Hello everyone, here is the next chapter!
Hope you will enjoy this
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Marco stood out on deck, something feeling off, and looked at Thatch. "Something is wrong, yoi." Thatch blinked, before he frowned. "What? What is wrong?" Marco shook his head a bit. "I don't know, yoi. But something is wrong, I feel it in my gut." Thatch blinked. "Your gut is usually right, but what is it?" Marco shook his head. "I don't know." Marco then looked at the island, before he walked towards the plank. "I need to see if I can find out what it is, I feel it is something on the island, yoi." Thatch nodded and whistled, making a few others come up to him, before Thatch spoke. "We will join, you're rarely wrong." That made him feel a bit better, and he hoped it was a false thing, but it rarely was.
-x-
Ace stood frozen, and as Dolus was just some feet away, he moved his arm out to grab her, and Ace so wanted to scream, to run, to fight, just do something. But her entire being was frozen. She even wanted to just cry, but she couldn't. She was just… frozen. As she just saw the sick grin and heard the small evil chuckle he gave, she suddenly heard a bird cry, before Dolus was suddenly away from her as something pushed him, before Marco, half in his phoenix form landed on him, wings out as he had flown here and used a leg to kick him off, before jumping or like half flying to land on him, a foot on the side of his head as a phoenix leg, holding around his face, keeping him down, while the other was on solid ground.
Marco sent a look over his shoulder at her, looking worried and pissed off. "Are you okay, yoi?!" Ace tried to nod and say yes, she truly did, but her body wouldn't listen. She was still frozen. When Marco looked more worried, Ace managed to give a small nod, which Marco nodded back at, and Dolus tried to speak, when Marco looked back at him, the foot on his head pushing him more down in the ground. "You keep silent, yoi." Dolus growled. "I did nothing! Let me go!" Marco growled back, stepping more on his head so it moved further into the ground. "You hurt her, I know who you are, Dolus. And now, it is your turn to be scared, yoi." Marco stepped on his head more, and Dolus gave a whimper. "You can't! You can't just kill me!" Marco hummed. "We're pirates, who says we can't, yoi."
Dolus did respond, but someone touched her shoulder and that made her heart jump, and her body finally moved to wrench around and fall down as she lost her balance, to see Izou there with Thatch, and both looked at her worried. "You good?" Ace nodded. "Y-yeah, he didn't get to touch me." Both nodded and looked glad, and he saw more from the crew coming towards them, Thatch went to Dolus, who she could hear was whimpering, and Ace looked over to him to see Marco had gotten him up and held his arm behind his back in a painful manner and Dolus looked scared and didn't seem as scary as he had been a minute ago.
Izou then spoke. "You sure you're good?" Ace nodded a bit, watching as Dolus was being led somewhere, before Ace shook her head a bit. "I think I need to head back to the boat." Izou nodded. "I get that. Let me follow you." Ace nodded, that sounded good. So they walked back to the boat, and at first, Ace was going to head to her room, but as they walked and had walked, she felt like she needed to do something. And as they were on the boat, Marco came from around a corner and looked at her. "How are you?" Ace nodded a bit. "I am good. He didn't get to touch me at all." Marco nodded. "Good." Marco then gave a supportive look. "You can go to your room while we handle him, yoi."
Ace blinked, before she looked at Marco. "Where is he?" Marco used his head to motion to the main deck. "Soon in front of Pops, yoi." Ace nodded and started to walk that way, and Marco seemed stunned, before he moved to stop her. "Hey, you don't-" Ace spoke and cut him off. "I need to do this." That had Marco nod and Ace walked to the main deck, where she saw a struggling and pleading Dolus, and everyone out seemed shocked to see her there. Whitebeard did look like he wanted to speak, but Marco made a motion which made him stop, and that was good. Ace knew what she wanted to do, and she needed to do it while she had the courage.
She walked up to Dolus who grinned when he saw her. "You here to make them let me go, or wh-" Ace moved and slapped him. "No. I am here to tell you something. For years I have been terrified of and because of you." Dolus looked shocked when she slapped him and when she spoke, and tried to speak, but Ace wasn't done and spoke louder. "But you're nothing but a coward. Someone who targets the weak, but you know what? I am no longer weak or scared, not even of you." Dolus tried to attack her, but Thatch and Jozu, who held him by his arms, kept him back, but he still managed a lurch towards her, but Ace didn't even flinch, as she spoke the truth. Dolus was weak, and she now saw that.
