Hello everyone, here is the next chapter!
This is a sort of interlude and build up for later
Hope you enjoy
Read and relax
Whitebeard sat out on deck, enjoying a good day as they were docked, most out on deck as they would have a meeting soon, and then they could go on the island afterward and enjoy the night. As he was enjoying the day, a woman came onto the boat, and before Whitebeward could speak, Trevor spoke as he lifted his hand. "Anna!" Anna moved her hand a bit. "Hi, is Ace here?" Trevor hummed. "He is, should come out soon, he just went to get something." Anna nodded. "Okay, good." As she finished the last word, Ace came from around a corner and smiled at the woman. "Anna, what brings you here?" Anna turned and gave a smile to Ace. "I was going to bring this past Daisuke, but I don't want to anymore. Not sure they know."
Ace gave a breath. "They know, and I am still mad at Daisuke. I expected more from him." Mika spoke next. "We all did." Ace nodded. "We did. Would you like to do it in private or here?" Anna blinked. "Can we do it here?" Ace nodded. "We can, unless it has deplorable details, they're not good with that." Anna nodded and took out a folder. "Here, I need some advice." Ace nodded and took the folder, read it, before he took out a pen. "Will put some small help lines here, but main ones; don't overthink, be yourself, and go after sunrise. I know that sounds odd, but these ones are up all night and sleep during the day." Anna nodded. "Ah, that makes sense. They're always so active during the night." Ace nodded. "Yes, paranoia does that to you. There are also some awake during the day of course, but the worst is dusting the night. We are also heading that way, not all the way, but close. Want a ride?" Anna blinked. "I can?" Ace nodded. "Yes, I am sure the captain doesn't mind."
The woman looked at him, and the captain shook his head. "I don't mind. You're free to stay as long as you need. A place to relax." Trevor nodded. "Yeah, this place is awesome and so good to relax." Anna nodded slowly. "Okay." Mika spoke. "I know you're kind not too fond of being around many, but while there are so many here, it is not too much and everyone respects everyone and you still got plenty of space, especially when they know you work with Ace." Trevor nodded. "Yeah! And they have a dog! They have Stefan! Huge cuddle buddy!" Anna hummed. "I like cats the best, but that works. And Stefan is white, black is best."
Thatch blinked. "But black cats mean bad luck!" Everyone blinked, Izou speaking. "No, they mean good luck." Haruta nodded. "They do mean good luck, Thatch. What are you talking about?" Thatch looked confused. "But they mean bad luck! Everybody knows that!" Whitebeard felt confused as well, he thought they meant good luck as well, they meant good. Ace held a hand out. "Thatch, you believe that since you were born to Nobles. For a Noble, a Blue Blooded Patrician, slave driver, any like that, a black cat means bad luck. For everyone else, they mean good luck. And, the one who has helped keep this up, is Anna. She is Scarlett Claw, who wears a black cat mask, and dark clothes."
Thatch blinked. "What! I think this since I was a Noble!?" Ace hummed. "Was is pushing it. You were born to them, and half raised. They taught you this. And Anna took over from the previous Scarlett Claw when she retired as she really bonded with Anna 7 years ago. And I have to say, you are just as good, if not better." Anna looked a bit embarrassed. Then Trevor spoke. "Also, don't be fooled by the introvert behavior. She is an introvert until a topic she likes is brought up, I swear, you can't shut her up, I love it. Or when she is working. She has no issue dragging your tongue out while you scream or clawing you up." Thatch spoke. "Yeah, I've heard about that. Victims being clawed up very realistically."
Trevor hummed. "Well-" Ace snapped his fingers at Trevor. "Hey! Don't spill it all! This is Anna's deal." Trevor held his hands up and gave a small bow of apology to Anna. "I am sorry." Anna shook her head. "No, it is okay. Might not be a huge fan of Stefan I feel. I can turn into a cat or panther. So I do claw my victims, and I can climb well." Ace nodded. "You do, which reminds me. South side of the building you're heading towards, there is a large tree close to the wall. Easy climb for you." Anna nodded. "Will remember it."
Trevor spoke. "Shouldn't Ace take you? That's much faster." Ace hummed. "Some rumors they get a shipment of slaves in a month, who or from where we don't know, so we need to wait." Trevor looked at Anna. "Why don't you just become a full informant as well? You're so good!" Anna shrugged. "Too much interactions with strangers. I don't like that." Ace hummed. "I can get that." Anna nodded. "Yeah, but I am content with what I am now." Thatch spoke next. "Question. The person you took over, did you have the same fruit?" Anna shook her head. "No. But she used fake claws, and I use real ones." Thatch nodded. "Cool."
