly. "Don't come down here! Give me a sec!" Trevor blinked. "Oh hell no, I need to see this." He said as he went down, and when he got down the stairs and turned to his right, he blinked, before he laughed. "No! You and him! No!" Whitebeard blinked as he followed, and when he got down, he had to blink again. There was Ace, half naked, and Marco, half naked, Ace having a hand on his face, before he gave a glare to Trevor. "I said to wait!" Trevor snorted. "When do I listen when people say to stay?" Ace sighed. "I had a hope."

Ace then turned a bit and took a pair of pants on, just having his boxers and a shirt on, Marco in just his boxers a bit to the side, also taking on his pants that he just picked up. They then got dressed, and Whitebeard had no words. Ace and Marco were a thing? Why hadn't Marco told him? Why didn't he know of this? Sabo then also came down, and when he had, he blinked when he saw them looking shocked and looked at Ace. "They didn't know? How?" Thatch blinked and moved his hands. "What! This isn't new?!" Sabo shrugged. "Been a thing since New Years, so some months now." Thatch moved his hands frantically. "But what about Ann! You- you're cheating on her with Ace!" Ace rolled his eyes as he was dressed. "I am Ann." He said in a light voice, and then it all made sense. Ann was Ace, and Ace was with Marco.

Trevor hummed. "So, this is why you said we couldn't do it more?" Ace looked at Trevor. "I will murder you." Marco Blinked. "What, yoi?" Ace brought his hand to his face again, and Trevor blinked, before he laughed. "And you haven't told him. Nice." Ace sighed. "Can we have this conversation later?" Trevor hummed and crossed his arms. "No, let us have it now. Why didn't you tell me! I thought we were best buddies!" Ace sighed, hand massaging his face. "Trevor-" Trevor shook his head. "No! Why was I never told!" Ace sighed and tried again. "Trevor-" Trevor cut him off again. "No! Why was I never told!" Ace gave a glare. "I did tell you." That made Trevor blink. "What?" Ace nodded. "Three months ago, I told you, before I left for that assignment." Trevor blinked. "I… must have zoned out." Ace shook his head with a glare. "Just because you are a moron and don't listen to me, is not my fault." Trevor shrugged. "Fine, you're off the hook." Ace gave a small look. "I was never on the hook. Why do I even talk to you? You never listen to me."

Ace then looked at them. "Why are you even here? I said I would come to you." Trevor nodded. "Yeah, but then we wanted to say hi." Ace let out a breath. "I hate you, Trevor." Trevor waved his hand. "Nah, you don't. But this is cool. You got a love interest? That's new." Ace rolled his eyes. "Besides that Ann has been with him for some months now, so no, it is not new. How did you not know that?" Trevor blinked. "No one told me that." Ace shook his head. "For being an assassin and informant, you kinda suck." Trevor moved his hand. "Why is no one keeping me in the loop here?!" Ace shook his head. "You suck. It's not my fault you don't listen to me." Trevor just gave a breath.

Ace then walked forward and past them. "I need to write the log. Be right back." Ace then headed up the stairs, and Trevor headed after, and the rest of them could only look at Marco, who sighed. "I know we should have told, but we didn't want to, yoi. We like our privacy." Sabo chuckled. "I also like how no one connected it. Like, often when Ace visited, he and Marco would just be gone. So obvious." It was not, Whitebeard had no idea about this.

He could see his children looking shocked at finding this out. The one who showed this the most was Thatch, who had grown pale and looked shocked. Thatch then took a small step towards Marco. "Are you insane!" Marco gave a hum. "At least it is not Ann, yoi. I found someone else." That made the captain smile as Thatch had said to find someone else than Ann, anyone else than her. Thatch looked shocked. "But- but- but-" Thatch grabbed Marco by his shoulders and sort of half whispered. "You can't date Ace! He is The Ace of Spades! Are you insane?!" Marco blinked and looked to be on his way to speak when someone behind them spoke. "Hey," Started Ace, which made Thatch freeze and turn around as Ace had probably heard it, when Ace continued. "Sabo, want to go shopping? I'm off duty now."

Sabo blinked. "Wait. Did you and Marco have sex while on duty?" Ace moved his hand and looked to be on his way to say no, when he gave a small sound. "Maybe." That had Trevor looking shocked. "What the fuck! You are always telling me to always be ready when I'm on duty! Like I can't even read a book at times, but you go off and have sex while on duty?!" Ace hummed. "And that is since those times you need to be ready as something can happen. This is legit just being here and writing a log when done. The most interesting thing that has ever happened here is when a child hid here to play hide and seek, and I wasn't even on duty then. And she was outside the building in the garden thing. Please tell me, Trevor. What do I need to be ready for?" Trevor shrugged. "I don't know! But something!" Ace rolled his eyes. "Nothing will happen here." Ace then left with Sabo.

As they were gone, they all turned to look at Marco, who moved his hand a bit. "I know we kept it a secret, yoi. But we weren't ready to tell everyone yet." Trevor hummed. "Yeah, that makes sense. This is cool. Wanna join Ace and Sabo what shopping? This is totally not me asking so you don't have to face them all now." Marco chuckled. "You know what? Yes, I would like that, yoi." Then the two started to leave, and when Thatch tried to speak up, Marco gave a glare, which had him shut up.

