((Hey all! This is my little Marco/Ace one shot I finished last weekend! This is also posted on my AO3, Fanfiction.net, and Wattpad accounts aMaskedNinja! Hope you all enjoy it!))
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Ace cried out upon seeing his little brother falling to his knees out of exhaustion. The battle at Marineford…the fight to save his life, had been a long and hard one. Luffy had fought hard…busted his ass to make it to where Ace was being held for execution, and to everyone's surprise, the boy had made it and managed to set Ace free, causing panic to spread throughout the Marines. Everything seemed to be going well…a little too well. Just as they were making their escape, Akainu had opened his mouth and managed to get under Ace's skin. The freckled raven had stopped running instantly, turned to defend the man he called his father, but Akainu continued to press the other and had looked past Ace to where Luffy was. The younger boy was exhausted. His body was failing him and he couldn't even find the strength to move.
"Luffy! Watch out!" Ace had suddenly cried out when the Admiral suddenly flew past him, heading straight for his exhausted little brother. Without hesitation, or thinking twice, the raven moved and put himself directly between Akainu's attack and his little brother. Within seconds, Akainu's magma-covered fist had shot straight through Ace's torso, leaving Luffy kneeling there with a look of horror on his face. Gritting his teeth harshly, Ace stood there with both hands clenched in fists. He couldn't even feel the pain, not even when Akainu's fist was removed from his body, causing him to fall to his knees. Coughing up blood, Ace slowly brought one of his trembling arms around his terrified little brother and pulled him into a weak hug.
"I'm sorry…Luffy… You went through so much trouble…and I screwed it up…" Ace coughed out, his eyes barely remaining open. So many people had put their lives on the line for him…and he went and did something completely stupid. He stopped running…let Akainu get under his skin and the results left him severely wounded and barely alive. "Y-you fought so well…and I…went and pulled something like this…"
As he spoke in a low tone Luffy remained frozen in place. His body was shaking from both fear and exhaustion. There was no way this had actually happened…right…? "H-hey…Ace it's going to be alright… We'll get you some help…and you'll be okay…" The Straw Hat captain spoke out with a tremble in his voice. "We…we can still save you…so just hang on…"
"Luffy…he burned my organs…punched me straight through…there's no way I'm going to survive so just listen…" Ace coughed out while tightening his grip on his younger brother. He could always feel himself fading so he needed to speak as quickly as possible. "You…are one stubborn pain in the ass…never listening to a damn thing I tell you… I swear, you would do it just to drive me up a wall but… in the end, I was really glad to call you and Sabo my brothers… The three of us…we really were a bunch of trouble makers… We drove Dadan insane…yet she still took care of us… If you ever see her…" Ace had to pause his words for a moment as a cough escaped from him. Time was running out but he wasn't done yet. "...Tell her I'm sorry for being such a brat…and also tell her thank you…" The raven went quiet again as tears started to spill down his freckled cheeks. He didn't want to die here…not anymore. He wanted to live, wanted to see Luffy achieve his dreams but he was certain he would be gone soon. There was no escaping this fate.
"Luffy…if I have any regrets, it's that I won't be able to see you fulfill your dream… I won't get to see you…become King of the Pirates…" Sniffling softly, Ace's vision started to blur, whatever life was left in him was fading fast. "Thank you…for being the best little brother I could ever ask for…thank you for loving me… a-and one more thing…" He paused once again to cough up more blood. Over Luffy’s shoulder, he caught a blurry glimpse of blond hair and a purple shirt. Marco… "T-tell Marco…I'm sorry…"
"A-Ace…! H-hey…! Dammit hang in there! You can tell him yourself that you're sorry! You have to survive! You can't just die like this!" Luffy shouted out while clinging to his brother's battered body. In his hold, Ace's breathing was slowing down drastically. The younger raven couldn't stop shaking while continuing to beg his older brother to hold on just a little longer. "W-We're going to get out of here…! You have to see me become the King of the Pirates! Ace…! ACE!!"
The sound of the consistent beeping was more than annoying, it was down right infuriating. Wait…why could he hear beeping, yet he was surrounded by darkness? What happened…? The last thing he remembered was hearing someone screaming his name before darkness had completely taken him over. He was certain he had died but…if that was the case then why could he still hear the annoying beeps, along with other sounds that he couldn't quite make out. Footsteps? Maybe… Voices? But who's voices…? He couldn't make out what the voices were saying, only a few words here and there.
"....alive…but…no telling….wake up…" As much as he continued to try and make out the full conversation, his brain refused to work. Exhaustion was taking over once again, and soon everything went quiet, as if he had passed out again.