Ace hummed. "So you will be with us for maybe 2 weeks then, will be nice. Also, fair warning, Cioup is here." Anna looked excited with that. "Oh really? . Can't wait to see her." Trevor hummed. "Please don't break the boat." Anna looked to be on her way to speak, when the captain heard a sound to his left and saw Cioup running across the deck towards Anna, who got ready, before they fought a bit, and both seemed very skilled. But while they seemed to fight, each attack was countered, before Anna moved her hand up and claws came from her fingers, which had Cioup stop as she said "No claws! Cheating!" Anna gave a look. "It is not, it is my skill." Cioup looked unhappy and took out a gun, which had Anna looking unhappy. "No guns!" Cioup gave a taunting look. "Oh, why not? It is my skill." Anna gave a look, before they went back to fistfighting and doing takedows, but no one won.
After a bit, Ace spoke as he clapped his hands. "Okay! Enough!" Anna and Cioup moved to look at Ace, but still moved their hands to try and hit the other, which seemed to annoy Ace a bit as he moved and pinched his nose. "Could you not?" Anna stopped, but Cioup moved and hit Anna one more time on the arm, which had Anna look at Ace. "She hit me again! So I can hit her!" Cioup spoke. "No! She started it! She breathed my air!" Anna glared at Cioup. "I am allowed to breathe!" Cioup spoke again as she pointed at Anna. "She did it again!" Ace gave a glare, which had both stop as Ace was getting serious. Then it calmed down and Anna kept mostly to the assassins, but spoke a bit to some of his children as well. Well, he guessed they had a new travel companion for a small bit.
-x-
Marco stood out on the main deck the next day, Ace being gone right now. Ace would come back, Sabo would be with him as Sabo had said he wanted a small break from the Revolutionary Army, which was somewhat understandable. And with Ace as his brother it was easy to just leave for a small vacation. They would soon dock as well, if the weather was good, tomorrow they would arrive on an island they have been to a few times. It was a nice island. When there was a cloud of back smoke by Ace's mark an hour later, it was larger than normal and when the wind blew the smoke away, Sabo and Ace stood there, and they all said hi. Cioup and Anna as well, and Sabo seemed glad to see them. But he himself was surprised Sabo knew them. Ace worked with them a lot probably and they had help with watching Sabo and Luffy now and then he thought.
The day went on uneventfully and the next day, when they docked and they had good weather, and when the clock was almost noon, Sabo came over and looked at him. "Do you have a bit of time?" Marco nodded. "Sure, yoi. You got something you want to talk about?" Sabo hummed. "Kind of. I want to take you somewhere on the island. I think it would benefit you well." Marco blinked. "Where?" Sabo shook his head. "Not telling. But, I think you would really get something out of it." Marco nodded. "How long would it take, yoi?" Sabo hummed. "At absolute max, 2 hours. Most likely between 1 and one and a half." Marco nodded. "Okay. Let's go." Sabo nodded and they headed off the boat after Marco told Pops he would be a bit away for a couple hours with Sabo, which he said was fine.
They then walked and Marco did try and ask where they were headed, but Sabo didn't give a hint. After walking for about 10 minutes, they seemed to be walking towards a church, which had Marco blink. "Are we heading to the church, yoi?" Sabo nodded. "Yes." Marco blinked. "Why are we heading to a church, yoi?" Sabo hummed. "For an Al-Anon meeting." Marco tried to think. "Al-Anon, yoi? What is that?" Sabo hummed. "It stands for Alcoholics Anonymous." Marco blinked. "I thought that was AA, yoi. Are you trying to tell me something, Sabo?" Sabo chuckled. "Don't worry, not for me. Or, kinda for me, been to a few to be honest. But this one is for you." Marco frowned. "I'm going to an AA meeting? You want to send me to an AA meeting, yoi?" Sabo chuckled again. "No. This isn't AA, but Al-Anon. This is a meeting for those who are close to a user. Be it family, spouse, best friend, you name it. And, you're Ace's husband." Marco blinked. "But he doesn't use drugs anymore, yoi." Sabo nodded. "Yeah. But this isn't just for those who are close to someone who still uses, but also for previous users." Marco didn't know this was a thing. But still.