Ace then held herself straight and head held high. "Now I have people who support and love me, I am not alone. And this time," Ace leaned a bit closer. "You can't escape, and it is my time to say, you're not going to enjoy this." Then Ace turned around and walked with what felt and most likely looked like, confident strides. She felt like a huge weight and a cloud was lifted from her shoulders and mind. She felt… free. And that felt good. When she got to where Marco stood, she got an idea, just to show Dolus his motive didn't work, and leaned in and kissed him, before she looked back at Dolus. "Now, I am free, from you." Then Ace walked on, and she could hear people cheering, before she was around the corner and out of view, and Ace moved to lean against the wall, breathing a bit hard.
Marco and Deuce were soon by her, and Deuce hugged her, and Ace just took some breaths, before Deuce leaned back and moved a hand to her cheek and dried a tear, and Ace realized she was crying, and both Deuce and Marco looked worried, so Ace spoke. "I am not scared or upset, I am just… relieved. I am finally… free." When she said free, it felt so good, and it felt so real, that she was free from him. Marco and Decue seemed to get it and smiled, before Deuce hugged her again. "You're finally free from that bastard!" Ace nodded and hugged back. "I am." She then felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see Marco, who had a supportive and happy smile, and Ace smiled back. Marco had been so supportive of her, and it had really helped her be able to do this. Everyone on this boat had helped make this happen. She knew she wasn't alone. It was still a long road, but this felt like a huge step in the right direction.
-x-
Whitebeard sat in his room when evening came, and when the clock was nearing midnight, there was a knock on his door and he gave a come in and Ace opened the door, which had him give a smile. "Ace. How are you?" Ace hummed as she closed the door and sat down: "I am good. …very good. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Knowing he is no longer out there. What did you do to him?" Whitebeard nodded. "That I get, and I took his head, before we tossed him to the sea to be eaten by the sea creatures." Ace nodded. "He deserves that." Whitebeard nodded. "And it seemed like you got some closure as well. You handled that very dignified and strong." Ace had. That slap and not reacting to the lurch, it proves how strong she was.
Ace gave a breath. "Not when I first saw him, I just froze. But then… after the others showed up, he didn't look as scary. And when I saw him out on deck, being held, I just knew what I needed to do. And it felt… so good." Whitebeard smiled. "And I am glad about that, you did so great, and I am so proud to be your father, because you are strong." Ace nodded a bit. "I wouldn't have been able to do it a bit ago, I realized, that being here, with people who love and support me, it made me strong. Strong enough to handle him, as I knew you would protect me if he got loose." Whitebeard nodded. "Always. That's what family is for. No matter what, we will be here for you." Ace nodded and smiled a bit. "Yeah, I've realized that. And now… he is gone, for good. And that feels… great. And I felt so confident when I walked off after speaking with him." Whitebeard nodded. "You looked confident as well, because you were. You were amazing and handled that perfectly." Ace smiled. Looking to feel good, which was good.
Whitebeard smiled at Ace. "You are a very strong person, and I am glad you saw that now." Ace nodded. "I did, I just hope this confidence will stay." Whitebeard hummed. "It might at times not feel as it, but you are always strong, Ace. You have always been. Don't let anything bring you down." Ace nodded. "I will try." Whitebeard nodded and they shared a few more words, before Ace left, saying she had one more stop to go to, and the captain had a feeling on who that was.
-x-
Ace knocked on the door in front of her, and it soon opened and showed Marco, who blinked. "Ace? Are you okay? It is late, yoi." Ace hummed. "I am okay, can I… come in?" Ace knew Marco slept late as he needed less sleep because of his phoenix. Marco nodded and let her in and when inside, Ace took a breath. "I feel very… strong and confident right now. I feel I can conquer the world, and I need to use that to do this." Ace held her hands out and Marco did the same and grabbed it, and then Ace spoke. "I know I am a bit broken. And while I am not nearly ready to do a lot of things, I am ready for one thing."
And Ace moved in and kissed Marco, a proper kiss. Marco seemed shocked, but did kiss back slowly, and when they parted, Ace smiled. "I am not ready for everything, but I am ready for this. At least right now." Marco smiled. "And no matter how long it takes, I will be there for you, yoi." Ace smiled. "Thank you." Marco shook his head a bit. "No, it is what I am here for. To support you. We are here for each other, yoi." Ace smiled a bit. "And I will do all I can to support you too." Marco smiled. "You have supported me more than you know, yoi." Ace smiled, feeling happy about that. Marco was so kind and always knew what to say.
And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed
This was a bit of a short chapter and the next one will be longer I hope, but we'll see when it is out
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