In the room with Ace, there were two men, both rather tall, one with dark hair and tired looking silver eyes, the other blond with blue eyes that were stained red as if he had been crying. Together, both men had been working non stop, not only to save Luffy, but to also save another raven. With both surgeries successful, all they could do now was wait.
"He's lucky to be alive, but there's no telling when he'll wake up. His injuries were very severe…along with Straw Hat's. Neither of them should have made it." The dark haired male spoke out while removing a pair of rubber gloves from his hands. "You're lucky I got there in time and had that weird clown drop them onto my submarine. Normally I wouldn't let anyone help that's not on my crew but… well, considering one is part of your crew, I decided to let you help."
Standing beside the dark haired raven, the exhausted looking blond ran a hand through his hair and sighed softly. It had been an extremely close call for both of their patients, but somehow they were both going to pull through the incident. "Trafalgar Law… I can't help but wonder what you were doing at Marineford…" The blond spoke out as he pulled his glasses off and rubbed at his tired eyes. Of course the question only made the raven scoff before he rolled his eyes and made his way to the doors.
"Call it a whim. I saved Straw Hat because he still has something in this world to accomplish. There's still things we haven't seen from him. As for Fire Fist…I assumed he was already dead, but it seems he wasn't quite ready to die yet either. Don't read too much into it. Just be fortunate that I was able to save him." Law spoke out lowly before making his way out of the room, leaving the tired looking blond with the unconscious raven.
How many hours had passed since he had heard those voices…? The sound of the annoying beeping was still echoing in the background, but this time Ace somehow found the strength to open his eyes a bit only to find himself in a very unfamiliar place. It looked like he was in some sort of hospital…if that were even possible. He was certain he had died on the battlefield at Marineford, so why was he waking up to a place like this? A majority of his memory was fuzzy, the last thing he was able to recall was Luffy screaming for him… Luffy! Where was he!? Was he alright!? All the questions that were buzzing around in his head made his heart rate increase drastically, causing the heart rate monitor to start beeping like crazy. His anxiety was at its peak due to not knowing where his little brother was…or if he was even alive. During his panic, a hand suddenly came down and covered his eyes, followed by a very gentle and familiar voice.
"Shhh… calm down, Ace…" That voice…Ace knew it all too well but…what was he doing here?
"M-Marco…?" Ace asked softly. His voice was just barely there.
"That's right… it's me…" The blond replied, making sure to keep his tone nice and quiet. The gentle voice and familiar presence was slowly helping the raven calm down, but he was still very worried about Luffy.
"Ace…" Marco's voice called out to him again, pulling him from his thoughts as the hand that was covering his eyes slowly retracted. Blinking a bit, the raven slowly turned his head in the direction the voice was coming from, only to smile slightly when his gaze finally fell upon a familiar looking blond. Marco really was here…but where was here?
"...Where the hell am I…? Where's Luffy…? Is he alright…!?" Ace was starting to panic again, causing the heart rate monitor to skyrocket one more. Sighing softly, Marco sat himself down on the edge of the bed the raven was laying in, only to bring a hand up to gently ruffle the other's messy hair.
"Calm down…he's fine. He's in the next room sleeping. Both of you suffered from severe injuries, but a certain pirate showed up and managed to save both of your lives. You're actually still on his submarine." Marco explained softly while continuing to run his fingers through Ace's hair in order to calm him down. "You're going to have to stay put for a little while."
Hearing that Luffy was alive was enough to get Ace to calm down a little bit, along with Marco messing with his hair. Sighing softly, the raven's eyes slowly closed for a few moments while he tried to remember everything that happened at Marineford, though only a few memories were coming back to him. Mostly he remembered when Luffy had fallen to his knees out of exhaustion…and more importantly…he remembered the decision to jump in front of Akainu's attack in order to save his brother's life. That's right…he still didn't understand how he was alive. He knew Marco told him someone had helped save him, but with how severe the injury was…Ace was having trouble believing he was actually still alive.
"Marco…am I really still alive…? Saving my life should have been impossible… He- he punched me straight through and my organs were burned… There's no way I should still be here…" Ace spoke out as he tried to sit himself up, only to hiss out in pain. Seeing that the raven was trying to move, Marco quickly placed a hand on the other's bare shoulder and gently pushed him back down to keep him from moving around too much.
"Ace… you can't move like that. You'll open that wound again and if that happens, there will be a much higher chance of you dying…" Marco replied before letting out a quiet sigh. Keeping his hand on the raven's shoulder, the older blond leaned over him so he could look into the other's tired eyes. "You felt pain when you sat up, right? And you've been awake talking to me. If you were truly dead, you wouldn't have felt pain and I wouldn't be here. You can see me and you can feel it whenever I touch you, right?"