Marco shook his head. "I don't think this would do me anything, yoi. Ace and I are fine." Sabo looked at him. "Humor me." Marco sighed. "Fine, yoi." They then headed inside. There were 7 others there seated on chairs that were arranged in a circle and they sat down on a pair of empty ones. A woman then spoke and said she was the one to lead this, and if anyone wanted to share something, and one man held a hand up, to which the woman gave him the approval to speak, and the man did. "Hi. I'm Arthur. And my son is an alcoholic." Everyone then said "Hi, Arthur." Before the man continued. "I am sometimes on my wits end. I want to scream at him to get his life together. But I know it won't work. Not proud of that. When I visit him, I leave the moment he takes out the booze and I say I love him. I don't want to see him drunk. You know, detach with love. I don't want more issues and I want happy memories with him. I can't have that when he's drunk. Well, that's it for me today." Then they all gave a small clap. Marco didn't feel this was right for him.
A man then held up his hand and got to speak. "Hi, Andrew here." Everyone said hi, before he continued. "My wife and I had a fight. I knew this would come up one day, and yesterday was that day. I knew this would be hard seeing who we are. She is a recovering alcoholic. And I own a bar. Perfect disaster, right? She can't visit me and get anything besides water or a soft drink, and she doesn't want that. So, I am stumped." A woman two seats beside him raised her hand. "Hi, I'm Hen. My sister is a recovering alcoholic." They all said hi, before she looked at Andrew. "My sister has been sober for 4 years now, and works at a milkshake place. Seeing how she can't drink anything with alcohol, she has made many absolutely amazing milkshakes. No alcohol. And they are a huge hit. What I mean, make her make a sober menu. People who can't drink alcohol are so creative to find great tastes."
Andrew blinked. "That is a great idea." Hen nodded. "Yes. and you can get a new clientele. So the ones who are sober don't need to avoid you. Feel like a place they can be. Do something together. You run a bar, she can't drink alcohol. That doesn't mean she can't be with you, or you with her. You need to find common ground. A common interest that won't hurt either of you. This is a journey, and you need to find out what works for you two. And that might be hard. But the main thing is, communication. And that's not all on you, but on both of you. No matter how good you can talk, talking to a brick wall will do nothing. So, you need to learn each other's language. I am sure it will go fine." Andrew nodded. "I will try, thank you. That's it for me." They all clapped a bit. Marco now felt more interested in this.
Sabo then held his hand up and got permission to talk. "Sabo. My brother is a previous user." They all said hi, before Sabo continued. "I really do think you need to search long and far to find a drug he didn't use. It went so far nothing really gave him much of a high when he needed it, so he went to someone who creates drugs and just said 'fuck me up' basically. And it is hard. He's sober now, at least from the drugs. But he isn't black out drunk or too inebriated to function. And I feel that is a start. Quitting it all seems too much right now. But the drugs are gone, just booze. Not that I like it when he drinks, I hate it. But better than when he is high on something and is a danger to himself and others. So, things are going fine right now. I just hope it will stay that way. Thank you." They all then clapped.
The woman who led the group then looked a thim. "Would you like to share something? You're also new here. Tell us your name." Marco blinked. He was sure they all knew who he was. The women smiled. "I know it might seem confusing, but you're not here as a pirate, you're here to see you're not alone." Marco nodded. "I'm Marco, and my husband is a precious user, yoi." They all said hi, and Marco gave a breath. "I can feel stuck, at times. But sometimes, it doesn't seem like he wants help, yoi. And I don't know how to help him." The woman smiled, before she looked at everyone. "What we say is-" She said before she moved her hands a bit and they all spoke in unison. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." Marco blinked, that sounded smart.
The woman looked at him. "While I am sure you want to hold your husband's hand and guide him, that won't work. Most likely it will push him away. What you need to do is hand the candle that lights the path to him and let him guide himself. Yes, he might walk into some walls or towards a cliff. But you can't stop him, as that might damage your connection. What you need to do is be there for him, help him now. Because; the past, the present, and the future are really one: they are today. And not everyday will feel like a win, like you bond or move a mountain. But, in reality, it is. Because he isn't using. And the more you push him, the higher is the chance if he has a relapse, which no one wants. If you push him, he won't go to you for help. He will hide it. You need to make the bridge easier for him to cross if he needs to cross it, not burn it. Because there is a chance he will use again, many have relapses. But you need to trust that if he does, he goes to you before it spirals."