As those two were gone as well, Whitebeard did tell his children to not tell this to everyone, at least for now. They all nodded in agreement, looking shocked still. They then headed back to the boat, and he did tell them to try and not look shocked, and if anyone asked, to say that nothing special had happened, and they all agreed. They then went on with their day, and they didn't see Marco or Ace yet, but Sabo had returned with Trevor, and Trevor headed away after a bit as he had something he needed to take up with Ace, and he wanted to make sure Sabo came back safely.

Then, half an hour later, he noticed Thatch going up to Sabo and starting to talk about something he didn't hear, and Sabo just sighed to it, before he made some motions, which had Thatch nod, before Thatch approached him and asked if they could head to the meeting room as he needed to talk about this situation, most likely the Marco and Ace one. Izou did join as well. And when they got to the meeting room, Thatch instantly started to go on and on about this situation and how horrible it was. Sabo didn't speak until he was done, and when Thatch was, Sabo hummed. "I don't see the issue with this. They are both adults and can choose who to be with or not." That was true, and Whitebeard agreed.

Thatch blinked. "But! No! This isn't just anyone! This is Ace!" Sabo nodded. "And? Why is my brother so horrible?" Thatch blinked. "I don't mean he is horrible!" Sabo hummed. "Then why is this so bad?" Thatch looked to be on his way to speak, when it seemed he didn't know what to say without making Ace seem horrible, and that seemed to be enough for Sabo who nodded. "You just have to deal with this." Thatch nodded, not saying anything.

Sabo then hummed and looked at Thatch. "You remember you wondered why Marco was so protective over the squid plushie?" Thatch blinked and nodded, which had Sabo continue. "The squid is a plushie Luffy made for Ace, as it is Ace." Thatch blinked. "How… how is a squid Ace?" Sabo hummed. "We once saw a squid, Luffy of course scared it, it inked, and when the ink was gone, the squid was gone. It disappeared in black ink. Doesn't that sound like Ace?" Thatch blinked. "But the hat and mustache!?" Sabo hummed. "Lu made a small mistake on the head, and used the hat to cover it, and he didn't know how to make a mouth that well, so it got a mustache." That made sense.

Thatch blinked. "Wait… does that mean I almost messed with Ace?" Sabo hummed. "His plush version, yes." Thatch looked horrified. "I almost messed with Ace…" Sabo shook his head a bit. "You know, it was a bit cute at the start that you're so terrified of Ace, but come on, a plushie, how are you scared of a plushie?" Thatch blinked. "But… it's Ace." Sabo blinked. "It is a plushie off Ace, yes. But it is not Ace." Thatch nodded but still looked shocked. Sabo then left as he said this wasn't something to be worried or horrified about, which was true. Thatch still looked shocked, before they went back out and went on with the day.

After another hour, Marco came back and seemed to be in a good mood, and said Ace and Trevor needed to leave, but Ace would still come back in a week to check on his brothers, which was fine. Then the day went on fine. And when evening came, he asked Marco to come to his room as they needed to speak.

So, they headed to the captain's room, Marco sitting down in a chair and looking at him as he also sat down on his chair, before Marco let out a breath. "Let me guess, you want to talk about Ace and I, yoi?" Whitebeard nodded, he had invited Marco here for that. Marco nodded as well. "Sure. Go ahead, yoi. What do you want to say about it?" Whitebeard looked at his oldest son. "Why did you never tell?" Marco sighed. "Because we wanted our privacy, yoi. You know how the others can be." Whitebeard nodded. "But why did you never tell me?" Marco let out a breath. "I am not sure, yoi. It is just… new." That he could get. Marco had never had a love interest in the entire time he had been with them. Marco sighed. "And, honestly, I was unsure it would last. Ace isn't the… most open, yoi. You know this." That was also true. Ace was a closed off person, so this was amazing. He looked at his son. "How long have you… been interested?" Marco hummed. "Since… well, since he took care of Teach." Whitebeard blinked. That was a really long time, they had barely met Ace then, so this had to be a thing from the start. "I don't know how to react to this." He really didn't. This was all so shocking.

Marco sighed. "I was hoping for your approval, yoi." Whitebeard quickly nodded. "And you have it, I would never keep my children from someone they like. It is just a shock." Marco nodded. "And I get that, yoi. And we are still settling. Ace isn't the most open person I know, so things take a bit of time, yoi." Whitebeard nodded. "I can understand that. But I do hope you know what you're doing." Marco sighed. "Honestly, I have no clue. I am trying my best, yoi. But at times, I feel stuck." Whitebeard nodded. "Stuck with what?" Maybe he could help. Marco sighed. "I am a hundred percent sure Ace doesn't want any of us to know this, yoi. But… he has had a run in with… Thatch's family, and he got… a brand on his back from it, yoi." Whitebeard blinked. "He has a brand?" Marco nodded as he thought for a second. "Yes, he does. I really want to tell Thatch, but Ace doesn't." This was a lot to take in.

He looked at Marco. "How long have you known this? From the start?" Marco shook his head. "No, not from the start, yoi. Ace hid it for a while, before he showed it to me. He isn't bothered by it or him, I think I am more bothered than him. He just takes it so calmly." Whitebeard nodded, he would try and figure out something that might help, but for now, he had one question. "Are you happy, son?" Marco nodded and looked content. "I am. I really am, yoi." Whitebeard nodded. "Then you have my full blessing. I want nothing more than to see you all happy." Marco let out a breath. "That means a lot, yoi." The captain nodded. "I really hope you two will stay happy." Marco smiled. "I really think we will, yoi." Whitebeard was glad on Marco's behalf. He did hope they would stay happy, and that his children would accept this, as most were still wary and somewhat scared of Ace.

And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed

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