Listening to the older blond once again, Ace let out a bit of a sigh. It was true…if he were really dead he wouldn't have felt pain a moment ago, nor would Marco be right here with him. He could feel every touch and see every detail of the man before him, so why was it so hard for him to believe he was truly alive? Maybe because he had already accepted that he was going to die on that battlefield…and with how bad the injury was- no one should have survived that. While he continued to lay there quietly, he finally decided on one more confirmation test to ensure that he was alive. Biting slightly at his bottom lip, Ace slowly brought his hand up and placed it against Marco's warm cheek. Sure enough, nothing happened. He could feel the warmth of the blond and his hand didn't phase through the other. He was in fact alive…and that alone got tears to form in his tired eyes.
"Y-yeah…I can see you perfectly…and I can feel it when you touch me… Your warmth…it's always so comforting…" Ace mumbled out through his tears. It was an overwhelming fact to know that thanks to not only Luffy, but to Marco and another pirate, that he managed to actually get out of Marineford alive. Wait…that suddenly reminded him. "Marco…where's Pops…?"
Heating that question, Marco stiffened up slightly. He should have known that question was coming, but he wasn't prepared to tell Ace about that. However…there was no point in keeping it a secret. While there had been many tragedies on the battlefield for both sides…the most tragic loss that was going to throw the world out of balance was… "He didn't make it out of there, Ace… Pops died on the battlefield, still standing with that usual grin on his face. As much as none of us wanted to run, when we found out you were still somehow alive, his final order was for us to get you out of there…and despite trying to protest he wouldn't budge on the order. Even with the odds against him, he didn't turn to run… He was a great man and pirate up until the end…"
Talking about Whitebeard's death…it really was difficult for Marco but he managed to get through everything before he too started to cry lightly. After his explanation of what happened, he leaned down and lightly pressed his forehead against the raven's. His larger form was trembling slightly, but he remained still, continuing to carefully lay over Ace as if he were trying to shield him from anything else that could possibly take him away. Underneath him, he could feel the raven's body starting to tremble more. As he suspected, the news must have shocked him but Marco wasn't about to sit here and lie to him. Ace had wanted to know and he deserved the truth.
"H-he's really gone…? T-that old fool…" Ace managed to mumble out through his tears as he brought both of his arms up and wrapped them around Marco's neck. "I…I didn't want him to die for me…he didn't have to go and risk his damn life like that…! Dammit… he's the one who should still be alive! Not me!" The news really had been too much to bare. Ace didn't think anything could take the old man down…but even he wasn't invincible, and now…he was gone.
"Ace…don't say that…" Marco suddenly mumbled out in a bit of a stern tone. He even gave the raven a bit of a squeeze without hurting him, almost as if he were clinging to the other for dear life. Whitebeard was gone…and Ace nearly left them as well. Marco knew their captain wanted Ace to live, and he wouldn't want them mourning over his death, especially not like this. "Once he found out you were somehow still breathing…he threw away any worries about getting himself out of there… He wanted you to live, and if he were here right now, he would have been overjoyed to know that you pulled through…so don't go saying stuff like that… I know it isn't easy…none of us thought he would die but he didn't just save you, he saved all of us because he saw us like we were his sons… He saved what he could of the family he worked so hard to build…and he wouldn't want you to say you should have died…"
With Marco lightly squeezing on him, Ace sniffled softly and tightened his arms around his neck, as if he were afraid the other would disappear on him. He couldn't stop crying or shaking, and he knew Marco was crying too. He could feel the tears from the other falling onto his freckled face. It really was a tragedy…and it was one that would throw the world out of balance, but they would find a way to deal with it. Even with their captain gone…the Whitebeard Pirates weren't just going to fade away from the world, not if the First and Second Commanders had anything to say about it.
"Y-you're right… He wouldn't want that… I'm really sorry, Marco… If I hadn't tried going after Teach, none of this would have happened… I just…wanted to make him pay for what he did to Thatch…" Ace sighed out while bringing one of his hands up to run his fingers through Marco's pineapple-like hair. The hairstyle always cracked him up, but he couldn't laugh at the moment. He was still too busy crying right along with Marco.