Hen moved her hand up. "Hen here." They all said hi again, before she spoke. "My sister, now 4 and a half years ago, showed up at my door drunk, heroin in hand. She hadn't taken it yet, but was thinking about it. She couldn't even look me in the eye when she came. What I wanted to do, in all honesty, was to yell at her for being stupid for throwing over 1 year of sobriety away, almost 2 then. But I didn't. Because before I started to yell, I took a breath, and then I realized it. She came to me. Yes, she was drunk and had therefore thrown away her sobriety. But she came to me. And I got it, if I yelled or closed the door on her, I would abandon her in her need. So, I hugged her and said it was okay. Then, we flushed the drugs down the toilet. Or more like I helped her do it, but she did it, she flushed it. And then I hugged her again, and we sat up until she was sober and she confessed why she drank. Her husband got news he had cancer. And that night, we bonded like never before. a year after that, she showed back on my door, but this time, not drunk. But she was contemplating and knew I wouldn't judge her, because I hadn't the year before. I almost burned the bridge, but I took a breath, which took less than a second, and that made the bridge stronger and safer than it ever could be."
Marco blinked, that was very interesting and good to hear. Marco gave a breath. "I yelled at him once. He was drunk, yoi. Not black out drunk, just… drunk. And I was so mad at him. Because in my mind, I came second, yoi. Vodka came first, not me." The group holder nodded. "Did you two speak about it?" Marco nodded. "He did run away first, yoi. Went to sober up. I felt so bad about it later, said in the heat of the moment. But when he came back and we spoke, he told me why he was drunk, yoi. He doesn't have many to rely on, many to lean on, much less trust when he needs comfort, yoi. Vodka doesn't come first, but it makes him seek the help he needs from me. And I felt so bad for yelling at him."
Hen held her hand up. "Hen again. And that is a start, now you know why. Next time, if you feel mad or annoyed. Take that breath. And in the future, he won't need vodka to seek out your help." Marco blinked. He hadn't thought about that before. But now, he wanted that. He wanted Ace to feel so safe and trust him enough to come to him for comfort before he drank. That was now his new goal. The meeting then went on and Marco listened to it all, and got a lot from it. There was one more sentence that stood out, which was "The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none." He liked this, and had never heard about this, meetings for people who were friends, significant others, or family to a drug addict. He would remember this for the future, as this was a thing he felt he could use now and then.
About an hour later, they walked out of the church and Marco looked at Sabo. "Thank you, yoi." Sabo chuckled. "I take it that you enjoyed it?" Marco nodded. "I did, yoi. I'm glad you did this." Sabo waved his hand. "Nah. I was like you at the start, but I had to be actually dragged inside the meeting by Trevor my first time. You were easy." Marco chuckled. "I'm glad you did this, yoi." Sabo chuckled. "No issue. It can be very helpful." He felt that.
They then walked back to the boat, and Ace was out now, as he had had some business, and Ace looked at him and smiled. "Hey. Where have you been?" Marco hummed. "Was at an Al-Anon meeting, yoi." Ace blinked. "Oh no. Am I that awful to be with you need Al-Anon meetings?" Marco chuckled. "No. Sabo took me to it, yoi. Said he had been to a few and it helped him. And I have to say, it was nice. Gave me some things to think about and how to deal with other things." Ace nodded. "Yeah, many like them." Marco nodded. "Have you ever been at an AA meeting?" Ace hummed. "I have. Kind of a big deal when you're with Mike detoxing, and it happens I go to one now and then." Marco nodded. "I see. You know, I have no issue joining you if you want company, yoi." Ace smiled at him. "Will remember it." Marco smiled back. He would remember this.
The day then went on, and Sabo stayed until the next day, and left as they set sail, Ace promising to check in on him in not too long, before they hugged and Dust took Sabo back to the Revolutionary Army. As he was gone, Cioup spoke. "Now, we just need Luffy to drop by! I will get the glitter ready for him!" Ace smiled. "Yeah, he should. I miss him as well." Marco got that. He wouldn't mind Luffy dropping by as well. And it made Ace happy. Ace deserved happiness.
And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed!
The next one will have more action as stuff happens
If you have any ideas, don't be afraid to share them!
I hope you enjoyed, and if you want to, I do love feedback, so don't be afraid to leave a review, or send a PM!
If you also want to, I have a Twitter, my name is Azuruko, and I have a discord, my tag/username is just azuruko, as well as a server (Instant invite: discord . gg / 6hzMhbR) where everyone is welcomed! Updates is also posted there, both on discord and on twitter