"I know that, Ace…. You saw it as your responsibility to go after Teach and make him pay despite Pops telling you not to… I'm not upset with you. I'm just glad you managed to pull through for me… Now we can get through this together and once you're fully healed, we'll go back out to sea and show the world we're still here and still fighting. How does that sound?" Marco asked as he finally lifted his head up so he could look down at the other and so he could wipe at his eyes. "But you have to promise me something…"
After Marco had sat up a bit, Ace brought one of his own hands down and wiped off his face as well. Hearing that they could still go out to sea and show them all that these events didn't destroy them…that sounded like a good idea, but of course Marco had a catch. Lifting a brow slightly, Ace tilted his head to the side with a curious look on his face. "And that promise is…?"
"You're not allowed to leave my side…because I don't know if you're going to do something stupid. You're reckless and you're an idiot, so that's why…you have to promise me that you'll stay by my side and do everything I tell you to do. No more going on missions alone. You have to always have someone with you if I can't be the one to accompany you. Does that sound fair?" Marco asked, though he used that serious tone to show that Ace really didn't have a choice in the matter. Smiling lightly, the raven simply nodded his head to show he understood and pushed himself up a bit so he could be a little closer to Marco's face.
"Marco… I promise I'll stay by your side and do as you say, however… I can't promise I won't be a pain in the ass. If you can accept that, I'm willing to accept your conditions… I'm really sorry I made you worry so much…" Ace finally replied while continuing to give the blond a little grin. Hearing that got Marco to chuckle lightly as he shook his head a bit. He shouldn't have expected that from Ace, but he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
"I think we have a deal then."
Several weeks had passed since the two of them made their agreement and now that Ace was in a more stable condition, he was finally able to go with Marco and return back to their friends. Of course the raven made sure to thank Law several times for saving his life and Luffy’s, but the taller raven simply waved him off and told him it was a one time thing, which he could accept. Once Luffy was awake, the two of them hugged and cried with each other, both feeling relieved that the other was alive and well. Now that they were both in a decent spot, Ace had asked Luffy what he planned on doing next. After all, his little brother was still missing his entire crew, and finding them wasn't going to be easy.
"I actually have a plan to send them a message. It's going to be risky, but it's the best way I can think to give this message to them. After what happened on Sabaody…it made me realize we aren't strong enough yet. We need to improve our skills so we never have to go through that again." Luffy explained while stuffing his face full of food. "All I can say is…keep an eye out for the paper. You'll see what I mean."
Naturally Ace laughed at his brother's explanation and he ruffled the boy's hair before embracing him tightly. He knew Luffy was going to do big things once he got to the New World and Ace was glad he was going to be alive to see what his little brother had in store. Once he had let the raven go, Ace went over and stood beside Marco. Like Luffy, his chest and body was still bandaged up but he felt well enough to move and wanted to get back to the others.
"You're going to do great things Luffy. Risky, but great things. You're really going to shake up the New World, and I'll be here rooting for you. If you ever need any kind of backup, you can rely on us. After all, you are my bumbling kid brother. We'll see each other again soon." Ace said as he held out a thumbs up toward Luffy, who grinned widely in response.
Once the two of them had said their final goodbyes, Ace and Marco boarded a smaller ship so they could set sail to meet up with the remainder of the Whitebeard Pirates. For a while they sailed in silence, enjoying each other's company but eventually Marco had moved and wrapped his arms around Ace's smaller form. Sighing happily, the raven leaned back against Marco's chest and closed his eyes as a breeze ruffled through his messy hair. They were back at sea again…together. After a moment, Ace opened his eyes once again and tilted his head up so he could look at the blond.
"Marco…" Ace called out, earning the other's attention instantly. The second their eyes met, the raven felt his heart stop a little bit. Was Marco always this handsome? Or was this the first time he had really gotten to look at the other without worrying about anyone else questioning it. In the end, he supposed it didn't really matter. Instead he brought a hand up and placed it lightly on Marco's cheek while standing up on his toes. "I love you…"
The three words were just barely a whisper, but Marco heard them perfectly. Three words he had been wanting to hear for some time, and feared that he would never hear. Now that they were out there, the blond simply smiled and leaned down to close the distance between the two of them. Their lips met for the first time, causing Ace's heart to start pounding in his chest. He turned slowly without breaking their kiss and threw both of his arms around the taller male's neck while the arms around his waist tightened even more to hold his shorter form close. After a few moments the pair pulled away from each other and pressed their foreheads together, both having smiles on their faces. Ace’s cheeks were flushed with a light shade of pink, something Marco found to be rather perfect on him, and to think…the moment almost didn’t happen between them. Leaning down once more, Marco brought the raven in for another quick kiss before letting out a soft chuckle. Ace was here…he was alive…and Marco planned on making sure he didn’t go anywhere ever again.
“I love you too…you reckless idiot.”
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